Happy Mermaid Day!  Today is the infamous Coney Island Mermaid Parade.  For many years, my crew and I have made costumes, put together a float, and enjoyed making a spectacle of ourselves. On quite a few occasions, we even won!  Alas, this year, although I had already started mermaid tail production, I decided to put off the float I’d planned for lack of participation (stupid June brides).  That’s okay. We’ll kill it next year. But be warned, anyone planning a wedding the same weekend as the Mermaid Parade  in 2015 is dead to me.

In honor of today’s mermaid marchers, here’s a primer on applying a waterproof (and swimable) face by makeup guru, Michelle Phan, and her special guest, professional mermaid*, Linden Wolbert.

*A real job, apparently.

“Linden Wolbert is the world’s most well-known professional mermaid (yes, this is a thing). She makes her living appearing in photo shoots, music videos, and at parties, diving as low as 100 feet below the surface wearing a 35-pound hydrodynamic tail. She can hold her breath for up to five minutes and signs her emails “Best Fishes.” -Kathleen Hou, New York Magazine

And if you want to read more about being a professional mermaid, here’s the New York Magazine article that started me down this particular rabbit hole.

http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/06/real-life-mermaids-waterproof-beauty-secrets.html