“She wore eye makeup and her hair was fuller, like a lion’s mane.
She still looked every inch the lady, but she was exciting now”.
Jacqueline Susan,
Valley of the Dolls
Not so long ago I was involved in a rather strange discussion about makeup and lying. It all started with a true story about a guy, who sued his new wife for lying to him and not delivering what he had expected from her in the looks department. The story goes that when he saw her for the first time without any makeup (after the wedding), he was so disappointed that he couldn’t help it but file for divorce and a lawsuit. So here comes the question: is wearing makeup a form of deceit?
My first impulse is to answer “Of course, not!” How can something as harmless as wearing makeup be translated into an intentional lie? But let’s investigate a little, shall we? I’ll sacrifice myself as an example to make a point here. I usually try to dress nicely and “put on my face” in the morning to look, so to speak, presentable: even out my skin tone, make my eyes stand out, give my cheeks believable rosy glow, and my natural lip color is sure not the shade of a ripe raspberry. I also spare myself any lawsuits by washing off all that painted beauty every evening. But again, other than my dear husband, who else has ever seen my real face?
I think it doesn’t make a lot of sense to blow out a simple and widely acceptable beauty regimen into a huge, worthy-of-spending-money-on-a-lawyer, problem. To me, as well as many women I know, makeup is just a tool to help us feel better and have some fun while we are at it. It helps to show many sides of our personalities – you can look professional, carefree, flirty, sporty, sultry when the situation allows it. Makeup is not a mask we are wearing to hide what’s underneath, it’s a tool to help our multi-dimensional characters shine. And it keeps us in better mood when we pass an occasional mirror and catch a glimpse of our grinning face with the favorite lipstick on it. No harm, right?
its shallow considering girls who choose not to wear make up or as i call it a mask,get picked on. no not by guys..picked on by girls…the message getting across should be looks dont matter.but when so many girls hide their flaws, one has to wonder..its obviously an insecurity about how they look.and yes it is lying,deceitful and wrong,but hey thats society for ya
Kcrock, I’m with you when you say it’s shallow to get picked on when you don’t wear any makeup. I just think that it has to go both ways. In my opinion, it’s shallow to judge others period, no matter whether you wear makeup or not. It’s about personal choice, really, so I wouldn’t go as far as calling women who wear makeup insecure; that’s the form of judging to me. I’m all for freedom of expressing yourself, for some people it means wearing makeup, for others it may be dying their hair green. And another thing, is it also deceitful and wrong to wear perfume when we all know that nobody smells like a flower or musk? I tend to think that on the scale of all the other problems we have in the world at the moment, wearing (or not) makeup is the least we need to worry about.
It’s funny how i always hear ugly women preach “beauty comes from within”, but then smother themselves with makeup.
Congrats on lying to yourselves, and those around you
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natural.skin.is.beautiful.
confidence.is.beautiful.