Slide Show: ‘Me & My Life Makeover’ event at Tanger Outlets

Joanne Antrobus, a proud mother of four from Brooklyn, never even put a makeup brush to her face or touched a tube of lipstick to her lips before this week.

But she took the day off from her City of New York paralegal job Friday to attend “Me & My Life Makeover” at the Riverhead Tanger Outlets, an event dedicated to educating women on the importance of planning for the future and taking care of themselves. Ms. Antrobus had her makeup done for the first time ever by an artist with The Makeup Studio New York. She said she was curious to see how she would look.

“I decided to take the day for me,” she said while admiring her freshly made-up face in a mirror. “I look gorgeous.”

The event, sponsored by Tanger Outlets and the American Association of Retired Persons, featured the free makeovers, raffles, gift bags and educational information on planning for the future. The first event was held at Tanger Outlets in Branson, Mo. and another will be held this month at the Tanger in Rehoboth, Del.

“So far they’ve been a great hit,” said Cassandra Oshinnaiye, the director for AARP’s Decide, Create, Share campaign, which organized the event. The campaign aims to help women plan major health and financial decisions — and for the future in general, Ms. Oshinnaiye added.

Lee Woodruff, a motivational speaker and author, gave a moving speech detailing her experience caring for her husband, ABC news anchor Bob Woodruff, who suffered a brain injury while covering the Iraq war in 2006.

Ms. Woodruff’s message to the women in the audience on planning for the future was to prepare in case of emergency.

“Every single one us, especially us women, needs a plan B,” she told the audience. “When the bad thing happens to you, you have two choices. You can get bitter or you can get better.”

The message hit home for Sandy Rafuse of Manorville.

“Because we are all women, we deal with all these things,” she said. “We are the strong ones.”

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Tanger Outlets general manager Janine Nebons said the event was perfect for Riverhead Tanger because it is aimed at the shopping center’s target market, women 25 and older. She called it a “huge added value” to shoppers.

“If we make a difference for a handful of people, then that is all we hope to accomplish,” she said.