Mona Manahan has always liked to look her best. But at age 82, she began to have trouble doing her own makeup as her eyesight is deteriorating.
So, her husband Des Manahan, 83, decided he would start to do her makeup for her.
“Her left eye is bad, really bad,” he told BBC Breakfast. “When she tried to do something with the left eye doesn’t see anything.”
It started when the couple from Ireland was going to be attending a birthday party.
Mona decided she wanted her makeup done by a professional since she was no longer able to apply it so well.
So they made a visit to the department store where makeup artist Rosie O’Driscoll made Mona over. Des was watching closely how Rosie would apply the makeup.
“I started messing with her [Rosie] and I said, ‘Look, you’ve got it crooked there, you did this wrong,’ joking her,” Des told TODAY Style. “And then she just handed me the brushes and said, ‘Well, you do it.’ So I started to do a little bit with it.”
Rosie was pretty surprised by Des’ skill and technique.
“If you just see the way he holds the brushes, he’s a natural. He’s a natural,” she said.
After that, Des decided he would take a few more lessons so that he could help his wife with her makeup from then on.
And he’s gotten quite good at it.
“He got lesson after lesson after lesson, and loved every minute of it,” Rosie said. “I think he prefers me to take a step back now and let him off, let him do whatever he wants to do.”
Des always makes sure not to make her look too gaudy and to go light on her brows which “just need to be touched up slightly.”
“We definitely don’t go for any kind of heavy makeup of any kind,” he said. “Less is more.”
Des and Mona’s story started to spread and they were asked to appear on Ireland’s “The Late Late Show” to tell their story.
That’s how they gained viral superstardom. They even grabbed the attention of celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic, who has done makeup for Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Christina Aguilera.
Dedivanovic invited the couple to one of his master classes in London.
“A few months ago I heard the story of Des & Mona, a couple from Ireland. Mona began losing her eyesight and her husband Des began taking makeup lessons at Benefit Ireland with @rosieodriscoll74 so he could learn to apply her makeup for her,” he wrote on Instagram. “I called my manager and told her i wanted to invite Des, Mona and Rosie to #TheMasterClassand we had to make it happen. Big thanks to @benefit_ire for helping me to make this possible. My heart felt so full seeing them there in front of me. My highlight of #TheMasterClass London and of the year.”
In addition to Des’ kindness, people were struck by the love this couple shares.
“We’re not trying to look like 30-year-olds or 40-year-olds or 50-year-olds,” he said. “We both love each other as we are at 83 and 82, which I think is enough.”
You can see how insanely adorable these two are, still holding hands after 56 years of marriage, in the video below.
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Losing your eyesight brings with it a range of challenges. For Mona Manahan it meant the simple pleasure of putting on her makeup became near impossible – so her lovely husband Des stepped in to help. And ladies… a pearl of wisdom from Des… "Less is more" pic.twitter.com/c526vrrQCK
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) June 2, 2018
