Just look into the mirror, how painful this

Wandering frizzy hair and smudged lipstick

Exquisite torture for perfectionists

Who grimace at each flaw, each evil trick,

At clumped mascara, shadows and freckles,

Banes of a superficial existence

So the hounds of reality heckle

And, doubtless with great pleasure, watch us wince

We poke and pinch at ever-ruddy cheeks

Smear shadow on unsuspecting eyelids

Our goals yet unfulfilled again we seek

To alter our appearance, to get rid

Through powders that dust and perfumes that reek

Of imperfections which make us unique