Dans Hamptons

How come North Forkers are so darned good looking? Is it all the local vegetables we eat? Maybe. Perhaps it's the sunshine or the red wine? Perhaps. How about the salons sprouting up alongside every potato field? Is that the reason? Could be.

But if you really want to know why we're so attractive, the answer's simple. The library. And all the time you thought it was only a place for lovers of Chaucer and chess! Not so. You don't even need a library card. Simply put on your jacket and come with me to Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport. If we're lucky, there'll be another session just like the one I recently attended. True, you and I may be a little too old to participate (are you over 14?) but we can learn much by listening.

The session I stopped in on was titled 'First Makeup' and was open to North Fork girls ages 11-14. As far as I'm concerned, young girls ages 11-14 look great without extra stuff on their hopeful, sweet faces. Even young ones just turned 70 look fine to me. Well, maybe a little lipstick helps when you reach 70. And earrings. I like to think earrings work the magic. Yeah.

Anyway, there I was in the community room of the library, a half hour early so I could meet and talk with Amelia Rallis before the young ones came. You may know Amelia. She's a Greenport resident and has worked in a Greenport salon, Special Effects, for seven years. Here at the library she was setting up the head table with some of the paraphernalia in the world of beauty. Curlers, combs, brushes, scissors, lipsticks, lotions of all kinds. The centerpiece was a large mirror carefully positioned on an easel. I had a good feeling about Amelia when she told me about that easel. She's had it since she was six years old. And guess what she used it for. She'd sit her Cabbage Patch doll on it and "practice putting makeup on the doll's face." Amelia had set her goal early on - although she did say there was a time she thought seriously about becoming an architect. Now she works at building something else. Self confidence.

It was a windy afternoon and when the girls started to arrive around 4:30 p.m., they were laughing, their eyes sparkling, their cheeks rosy. How to improve on that? I'd no idea.

But Amelia did. She was experienced at this, doing makeup sessions with Girl Scouts and at birthday parties. Amelia aims to show young girls the appropriate way to use makeup - before they blunder into looking foolish or harming their skin.

So introductions happened. At one of the tables sat 14-year-old Gabriela Russell of Greenport. Gabriela told a delightful story about her name. It seems her mother and father had lived in Chile for two years. Their address was Gabriela Street and it was a word her parents loved.

At another table sat a group of fifth- and sixth-grade friends from Southold Elementary School. Devin Bucci, Caitlyn Cassidy, Brittney Bellomo along with Ria Anasagasti and Kathleen Gaffga. They listened as Amelia said Rule One for looking good is taking care of your body and drinking lots of water. Petite Ria responded to Amelia's request for a volunteer. Up to the head table went Ria and she sat down on a high stool under some bright lights. This was for real.

Amelia applied moisturizer to Ria's face, so necessary, she said, in all kinds of weather. Then Amelia asked us to imagine something awful had happened - a pimple had appeared on Ria's flawless skin. What to do? Amelia showed the girls how to apply a concealer, stressing that a light touch was essential. I got to thinking that a light touch may be more than just a makeup hint. Perhaps it is the secret of happiness, perhaps it is the fountain of youth. A light touch.

Again and again, Amelia told the girls that "less is more." They're young, so only a bit of lipstick, a bit of blush, and positively no eyeliner. And Amelia warned them about sharing makeup. Don't.

Now it was Greenport's Sierra Heard's turn on that stool. Amelia showed the girls how to shape eyebrows and how to apply just that bit of pale lipstick. A shade of peach, in Sierra's case. Perfect.

The session was almost over, but not before Amelia spoke with each girl individually. They'd learned quite a bit, I'm sure. So had I. (Though I'm still not clear on the difference between glimmer and glitter. I'll have to come to another session.) As I left the room, one of the girls turned to me, smiled, said "goodbye and thank you." Now that's North Fork beautiful.