BY HEIDI
ULRICHSEN
More than 40 Val Caron women were given free makeovers courtesy
of a television makeup expert last week.
Doug Atkinson, the makeup artist on Global's Diva on a Dime and
national representative for N.Y.C. cosmetics, was booked for
eight hours Friday at the Rexall Pharmacy on Highway 69 N.
He often gives free makeup advice to ordinary people across
the country.
Atkinson says he loves giving makeovers because  they
make people feel better about themselves.
"Makeup is a real passion for me. I think it started really
early on in life," he says. "What I like to be able to do is
transform people for a modest amount of money and bring out
their heart and soul with a little bit of eyeliner and
foundation."
 Diva on a Dime, which airs on Global Thursdays at 6:30 pm
and Saturdays at 8:30 pm, is hosted by Julia Grieve and Adrian
Mainella.
"The premise of Diva on a Dime is to show women that they
can look really incredible and feel really great about
themselves and feel like a fashion plate for a very modest
amount of money," says Atkinson.
"What we do is we'll take a designer look like Dior which
might cost $10,000 to $15,000, and we can re-create the look
for the participant for under $1,000. So it's done through
second-hand clothes, it's done through alterations and it's
done through resale clothing and vintage boutique.
"Then we take them into hair, and we have some fabulous hairdressers on the show who completely re-image these wonderful people, and they come to me, and what I do is show you that for $25 you can have the same look that would cost you $500 in a department store."
