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Make Up: Just an illusion of beauty
Opinion: Make up, self esteem, health and beauty.
The moral rights and wrongs concerning makeup can be debated for hours on end. Yet, every question asked about makeup finds its way home to the same answer – looking beautiful.
Makeup gives women the freedom to look whatever way they want, to pile on confidence as they pile on foundation and to create shapes and shades that were never there before. Have modern times lead women to believe they can buy beauty in a bottle? Where do these deep rooted urges to transform their faces come from, and how far will some women go?
Nowadays, the motto for makeup has gone from minimalist to extremist. Instead of less is more, it’s now more, more, and more. Gluing on false eyelashes composed of everything from synthetic fibres to flies legs (true story), drawing on thick black eyebrows and beauty marks, applying diamonds and glitter to wherever there’s space and wearing eyeliner so thick - above and below the eyes – that you can’t see the colour of the pupils. The reason for wearing makeup has been lost in all this craziness, and it’s not just about looking pretty anymore. Women now want to make a statement, to draw attention and to be praised and followed for their boldness.
Clarissa Johnson (20), a part time glamour model living in London, who does shoots both in Ireland and England, had this to say on the topic: “Yes sometimes I think it [makeup] is too much, such as the extremely long eyelash extensions and tattooed eyebrows, or permanent make up as it’s called.” People may wonder what has happened within the beauty industry to make women reach these heights. However it’s not the beauty industry that’s to blame; they make and sell these products, but they don’t create the trends. It’s the celebrities.
Stars from Audrey Hepburn to Ke$ha are the ones that influence the public and create these styles that change through time. These people are the beauty role models for women everywhere. Personally, I miss the days of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn- the bare look. Thanks to these megastars, women learnt to embrace the glow of their skin, the arch in their eyebrows, the tint on their cheeks and the plump in their lips. Compared to the face paint of our time, the 50’s embraced the woman behind the makeup. Nobody had to be perfect, not even the celebrities. According to Marilyn Monroe herself: “Imperfection is beauty.”
Nowadays, it’s a completely different story, since we are influenced by so many extreme radical celebrities. Women now crave the next trend; they follow it religiously so as to look bold and daring to the world. Anything they see on TV, in the movies or on magazines counts as ‘current’.
Lady Gaga herself is known for pushing the envelope with her makeup. However, when it comes to being a role model she must be questioned, since she is never without makeup. I stress the never. People magazine asked her how often she went to bed with her makeup on and she replied: “Seven. That is not good for your skin, but I’m blessed with good genes.”
There’s a very clear answer for which era had the better role models. The makeup industry itself can also be to blame for women’s perceptions of themselves. They claim that they sell beauty; they give women confidence and freedom with their cosmetics. However, they only want to enhance their face and not their personality. The founder of the cosmetic giant and famous brand Yves Saint Laurent gave his take on makeup for women: “The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
When asked about this issue, part time glamour model Clarissa argued, “The media portrays makeup as the ultimate beauty factor.”
Most call the creation of makeup a combination of art and science, but to me you can’t beat Mother Nature. Do girls really need to wear so much fake cosmetics on their face to look and feel pretty? All a woman needs is her personality to show her beauty.
From the words of Audrey Hepburn, “For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.”
By: nana
