Tales of the Tail: The Grit Behind the Glamour

Professional mermaiding may perhaps be the most glamourous job in existence. The costumes are elaborate, the make-up is detailed, and the magic is real! But like all beautiful things, it takes a little grit in the oyster to make the pearl! Becoming a mermaid does not happen in the blink of an eye, and it takes a little bit of struggling to pull the whole look together. In this blog post, I’d love to describe some of the less-than-glam before I’m ready for my clam! (I’m really gung-ho about the mermaid puns today, please let’s just go with the flow!)

On a day of a mermaid event, I usually reserve about an hour to an hour and a half for my hair and makeup. This may seem like a long time to get ready—and it definitely is, especially since as soon as I get in the water, most of my hard work washes away. But I am dedicated to looking my best for my mermaid parties, so I take the time to meticulously curl my hair into beachy waves and apply a lot of gold glittery eyeshadow. It takes a lot of work and patience, and I do get a little sad when the water takes my eyeliner and rubs it all over my face. But out of the grit-to-glam processes, the hair and make-up time is probably the easiest!

I think the most unglamorous moment of the human to mermaid transformation is the process of putting on the tail. Usually, when preparing for parties, I need to get changed in an area away from any of the children who may be attending the party. Often times, I get shown by a well-meaning parent or employee to a small, out of the way space such as a spin cycle studio next to a bar or a storage closet filled with extra lap lanes. Now, I don’t know if you have ever had to shimmy an extra skin made of 60 pounds of silicone halfway up your body, but it is a very sweaty process. The tighter the changing space, usually the warmer it gets as I gently try to smooth out any folds that may have gotten caught around my knees. I usually (okay, always) need my assistant to help me pull the last few wrinkles straight (to read about other ways that my mer-assistants help me get through mermaid events, you can check out my blog posts about reasons to never swim alone!).

I hope that today’s post helps provide you with a little insight into the more difficult sides of mermaiding that allow me to put my best fin forward at every mermaid event and party! Everything great only comes along through a lot of hard work! And I wouldn't trade any of the mermaid experiences that I have while mermaiding for the whole ocean! To complete today's post, please enjoy this small gallery of Mermaid Kira fails which I hope brighten your day!

Best Wishes and Swimmy Fishes,

Mermaid Kira