Living in a fluorescent hell.

There is something wrong here. Most mornings when I leave the house, I think I look fine - cute even. But as soon as I get to work and take one look in the bathroom mirror, my looks have gone to crap and my clothes are beyond wrinkled. Every pimple and hiding blackhead on my face is screaming for attention in the mirror and each hair that looked perfectly placed at home is laughing back at me as it clings strangely to the next. And that's all it takes. My day is suddenly ruined and all I want to do is go back home and start over. One glance in the mirror does me in. But, I'm not going to blame it on my looks anymore - or on my inability to notice stray hairs and wrinkles at home - I'm blaming it on fluorescent lights.

It's the same phenomenon in dressing rooms, really. It's an age-old problem. No woman likes to try clothes on in poorly-lit JC Penny-style dressing rooms. Because the mirrors and the lighting adds 20 pounds right to the hips and craters of cellulite all over - even on the forehead. Dressing rooms are torture. Many women have learned to avoid them, especially while bloated. Well, now I've learned something else. Avoid looking in the mirror at work - ever. Rear view mirrors on the way to work are OK, since faces lit naturally look softer and less scary. But quick makeup checks in the ladies room is strictly off limits. Period. Especially when on your period.