the art of being a girl

[meitachi]

Every time I walk out of an Ulta or Sephora, I sigh and feel like I'm not just not pretty enough and if only I had enough money to buy all this excellent make-up, I would suddenly feel like I'm good in my face, as if somehow buying all these products would also imbue with the willingness and skill to spend all this extra time applying said products.

With enough time and distance away from those stores, I feel a lot better about myself and how I look.

I like make-up because it's fun to play with, and I want to continue liking it for that, not because I need it to prop up my self-confidence.

But goddamn, that's some effective(ly demoralizing) marketing.

Comments

[chaos-harmony.livejournal.com]

True story: a lot of makeup shops use deliberately harsh lighting to create the illusion that you have worse skin than you actually do, so you'll be motivated to buy their products. WHICH IS BRILLIANT & ALSO HORRIBLE. :/

I too love playing with makeup (especially eye makeup, which I apply daily as a matter of routine now -- my primers and Sephora Naked palette and collection of eyeliners, LET ME SHOW YOU IT; at pentathlon training, multiple parties have noted that I am That Girl Who Somehow Magically Keeps Her Eye Makeup Intact While Swimming, because URBAN DECAY PRIMER, BITCH). And I'm a huge, huge proponent/practitioner of that whole "putting on makeup as ARMOR" thing (like clothing, different makeup styles and colors and levels of obviousness can convey different messages!), but. BUT. I think it's also important to get comfortable with one's face au natural, because a good makeup job tends to highlight/enhance, not hide, and the canvas can still be lovely with paint off, no?

TL;DR, IUNNO, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I THINK YOU ARE SUPER PRETTY?? And on a slightly more serious note, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with using makeup to boost self-confidence, or even makeup as something you just dab on in a two-minute swipe of eyeliner as a matter of daily habit (as I do!). But beauty marketing, like high fashion marketing, is such a bitch of a game sometimes, ugh.

[meiface.livejournal.com]

Brilliant and horrible about sums it up!

And I agree that makeup boosting self-confidence is fine - whatever makes you look and feel good about yourself, y'know? My problem lies more in the way it reduces, for me, all my life problems into not feeling pretty enough and if only I had the make-up to fix how I looked, I would feel beautiful and all my other problems would go away! Obviously untrue, and I know it, but that is the feeling that creeps up on me the longer I linger in makeup stores, ugh.

Seriously though, most days I'm fine. i'm actually probably the most stable emotionally now than I've ever been in my life! Sometimes little things still get under your skin though, lifetime of issues, etc etc. \o/ But thank you. ♥