Here is the REAL story! hee hee I have been lying to you all for a week! It was so hard and so fun. I wanted to wait and post this stuff when the show aired because it was a surprise to us and making it a surprise to everyone else seemed like a good idea.
Oprah's Last-Ever Makeover Extravaganza!
I told you the truth up until Thursday so that’s where I will begin. Thursday morning (after the melt down in which I thought maybe I had ruined Kara's life) we went to Harpo knowing they would begin Kara’s transformation. I was told I would be filmed with her all day so I dressed nicely and threw in a little effort. Kara didn’t. She went O’natural. They brought us into this warehouse area that suddenly was a giant salon. I saw this area the night before and it was NOT there. It was beautiful. I wish I had photos of all I am about to write but NO cameras or phones were allowed inside the building ever. I have no photos to prove any of it :) There were stations just like a salon but a ton of them complete with lighting, drawers, electricity, sinks that worked and drained (I still don’t get that). They put her in a chair and introduced the hair and and makeup folks. For hair, Ken Paves (Carmen Electra, Brittany Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Heather Locklear, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Paulina Rubio, Sela Ward, Callista Flockhart, Cameron Diaz and Spiderman’s Kirsten Dunst, to name just a few). He is the hairdresser to the stars. Beyond that he is just the nicest man you can meet. He has a deaf staff and signs/translates throughout everything he does. He talked to Kara about her hair and taught her a little more about curly hair. She researches like crazy but he had info she loved learning. He told her the plan. That was to hydrate it, seal it and cut it backwards. The trick to really curly hair is to not cut the top so that it smashes the underneath, ridding the bell shape. He also said the weather in Arizona and the shape of curly hair makes it too dry. He said to use straight olive oil to hydrate it. They talked about color and began. The colorist is Laura Niles, Ken Paves considers her the very best at color. After seeing her work I would agree. Aside from that she was such a pleasure to be around with a really soft, gentle spirit. The make-up artist, Collier Strong (spokesperson for L'Oreal,Diane Keaton, Jessica Alba, Elizabeth Taylor, Jodi Foster, Scarlett Johanson.....) talked about her skin and answered her questions. He has quite a portfolio and the skills to back it up. My job was to stand behind and near, listen, react, agree...whatever. I did that for at least an hour on tape. I then just wandered around and chatted, and chatted and chatted. I know many of you are thinking, "What? You!" They all seemed super happy to answer my questions. Most seemed grateful I asked in case you were thinking I just cruised around bugging people all day. Ha! I talked to the official photographer all about his camera. I talked to everyone that worked there asking them their history. It's fascinating to know how they all landed where they are in their lives. When you have that many 'best of the best' you are curious. I asked the manicurist for magical advice for my heals, the makeup artist what is worth spending money on... Mostly I asked them questions about how they started, what has been the best part about it, where they want to go with it. I was so impressed with how kind and thoughtful they all were. At the end of the day they had given it all they had and were starving and tired right along side everyone else. I had walked around and talked to so many people that guests were under the impression I worked there! Ha! I had paid so much attention that I was answering peoples questions. There was just so much going on, they needed all the help they could get. The chatting continued through the entire experience. Between Kara and I both we know more about those folks than they may know about themselves!While they were coloring Kara's hair red when a whirlwind blew in the door. Diane von Furstenburg. She is a super famous designer with staying power. Unfortunately, at that time Kara and I didn’t really know that. It’s a good thing too because once we learned her background Kara was glad because it would have made her even more nervous. She was wild. Larger than life, generous and a lot like an electric butterfly. She told Kara all about herself, told her she had beautiful skin and her plan for her. On the way in she had bumped her had on a door and was holding a bag of ice on it. She told them to tape her anyway and went on with this spectacular performance. When she first walked in after hitting her head she had a huge Tom and Jerry bump in the middle of her forehead. The rest was blood red from the ice. While she talked to Kara she rubbed something on it. Over a pretty short period of time it disappeared. Right before my eyes it shrunk and the red all faded. I asked what was in the tube. Arnica. It's a homeopathic cream. She proceeded to swallow and handful of little arnica pills too. She pulled out her phone and showed us a picture of her face after a skiing accident in January. It was like a horror movie. She said she used arnica and it all vanished. UNREAL. I can't wait to buy some. The hair journey lasted a really long time. He cut it dry which was cool. It was a giant crazy puff and he cut in layers. During that time she looked just like Carrot Top! The difference was immediate. I was eating a sandwich from the craft table chatting with Collier Strong, the make-up artist1. The lady in charge of us, Teri, came up and said they were going to need me in the shot for more filming. The designer, DVF wanted to see what Kara had picked from her clothes the day before. Cameras and people really surround when she is present. I walked up and was standing next to Kara while she talked to her. I was hoping I didn’t have say anything because I was kind of still chewing the sandwich when I walked up. DVF asked me who I was. When I answered she screamed. It didn’t even catch me off guard because I had been observing her for awhile already and figured it’s just what she does. She asked me, “how would you feel if you were to be made over”. I thought she was asking how Kara should feel. How would I feel came across like what would be your emotions. Before I sorted it out there was this big explosion of surprise. Cameras were in my face and everyone was cheering. She had such a strong way of speaking and an accent I didn’t realize she was telling me they were going to do me too. At first I believed it was a last minute, “we should do her too” thing. It wasn’t. Soon after I realized this huge surprise had been the plan all along. She already had clothes, shoes, accessories for me and the make-up and hair fella’s had plans too. I was totally and completely shocked. All the Oprah people were watching, producers, workers... It was surreal for sure. Several of them said they were had been having a hard time with me around not being able to tell me. One producer said she had loved watching the footage all week in edit of me from Flagstaff and was so excited to surprise me. It was cool to know they had planned it all just for me. I wasn't just going to go through their funnel, these folks were flown in for US. I cried and thanked everyone and was whisked right into a clothing fitting. They took me for my before picture. While I was standing on the white backdrop they asked if I could get worse. The girl felt super bad for the way she thought it came out. I knew what she meant, I had tried a little because I knew I would be on camera. Luckily my luggage was there so I went and put on the most comfortable stuff I had, gold shoes and put in a pony tail. I had made such a joke about Kara having to stand in the room in her bra and underwear while people dressed her that I figured I had this coming. That was actually one of the first things I said when they surprised me. DVF's assistant started howling because he knew I was going to say something. He was the cutest boy (he had a boyish way...no idea how old he was. Maybe mid-20's. When I said that to him his response was, "there is nothing boy about me") from North Carolina. I was freaking at first but got over it fast. Her assistants are amazing and she was so nice. Everyone made you feel so good about yourself and your body. They didn’t make comments about hiding parts or stuffing them away. Rather they pointed out what each thing did FOR you. I told her I would feel sad if I had to wear a dress with bare legs. The assistants went into speeches as to why I was wrong but she said FINE. She said she wanted me to be happy and comfortable and pants were terrific too. The clothes were so far removed from my planet that I just let them choose and we moved on. For the next several hours I got a Ken Paves cut, Laura Niles color, manicure, pedicure, fitted for a bra and Spanx...the works. Right along side Kara we chatted with these stylists all afternoon. After we were pretty complete we were taken to separate hotels. They said we were unable to see each other until the show was being taped. I didn’t get it. I already knew what they had done to her hair, saw the outfit, knew what makeup she would have. They said it was like a bride on her wedding day. The anticipation was the best part. I was taken to The Omni where I had room service and took a bubble bath. It was kind of boring and lonely to be all alone. It’s not really relaxing to be in a strange city alone in a room. I was so incredibly tired I couldn’t convince myself to go walk around. The Omni is right off Michigan Ave smack dab in the cool part. Instead I ate $68 worth of room service alone.
I was calm and just excited before talking to Kara. Right as I was laying down I called her. She was freaking out. The surprises kind of get to you. The anticipation and the consistent unknown was wearing us out. Don't get me wrong. It was wonderful but a heart can only take so much. She said room service came and knocked on the door for a turn-down. She jumped and screamed and thought, “Oh gee! What now?” I think I would have done the same. Picturing her doing this is hysterical to me. I felt similar in that even in the bathroom I thought I was being recorded. Actually we may have been. I saw a notice the first day said if you didn't want to be recorded while in the building you should alert someone. Even in the bathtub I was looking for the camera! In the morning I got up early and walked around a little. For the month of May Chicago is full of tulips. Thousands and thousands and thousands of them. I couldn’t miss taking a few shots of those first. I walked out of the hotel at 7:00am and it smelled like a flower shop! That smell was icing on the cake. I have been to New York and figured Chicago would feel similar. It doesn't. The vibe is much better, more relaxed, more fun and happier. I heart Chicago.
A car took me to Harpo where I was whisked away immediately. I was put in a private room in their gym where I was prepared. Another big part of the show was that they made over the entire audience some. Everyone was given $100 to spend at Old Navy. They had to pick out whatever they wanted and then wear it to the show. That huge salon we had been in the day before was set up for hair and make-up. They brought them in by smaller groups and fluffed and polished them. Collier did my make-up first. When he came in I said, “don’t you dare put chapstick on me and tell me it’s a look I can achieve at home. You take me right on over the top”. He did. I didn’t watch but he spent 45min-1 hr on my face. Mostly my eyes. I got spectacular lashes and a lot of shadow painting. When he was finished he did some powder, a little blush and a super light lipstick. I was walked to a mirror to see. I gasped. I never react like that. I giggled and danced around. I wish SO badly that I had a photo of my face when it was very first done. My eyes were so cool. Over time the lashes, glue and poo got to me and they turned pretty red. I looked like a horror movie when I got home 16 hours later. Next came the hair. They had highlighted it and trimmed it the day before. They did it in a way that because I used a box from the store the last time I could again. She said I could use that for my roots and just grow it as long as I wanted to without have to have it done again but still keep the highlights. So cool. Most of us can’t get $1000 hair do’s regularly. Next came clip in extensions. Ken Paves has made clip in extensions accessible and awesome. They dyed them to match my hair exactly. First they curled my real hair, curled those and then just clipped them in. I swear the whole thing took 15 minutes. They brushed it pretty hard all day and it still stayed perfect. I got into the “suit” and sat. I sat, and sat and sat. I couldn’t wander around like everyone else because I was the surprise. Kara couldn’t either because they wanted us not to see each other. The staff made a huge effort to make sure I was not alone. I spent most of the day with Ken’s hair people. I couldn’t have been happier about that. They are so, so, nice. All but the colorist were deaf. I know enough sign language to have one of the greatest days ever just for the reason of hanging with them. We even had a little impromtu birthday party for one. Since I was trapped in that room all day they just peacefully hung out with me. There was this awesome inspirational thing on the wall for the employees, we smiled and chatted about that. Martin was helping with the clothes and kept dropping the $300 shirt. I was laughing so hard. The hanger wouldn't stay on the door. I think he knew more than I did the ramifications of ruining that shirt which made it that much funnier. He wrote me a message on his ipad because he was so horrified that he did it. So funny! He hugged and winked at me all day. He so genuinely told me I was beautiful and made me feel so much more relaxed. Nyke, Ken's assistant brought me lunch and made me feel a lot more comfortable too. She is gorgeous. I didn't realize she was deaf the first day. I thought she was just shy. I watched her from a distance when she came in because she has a really special presence. We communicated for awhile about how beautiful I thought she was and how cool her hair is. She was trained by Vidal Sassoon but I have no idea how she ended up with Ken. They are both lucky to have found each other. The one thing that was interesting to observe was people's off the cuff reactions when they realized they were deaf. More than once when someone spoke the them and then were told they were deaf the person would do it again. Once a lady said, "Oh cool. Does your team always perform in silence. Someone responded they were deaf. She turned right back to them and yelled, "I didn't realize you can't hear me". I had to walk around the corner to chuckle. I got there at 8:00 and at 11:30 got to do a rehearsal. They showed me where I would be hidden, when I would come out, where Kara would be, where to walk and where to stand. The producers wanted me to take my jacket off the designer didn’t want me to. Finally they decided I would so I practiced some. I told them I thought it wasn’t going to work right. For one I had a giant gold $15,200 bracelet on my wrist. The jacket would catch. I also had a scarf with it and couldn’t catch both or one without work. They told me I was over thinking it. In the end I wasn’t (I dropped it on the floor during the show). I went back to the room and waited more. I begged to see what was going on before me so they put me in the workout room with a TV. It was cool but I felt like I was watching it on “TV” like home. I was all alone and that was so normal to me that it really calmed me down. Right before that I had realized how nervous and anxious all the “stars” were. Knowing they were freaking out totally calmed me down. I went on feeling perfectly calm. I was led to a staircase and curtain. They ran the “bit” we shot in Flagstaff and someone yelled, “GO”. I walked out and Kara was coming through the other side. I already knew her hair was short and red and what she was wearing but it still totally shocked me. She looked Old Hollywood. I loved it. We giggled, and hugged and headed down some stairs. Ken (hair) and Collier (makeup) were supposed to hold our hands. They forgot. That threw us off a little so I hope it turned out looking normal. We stood there facing the way we were told. I totally forgot Oprah would be there. I know. Dumb. When I turned and saw her I jumped. She was so close and so familiar. Ha! She is also much prettier and smaller in person. Then we noticed Matt (Kara’s husband in the audience). We pretended to be surprised but we weren’t. There had actually been a boo boo and we knew. We just chose not to tell him so he could have a little magic of his own. Oprah asked DVF, Ken and Collier some questions and then went to commercial. I took off that dumb coat and dropped the scarf. They told us to react and act how ever we wanted...we did. We were talking!!!!!!!!!!!! Oprah is asking our “people” questions about what they did to us and were talking! Oh gee! What were we thinking. We were saying how good the other one looked, that we liked the do’s and I was asking what I should do about the scarf I just dropped. She waited until the camera’s moved and picked it up. Oprah stood up and walked over for a photo with a photographer. She took one with the designers and were escorted to seats in the front row. The other segments happened and it was over. It was not the highlight. It was great but the process was a trillion, billion times better. DVF came over, gave us autographed books and told us she was coming to see us in Arizona after giving us her direct contact info. She is so nice but I was barely paying attention because I was still so worried about her head!! We were taken through the audience out the back. People gawked and awed. It was weird...like we were famous. The audience exited and collected their free stuff. We gathered our stuff, changed our clothes, gave away gifts (Michael Kors purse, Tory Burch sunglasses, Andre Walker hair products, DVF scarf) we had brought and left. The designer gave us extra clothes to take home and people were saying like crazy, “we will be shipping you stuff”. We went out a different door than the audience so it's most likely the "bag" they got.
Footage of show not including reveal: Oprah
Footage of 3TV news interview: Flagstaff moms appear on Oprah's last makeover show
We had a car and driver at our disposal. On our way out we asked our driver to stop so we could take one last picture in front of the sign. When we got out girls ran and screamed toward us. They jumped up and down and “couldn’t believe it was us!”. They wanted a picture with us so we agreed while giggling hysterically.
We had the driver take us to get “the best pizza in Chicago” and then to the airport. *We took these in the car on the way to the airport so we could have something tangible.
We gained so much stuff that the three of us had to sit on the floor of the airport and attempt to shove it all in. I have no idea how we pulled it off but we did. Security was a MESS. I was scanned, and had to do the x-ray thing. Apparently my head was a threat. I realized the extensions were covered in little clips. The thing is, they realized it before I got to the machine. Hmmm.... That has me concerned and curious. They knew to pick me out far in advance. Kara and Matt got caught too. Her bags were full of make-up, shampoo and hair products too large or too much to fly. They had to repack again and check some of it. By the time we got to the gate the plane was loaded and within 5 minutes we were in the air. Three hours later we landed and changed in the bathroom. We were supposed to do an interview with 3TV but they weren’t there. We had $5000 worth of clothes on in an empty airport. We felt stupid. I drove home and two hours later (12:30am) surprised Matt and Izze. Matt was scheduled to work so I was afraid he would hear second hand. Plus, I wanted him to see it. He said he didn’t recognize me when I came around the corner. He had walked out after hearing the car but then upon seeing me thought he was wrong. I told them a little about it before peeling it off and washing it all away. When I wiped the eye makeup off Izz said, “Ahh, sad”. You know it was sad. My eyes were burning and I was glad to get it off but sad that it was over.
Now we are left to reflect and cherish. The fact that people try for years just to get tickets and never succeed yet we got to be ON the show in that capacity is just awesome. Oprah thanked the audience and said, “now you can move on to other things and cross it off your bucket list”. She always says that when you have realized a dream it’s time to dream a bigger dream. Hmmmmmm
