Hurricane Sandy: A Beauty Report From NYC

For the past week it’s been lights out in the city that never sleeps, and we New Yorkers have had a lot of lessons to learn. Hurricane Sandy flooded our streets and our transportation system, and even destroyed a major power plant. With all of us stuck at home and many without electricity, it’s been a challenge to get on with our lives, much less do it stylishly.

Glamorous girls downtown were now forced into doing beauty the old-fashioned way. Imperfections were embraced as makeup was done by candlelight, and hair was rinsed in basins of water, hot off the gas stoves. Those are the lucky people. For other residents, the water was shut off completely, forcing men and women to take advantage of the showers at gyms uptown—now filled with folks seeking warmth and shelter. Those who lacked cab fare turned to the city's fire hydrants for water to wash up in.

People lucky enough to retain electricity after the storm found themselves stuck indoors with too much time on their hands. Home-done haircuts and past-due pedicures kept us busy. Beauty magazines all over the city were, for once, read cover to cover. We’ve now memorized every November beauty trend, but until the trains begin running regularly we have no real place to show off our new post-hurricane looks.

It’s been a long and challenging week for everyone in NYC, but it’s a relief that so many of us—electricity or not—have come out of the experience unharmed. Hurricane Sandy’s devastation has only brought this city closer, and what could be more beautiful than that?

Photos courtesy of Stella Rose Saint Clair