Don't you look pretty?
When I took my MIL her coffee and breakfast yesterday morning, she was quite chipper -- sitting at her table, smiling, combing her hair which had just been washed the night before. It looked glossy and nice -- and pink. Completely streaked with pink. At first I thought her head was bleeding, but on closer inspection she had taken a tube of lipstick and somehow applied it to her scalp, then combed it through everything.
She looks kind of trendy. Kind of Taylor Swift.
Has anyone else had makeup disasters? She applies clown faces often, but we can just wipe those off. I have been gradually reducing her makeup supply (nail polish, gone, after she was trying to eat it or use it on her lips), but I don't want to take it all away unless I really have to. She has about 5 tubes of lipstick that she messes with daily, counting and lining up on her table.
It's hard for me to compute this desire to look lovely (natural) with the not-caring when there's sewage on her pants or hands. God love us all, but I guess we're vain at the last.
Any stories to share out there?
My cousin is in to jewelry. We provide her with plastic necklaces and bracelets. She really enjoys them and she never liked jewelry before dementia, which is odd. It's one of the few things she seems to enjoy now.
Here are some of the things my mom's NH do to satisfy their residents beauty needs. There is an old fashioned beauty parlor on site. My mother goes once a week to have her hair done. It is amazing how many people say to her, "Your hair really looks nice today." An outside "professional" doing her hair might reduce her desire to to-it-herself.
At least once a month they have a "spa day" where they put nice lotion on hands and arms and have a huge assortment of nail polish colors that volunteers put on the residents who want it. The women feel pampered and pretty for at least the hours session.
When my mom was on hospice the volunteers quickly figured out that she liked having her nails done and that is how they spent time with her.
Is there any of this you could modify for your own purposes? Does Mom get a regular visitor who doesn't quite know what to do with her? Maybe she has a niece or nephew who could be her "spa day volunteer."
It sounds like you have a good sense of humor. That is a critical tool for getting through some of these episodes!
Somehow your mom seems to have latched on to something from a happy part of her life. When my mom did her nails we always knew we were having a babysitter, that she and Dad were going out. And even though she may not remember why, my mom is happy when someone does her nails.
I know it is hard to see your mom looking like a clown but I hope you can find ways to minimize the damage and still respect your mom's desire to do this fun thing. (I think I'd make sure she doesn't have a hair scissors, though.)