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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Preparation for prom pretty prolonged

Almost every girl likes to play dress up. The high school prom is a good excuse.

Some West Valley and University high school girls spent most of Saturday getting ready for the big night.

Their day included getting their hair, makeup and nails done. But for many the preparation started weeks ago with tanning appointments and shopping for the perfect dress and accessories.

Tiffany Penaluna, a sophomore at West Valley High School, bought her dress in Seattle during spring break.

On Saturday, she started the primping process at 11 a.m. at Tina’s Tangles, a beauty salon in Otis Orchards.

“Every girl likes to be Cinderella for a day,” said Tina Hopper, who was doing several girls’ hair and makeup from both high schools.

It was Penaluna’s first year-end formal dance.

“Because it was the prom, I thought I should have it professionally done,” Penaluna said of being primped.

Penaluna left the salon with her lips coated in jazzy plum and her eyes decorated with lavender, purple and smoky gray eye shadow to match her lilac purple dress.

Her hair was done to look like Hilary Duff’s in “Cinderella Story,” with glitter sprayed curls sprayed crowning her head.

At 12:30 p.m., she headed to Nail’s by Leah to get a French manicure. Her toenails were already painted.

Her boyfriend, West Valley High School junior Cody Lus, was going to be escorting her to West Valley High School’s prom, which was held at Decades Meeting Place and Banquet Room. The prom’s theme was “Paris at Last.”

University High School senior Cody Carman has attended more than 15 formal high school dances, but as a senior, this one would be her last and she wanted it to be special.

Carman spent about $600 on her hair, dress, nails and makeup just to make sure.

She arrived at Tina’s Tangles Saturday already tanned. Her nails and toes had been painted.

She was at the salon with her best friend, Christina Fridye, to get their hair and makeup done.

Carman wanted something dramatic. She left with her lips lined in dark chocolate. Her eye shadow and lipstick were ice pink.

“It’s the last time we will all be dressed up together, so I gotta go out with a bang,” she said.

Her date spent more than most boys on his prom preparation. Casey Ingraham painted a cane to match his white tuxedo with silver vest.

“It took like an hour and a half to get ready,” he said. “That’s more than the usual getting-ready time.”

The University High School’s prom, which was themed “New York, New York,” was held at the Globe Room in Cataldo at Gonzaga University.

Primping was something that most boys attending the two proms barely thought about. Their ideas of preparation, if any, meant picking up a tuxedo and showering.

Chris Shields, a West Valley student attending the prom, said just going to get a tux and taking a shower made Saturday a busy day for him.

“I wasn’t planning to get up until 2 p.m.,” he said.

Shane Rektor, another West Valley teen, slept in until 11:30 a.m. then took a shower and “put on what I would normally wear.”

However, he did add a pink tie to his black pants and dress shirt to match the dress of his date, Natalie Brown.

Brown, a West Valley High School senior, said she had to tie his tie for him though.

Brown had also spent the day primping for the prom. Her hair was done in an up do with large ringlets and pink roses.

“I look fabulous,” she said.