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Bob Ann Breland

Time can change things around drastically!

Looking at myself in a magnifying mirror was magic, I thought when I was a youngster. The things I could see were truly magical.

Every pore of my skin, every tiny little blood vessel in my eye; I could even see up my nose if I chose – all sorts of things I couldn’t do with a regular mirror.

 Any child could use up a lot of time just looking at herself and the things around her in a magic mirror.  For a long time, I was of the opinion that magnifying mirrors were made just to entertain children. Certainly I could see no other reason.

Then I got a little older and I couldn’t understand why they made them at all! Who would use them? No longer was it fun. I looked very strange indeed when I looked in that side of the mirror. 

I thought nobody in their right mind would want to see so many flaws in their faces, every little crease, every imperfection – every pimple! I could jolly well live without that information, especially as a teen-ager who wanted to look perfect.

So for years I didn’t even think about a magnifying mirror. One day while going through some things I didn’t need any more, I found a magnifying mirror – the kind that sits on a dresser or on top of the bathroom counter. One side is a regular mirror and the other side magnifies.

An enclosed electrical plug and light serves to allow one to see more. I decided to keep it and put it in the bathroom, using the regular side for putting on makeup. The light made it especially handy.

I was with some older ladies one day and I noticed a couple of them had not applied their makeup in quite the right places. I particularly took notice of their eyeliner, which seemed to be a little too wavy. I wondered momentarily if I was doing the same thing – I was getting older too — but then I forgot about it. 

I remembered that later as I was trying to put on eye makeup. It suddenly occurred to me that I was having trouble seeing what I was doing. Not that I’m blind or anything, but I do have a little trouble seeing things close up and without my glasses everything can be a little blurry.

As time passes for us ladies, putting on eye makeup can be quite a trick anyway with those “wrinkly” eyelids or lipstick on the lips, without the added trouble of not seeing what you are doing. I was using all the help I could get with a regular lighted makeup mirror, but feeling a little more disgusted every time. 

All of a sudden it occurred to me…aha! There’s a magnifying mirror on the other side of this thing. I flipped it over and like magic (there’s that word again!) I could see what I was doing. I had found what has proved to be a continuing friend – one I can’t do without.

At last I discovered the real reason for the magnifying mirror — the real magic of the mirror, you might say. I have gone full circle from playing with a magnifying mirror, to wondering why they had been invented, to using one out of dire necessity.

“Those things are awful” a young friend said to me during a discussion about mirrors. “You not only can see the pores of your skin, you can see inside the pores and every little imperfection. I can do without that! Why they make those stupid mirrors is beyond me!” 

Heh! Heh! Heh! One of these days she’ll discover the magic too! 

Sometimes in life one will be happy just to be able to see their skin, as well as their eyes, no matter how they look – for makeup or eye drops.  

Only time will continue to reveal the full magic of the magnifying mirror!