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| UNHEALTHY |
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| UGLY |
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| OLD |
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| PLAIN |
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| UNPROFESSIONAL |
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| MANLY |
Wake up world.
We have become make-up dependant.
*DISCLAIMERS* I am in no way slamming make-up or make-up artists in this blog, please take all of this as my humble opinion. Debate with me I implore you!
In our society, we have started to brand celebrities and ourselves with the words above when we go without make-up simply because it has become an expectation for women to wear it every day. Exhausting!
It's not all doom and gloom so I want to start by looking at the POSITIVES of make-up:
- Decoration- When we go on a night out we like to jazz up a bit, it's part of our culture. Oh my gaad! I love your dress/ lashes/ lipgloss I WANT TO BE YOU!! I mean... What? It's all a parade and painting your face up like a street walker is part of the getting ready ritual and something we can share with our friends. VAGINAS UNITE (wise words of Jenna Marbles).
- Theatre and film- As a person who would make babies with the theatre if that were physically possible, I want to make the point that maquillage is an integral part of the arts and film industry. Hence- make-up artists.
- Rich History- It's not some new horrible craze, we all know about Cleopatra and her kohl, the Elizabethans and their lead based white foundation; pale skin indicated wealth, if you were rich, you didn't have to work outdoors. Not to forget the sexy French beauty spots fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries used to cover syphilis scars. Glamorous, huh? The rich made them out of velvet and the poor, mouse skin.
- FUN :) - Of course we like to decorate our faces with glitter and colours, disguise ourselves and generally be skilled chameleons, it's awesome.
Aaaaaaand back to the NEGATIVES: Hooray for cynicism!
- Pressure- As I said, it has become a daily expectation for women to wear make-up, this partly comes down to our misogynistic society believing that the way a woman looks is equal to her worth and the media implementing this view. Woah, strong sentence! Hear me out though... The Sun newspaper published images of the beautiful actor Mila Kunis with, wait for it... no make-up on!! SHOCK HORROR! here's the link if you want to have a gander http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/4696951/mila-kunis-no-make-up-on-stroll-with-ashton-kutcher.html#ixzz2NCBMFuR4 After shaming her for 'slobbing out' the writer says "It's a good job she scrubs up so well!" ...... Er, yeah, do you know what it's a dead good job she has a decent make-up artist because she may be talented, funny, politically aware, confident and an avid reader but none of that shit really matters because she's a woman so her only priority should be to look good all the time.
- Definition- No, I'm not talking about defining your cheekbones. The term 'make-up' itself implies that there is something missing that needs to be made up. Also, to make something up is to lie. Not such an attractive idea.
- Costly and time consuming- If the average woman spends 15 minutes doing her make-up in the mornings (excluding Sundays) she is missing out on 78 hours per year of sleep! Crazy times. I went to Boots.com and made a hypothetical make-up bag, excluding utensils, I chose the medium prices for everything and it came to £60.92. Phew! Or maybe it's just me being a cheap skate? As Laci green explains very well in her video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHJjsB6L-b4 we are bombarded with unrealistic images of 'perfect' women. This makes us tiny earthlings feel insecure and these insecurities fuel consumerism. If advertising for these products can make us believe we're ugly, then the make-up industry can offer us a solution to the problem that they created and the economy can benefit from our low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy. Oh, so it's not all fun and glitter :(
- Self confidence issues- So the capitalists are making us feel bad about ourselves, but our agreement to adhere to this slap-on-every-morning trend is making it worse. If you get too used to seeing yourself made-up, your perception of your own natural beauty gets distorted and forgotten.
But how do we stop this madness?!!!
Well, I think it's time for a good old fashioned Post-modern REALITY CHECK. *Clears throat* When you put on foundation, you're painting your face with a gooey substance which is the same colour as... your face. Imagine telling that to someone who has never heard of foundation. Here comes another one--> Heterosexual women fancy men that don't wear any make-up at all. Sorry, why am I bothering to put this crap on my face again? A bit of science for you now (don't be scared, I'll be gentle.) Red lips send subliminal messages to a man, communicating that you're very fertile, ooh er. When you're ovulating, i.e. at your most fertile, you have higher oestrogen levels than progesterone levels which increases your vascular blood flow making your lips and cheeks redder ;) BUT are you wearing make-up for the sole purpose of getting someone to impregnate you? Topic for debate there.
Do you think make-up should be about gender or choice? If a teenage boy wanted to wear concealer on his spots to make him feel confident, he'd probably get bullied at school. If a girl goes out without putting her face on she is deemed less attractive. I would facepalm but I might smudge my eyebrows.
You could try ALTERNATIVES to wearing make-up everyday that still make you look and feel better about yourself like-
- Getting a good night's sleep
- Finding colours that suit you
- Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle but if chocolate and pizza make you feel good then why the heck not?!
- Wearing a really decent bra (oi oi saveloy)
- SMILING! :D
The main point is to form your own opinion on the matter, think outside the box that social convention has put you in wear the amount of make-up you're comfortable with. When you can be arsed applying it. Who's going to tell you off for not wearing enough lipgloss?
I'm going to try and wean myself off wearing it in the daytime in order to be comfortable with myself in my natural state.
Peace out homeslices.
Wow, I can not pull that off...
