Have you ever noticed that your mirrored image varies greatly? One influence quickly leaps to mind--the mirror reflects exactly what is before it: there is the unshaven, disheveled image in the bathroom mirror while brushing your teeth.

There is the organized, brushed and folded image as you check the mirror just before leaving for work.

There is the nicely made up, spiffy image you project as you prepare for a big event--party, wedding, Thanksgiving dinner. You preen, you admire yourself. WYSIWYG mirroring, I call it.

The second influence on your image is the quality of the mirror itself. Have you ever dressed nicely, brushed your hair and put on lipstick, feeling pretty good about your appearance, only to get a good look at yourself in the unforgiving fluorescent lights in the ladies' restroom? Aaaack! Where did those wrinkles come from?

Or in the men's restroom, as you suddenly discover a tiny tuft of beard missed by the razor. In your home mirror you looked fine, tres debonair.

I have a bedroom full-length mirror at home that is unkind to the point where I feel like crawling back under the covers after I check my appearance in it. I don't know what it is, but that particular mirror could make Marlene Dietrich look like a dumpy frowsy housewife.

Mirrors don't lie, so it is said. I beg to differ; some do.