skin deep

I don’t know if this entry is going to be of any interest to anyone—it’s essentially disjointed ramblings on makeup and the cosmetics industry. This has been on my mind since I’ve been spending the last two weeks roaming around trying to figure out what I will be wearing on my face on my wedding day. Because I haven’t really bothered with makeup recently—my usual grooming routine consists of deodorant, sunscreen, and lip balm or lip gloss—this has been quite a confusing and involved process.

My mother was not a makeup wearer so my initial forays into the world of cosmetics was guided by the mighty and trusted writers of Seventeen and YM magazine and my preteen insecurities, and provided adequate adornment for my not-so-great middle school years. Orangeish Cover Girl Foundation. Drugstore lipstick on the teeth (and uneven lip colouring—actually I still can’t get my lipstick to look even). Bonnebell Concealer that was too light for me. I don’t think I ever learned how to apply anything properly except eyeshadow and powder.

I used makeup more frequently in college, when I found foundations that actually matched my skin, because I went to more expensive stores where they actually let you try it. It was somewhat addictive—the subtle way that your face seemed to immediately brighten whenever you put the stuff on. However, I eventually reduced my makeup usage upon hearing that it wasn’t very good for your skin (It was pretty much reserved for when I wanted to impress certain ::cough:: people). Ironically enough, that came primarily as a result of Douglas Cosmetics Sales Associate telling me that “You don’t really need makeup! This stuff is bad for your skin anyways”.

Part of my avoidance of cosmetics stems from feeling like we have too much of a “pill society”.* In today’s mass customization consumer society, we’re always looking for a simple fix for all our problems. Wrinkles? Try buying anti-wrinkle cream. Want your eyes to be whiter? Try buying Visine. Want longer eyelashes? Try using a lengthening mascara.

Moreover, many beauty treatments seem to prompt an endless cycle of further purchases: You buy gel to style your hair—resulting in the need for clarifying shampoos to get the gunk out; You use a hairdryer to give it volume—you need to apply hair damage-treating conditioner to repair the heat damage. In fact, some women have been experiencing hair loss as a result of all the treatments they’ve put their hair through. Exfoliating face washes can irritate the skin, causing them to produce more oil, potentially leading to acne, or the need for powder, which may in turn clog the skin, producing the need for concealer…).

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My recent experimentation in wedding makeup has made me less wary of make-up. The results have been fairly positive—eyeliner apparently makes my eyes appear huge, and though I can’t seem to tell the difference, mascara makes it look as though I actually have eyelashes. Part of me is tempted to undergo this beauty routine daily, but at what cost? I don’t want to end up being one of those people that can’t leave the house without makeup because they think they look terrible without it.

Do I look prettier with makeup because society has trained our eyes to see in certain ways? If I feel more attractive or more beautiful with painted colours on my face, am I participating and feeding into an industry that fuels women’s insecurities about their looks?

Make-up can make someone look really great, but when I look at myself more closely—it just seems all very bizarre to me—the painting of eyelashes, the eye lining, the blush. Call it my paranoia of cancer in this fabricated chemical world, but I feel uneasy with all this stuff on my face.

In the end, my approach to cosmetic beauty is much like my approach to taking exams: The best thing you can do is to sleep well, drink water, eat healthy and exercise. All else is smoke and mirrors. (Perhaps we can say, it’s what goes into your body that counts, not what you put over it).

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I’ve been anxious, because I still have yet to figure out the “perfect makeup” for my wedding day, but I’m sick and tired of running around and trying products and returning them. Culture tells me that a bride must look absolutely perfect on her wedding day. My skin must be flawless. My makeup must be impeccable. But it’s time I stop believing in and stop fretting over the superficial elements of a wedding ceremony and concern myself with its transcendent meaning.

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A few resources I’ve stumbled up on in my makeup adventures:

Cosmetic Database ~ rates different types of cosmetics depending on the content of the chemicals Makeup Alley ~ user reviews of pretty much every makeup product out there
Beauty Brains ~ two scientists provide some useful analysis and information on how makeup works; criticized for being little hokey/biased but there’s some useful information
Beauty Industry Who Owns What ~ Most makeup brands are owned by the same companies. Here’s a listing.


* Here’s a little humorous stab at our “pill society” from my brother's website