I think I could open luggage store with all the baggage I carry around. Sarah's post today (obviously not Gormenghastocabulary XI, 'cos lexiponage is always good) got me started at "I hate feeling like I'm suppose to wear make-up" and a few easy steps I wound my way to "I'm going to die alone* as the crazy old dog women".
I know I've mentioned my make-up baggage before but today I remembered the day my dermatologist (of all people) say to 19-year old me that wearing make-up regularly "would come" like make-up wearing was as inevitable as needing deodorant and shaving.
While I'm on the subject of beauty and baggage - I wish the dance studio didn't have giant floor to ceiling mirrors. It really ruins the feeling that I'm pretty and at least 20 lbs lighter when I dance if I catch a glimpse of myself.
*despite Nettie, my 5 brothers and SILs, 6 nieces and nephews, their spouses, and untold great-nieces and nephews by then,... being around.
Showing posts with label make-up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make-up. Show all posts
25 August 2009
15 September 2008
hmmm...
Is it just me or is something terribly wrong with the world when my 10 year old sister spend the ride to church* putting on my make-up (and doing a good job of it, I think she even got the eyeshadow right since I didn't notice it) and I'm reaching for the Chapstick? Something besides the fact that my foundation is a shade to light for her, since she puts it on light enough that there isn't a line at her jaw or anything.
Slightly related - last week Sis was disappointed I didn't let her take communion. She was all "good bread, yummy. Can I have some???" and I was like "um, no. It's bread and yet it's not just bread." This week I let her (I wasn't expecting communion this week, big church only does it once a month). For this young adult service, we come down front take a piece of bread (it actually is really good bread - Challah bread, I think) then dip it in the "wine" (sweetened grape juice). Bread dipped in grape juice was not nearly as yummy as the bread on it's own. Sis was a little disappointed and disgusted. This might make her think twice about 'ummm, yummy bread. I want a pinch', next time.
*My church started a Sunday evening service this month. It's kind of "church-light" but we sing lots and I don't have to get up early. So I may keep going.
Slightly related - last week Sis was disappointed I didn't let her take communion. She was all "good bread, yummy. Can I have some???" and I was like "um, no. It's bread and yet it's not just bread." This week I let her (I wasn't expecting communion this week, big church only does it once a month). For this young adult service, we come down front take a piece of bread (it actually is really good bread - Challah bread, I think) then dip it in the "wine" (sweetened grape juice). Bread dipped in grape juice was not nearly as yummy as the bread on it's own. Sis was a little disappointed and disgusted. This might make her think twice about 'ummm, yummy bread. I want a pinch', next time.
*My church started a Sunday evening service this month. It's kind of "church-light" but we sing lots and I don't have to get up early. So I may keep going.
28 February 2008
Not Really Me
I've been thinking about image lately, not sure why (might have to do with my incredibly desperate need for a haircut), and the Smart Set articles offered some interesting points but all the advice and history doesn't change my complaints. There are several reasons I don't wear make-up or worry about my clothes too much.
One reason I don't wear make-up is I haven't found a foundation I like; Honu-Girl and Sarah have pledged to drag me to the Mac counter and solve that problem. Another reason is I regularly have one or two of the pimples that make-up only makes look worse, so why bother? Another reason, the five minutes I might spend putting on make-up could be spent sleeping; I don't think anyone has a way to get around that. Then there are all the social/emotional/political problems I have with make-up, which can be boiled down to, "why isn't my face good enough?"
Part of the reason I don't much worry about my clothes is because I'm hard to fit. I'm taller than average and so have broader shoulders, longer arms, longer rise, longer legs, longer torso, and longer fingers and feet, than clothing manufacturers seem to think I should. If you want numbers I posted them here.) I do alright with pants; they've caught on that taller women often need a longer rise as well as longer inseam. But blouses just don't fit. I don't know of any "tall women's" stores around here. There was one at Tyson's Corner but I wasn't tall enough for their clothes, at least not in high school, maybe now that I'm not so skinny I could find stuff there (and I traveled several hundred miles to shop). And no one seems to make tall fat women's clothing; I not that fat but I'm bigger than the largest "tall" size in store and catalogs I've seen, at least for tops, if they carry tops in talls. I like mens shirts - no shape, but they reach my wrists and don't pull at the shoulders. Besides dressing to look nice takes effort and thought (and enthusiasm*) that I have a hard time mustering first thing in the morning.
On the flip side of the coin are all the social/emotional/political pressures that boil down to you'll never get a man looking like that.
*An example of how little thought, effort, and enthusiasm for the morning I have: The stubble on my legs can grow so long it bothers me in pants and I will still forget, or run out of time, to shave my legs during a 45 minute shower. (Most weekday morning showers aren't that long, 10-30 minutes.) This isn't uncommon, unless I'm swimming regularly.
One reason I don't wear make-up is I haven't found a foundation I like; Honu-Girl and Sarah have pledged to drag me to the Mac counter and solve that problem. Another reason is I regularly have one or two of the pimples that make-up only makes look worse, so why bother? Another reason, the five minutes I might spend putting on make-up could be spent sleeping; I don't think anyone has a way to get around that. Then there are all the social/emotional/political problems I have with make-up, which can be boiled down to, "why isn't my face good enough?"
Part of the reason I don't much worry about my clothes is because I'm hard to fit. I'm taller than average and so have broader shoulders, longer arms, longer rise, longer legs, longer torso, and longer fingers and feet, than clothing manufacturers seem to think I should. If you want numbers I posted them here.) I do alright with pants; they've caught on that taller women often need a longer rise as well as longer inseam. But blouses just don't fit. I don't know of any "tall women's" stores around here. There was one at Tyson's Corner but I wasn't tall enough for their clothes, at least not in high school, maybe now that I'm not so skinny I could find stuff there (and I traveled several hundred miles to shop). And no one seems to make tall fat women's clothing; I not that fat but I'm bigger than the largest "tall" size in store and catalogs I've seen, at least for tops, if they carry tops in talls. I like mens shirts - no shape, but they reach my wrists and don't pull at the shoulders. Besides dressing to look nice takes effort and thought (and enthusiasm*) that I have a hard time mustering first thing in the morning.
On the flip side of the coin are all the social/emotional/political pressures that boil down to you'll never get a man looking like that.
*An example of how little thought, effort, and enthusiasm for the morning I have: The stubble on my legs can grow so long it bothers me in pants and I will still forget, or run out of time, to shave my legs during a 45 minute shower. (Most weekday morning showers aren't that long, 10-30 minutes.) This isn't uncommon, unless I'm swimming regularly.
Made up
I recently discovered The Smart Set (thank you for the link, whoever you are) and they've had a couple of posts that coincided with something I've been thinking about lately. The stories had some interesting points, even if I don't agree. For some reason make-up has been on my mind, I'll tell you about why I don't wear it much in a later post.
The author, Paula Marantz Cohen, starts out talking about makeup as
Cohen gives a brief history of cosmetics. Cleopatra's excesses, Queen Elizabeth's excesses, Louis XIV's excesses, Queen Victoria's disapproval. It's all fashion and some self-consciousness. Monarchs have a great deal of influence over fashion (Louis, IIRC, also like how high heels made his legs look and suddenly everyone was wearing them.) so the makeup preferences of a queen can change what everyone wears. I don't think the general disapproval of makeup in the U.S. in the 19th century was based on the fear that men might make themselves up to look like women and try and trick other men. The whole women are liars and makeup is lying idea is much more plausible to me. I also disagree with most of her discussion on the use of cosmetics to alter skin color. The often arsenic-induced pallor of well off women was a sign that she didn't have to work outside ever and therefore had servants; the healthy (or not so) glow of a suntan implies outdoor activity and vitality (and a sometimes a willingness to spend money to court wrinkles and skin cancer).
I agree that make-up, like all purely aesthetic undertakings, is kind of a form of art. Not up there with painting or music but an attempt to reach an ideal. It is definitely about attempting to reach some artificial beauty ideal. I take offense at the implication that LL Bean shoppers and people who enjoy camping all think wearing makeup is weird. I don't think the time-outs women get from their day to check their makeup is any part of why women are less violent than men; I think relative levels of testosterone is far more important.
The idea of makeup as a mask, however, intrigues me. Makeup as a mask can be good or bad. On the positive side a woman can use makeup as a cue to herself and others as to her mood. Or she can use different makeup for different settings (work vs. going out on the town) and the process of putting on that makeup might set her mood or get her in the right mind set. On the negative side masks are often meant to prevent others from seeing what's really underneath. I admit it's a little bit of a stretch, but what if the message that her face isn't good enough to present to the world might make a woman think she isn't good enough to present to the world, leading her mask who she is and present a mask personality to everyone?
The author, Paula Marantz Cohen, starts out talking about makeup as
an update of the Narcissus myth. One cannot apply it — or at least not well — without looking in a mirror. The self-reflexive gaze required has elements of the lover’s gaze: Eyes and lips are focal points and demand the most attention and care. Thus, applying makeup is a ritual of self-love, a kind of worship at the shrine of the self, though it can also reflect insecurity and even self-loathing.Not so much a lover's gaze when I put on eye makeup. I hope my lover would be staring deep into my eyes not focusing on exactly how many eyelashes I have and trying to figure out if one can actually get mascara on that innermost tiny one. (Sometimes but it usually involves carefully wiping smudges off my lower lid afterwards.) When applying makeup I'm not taking in my face as a whole (much less gazing at it), at least not when doing anything that takes detail, but rather concentrate on a detail area then "zooming out" to check the overall look.
Cohen gives a brief history of cosmetics. Cleopatra's excesses, Queen Elizabeth's excesses, Louis XIV's excesses, Queen Victoria's disapproval. It's all fashion and some self-consciousness. Monarchs have a great deal of influence over fashion (Louis, IIRC, also like how high heels made his legs look and suddenly everyone was wearing them.) so the makeup preferences of a queen can change what everyone wears. I don't think the general disapproval of makeup in the U.S. in the 19th century was based on the fear that men might make themselves up to look like women and try and trick other men. The whole women are liars and makeup is lying idea is much more plausible to me. I also disagree with most of her discussion on the use of cosmetics to alter skin color. The often arsenic-induced pallor of well off women was a sign that she didn't have to work outside ever and therefore had servants; the healthy (or not so) glow of a suntan implies outdoor activity and vitality (and a sometimes a willingness to spend money to court wrinkles and skin cancer).
I agree that make-up, like all purely aesthetic undertakings, is kind of a form of art. Not up there with painting or music but an attempt to reach an ideal. It is definitely about attempting to reach some artificial beauty ideal. I take offense at the implication that LL Bean shoppers and people who enjoy camping all think wearing makeup is weird. I don't think the time-outs women get from their day to check their makeup is any part of why women are less violent than men; I think relative levels of testosterone is far more important.
The idea of makeup as a mask, however, intrigues me. Makeup as a mask can be good or bad. On the positive side a woman can use makeup as a cue to herself and others as to her mood. Or she can use different makeup for different settings (work vs. going out on the town) and the process of putting on that makeup might set her mood or get her in the right mind set. On the negative side masks are often meant to prevent others from seeing what's really underneath. I admit it's a little bit of a stretch, but what if the message that her face isn't good enough to present to the world might make a woman think she isn't good enough to present to the world, leading her mask who she is and present a mask personality to everyone?
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