How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Her halo hovered high over her head, supported from behind. She was made up for the New York stage. She'd shaved off her eyebrows and drawn on new ones. Her cheeks were pinker than nature. Her lips were a deep red Cupid's bow, with fingernails to match. She was a natural blonde, and that was the only natural thing about her. (4.92)
Unlike Grandma Dowdel, Carleen Lovejoy is the kind of girl who is all about dressing up and putting on make-up to flaunt her femininity. She definitely takes it to the next level at the nativity play, even though she's got a minor role.
Quote #8
She was…posing. Her snow-white hair waved down from a neat center parting and drew back in a bun so tight, no hair escaped. Pearls hung in her ears. There were traces of Coty powder in the laps below her chins.
I'd never seen her dress. It must have been from the Lane Bryant catalogue. (5.109-110)
What a surprise! Mary Alice can hardly believe her eyes when Grandma Dowdel comes downstairs in a fancy outfit and with her hair and make-up done. It's something that she wants to remember forever, and it goes to show that Grandma Dowdel isn't against dressing up—she just reserves her fancy clothes for the right occasions.
Quote #9
We used rain-barrel water and her homemade lye soap. I can still feel her knuckles in my scalp, and that lye soap took forever to rinse out. I hadn't had a finger wave since last summer. Grandma had been cutting my hair. (6.16)
Mary Alice definitely isn't as well-dressed or made up as Carleen Lovejoy, especially with the conditions she and Grandma are living in. They don't have the money to go get their hair done professionally (although Grandma probably never cared to).