Raising Maine

When Yarmouth mom Emily Murray wants to get away from it all, she goes to work. A co-founder of Birth Roots Perinatal Resource Center and a doula for 12 years, she considers herself blessed to have found such joy in her work.

But getting away from it all to find time for herself isn't easy for the mom of 3-year-old Matilda.

"I always feel like I earn a spa day, but making it happen is another story," she said. "It's hard to justify spending the time and the money on something that feels frivolous. I can think of 10 million other things that would be more practical – but yet, it feels so good to do it."

The winner of this month's Raising Maine and Bei Capelli's complimentary makeover was nominated by her sister, Allison Gray, who said: "Emily is constantly giving to everyone else but herself. She is the first person to run an errand, give a massage, watch a child or anything else others need but the very last person to ask for anything in return. Emily deserves a makeover more than anyone else I know."

Bei Capelli stylist Rebecca Sweek, also a mom, set out to give Emily a solid dose of well-deserved pampering.

REBECCA'S THOUGHTS
Rebecca planned "to lift up her hair a little to keep the length in the front. For both the color and the cut, we'll make sure it can be low-maintenance. She has wave and curl, so I plan to make it easy for her to style and blow-dry. But it will look fine if she doesn't."
Once her hair was done, it was on to stylist Janice Merrill for makeup.

JANICE'S THOUGHTS
Janice said because Emily rarely wears makeup, she would try to give her a natural look. "I'll brighten her face and make her green eyes pop a bit more. Pinks and browns will give a natural look and make her green eyes shine."

EMILY'S THOUGHTS
"I feel like I have a different head of hair – this is amazing! I feel completely transformed."

MATILDA'S THOUGHTS:
Matilda told her mom she looked like a princess and she looked "beauuuuuutiful."

MIKE'S THOUGHTS
Mike Murray, her husband, "almost didn't recognize me. He came to my office, and when I came out, he did a doubletake ... He said it wasn't that I had a super-different haircut or color because the changes were small but significant – it was that everything together was quite different."

– TEXT AND PHOTOS BY BETSY RING