There was a time I was concerned about whether being into makeup was just another hobby, or if it made me a vain person. I realized that to be “vain” is just a judgement that gets thrown around, and we do our best to be non-judgemental in this space! But here’s a couple thoughts on “vanity”:
- You can love makeup while not being so concerned about your appearance and other people’s opinions on it.
- You can care about how you present yourself to the world without being consumed by it.
Now my concern has shifted to a bigger question that’s plagued me in the background for years:
Is makeup self-expression, or self-oppression?
My answer? It can be both. As with everything, there’s a light side and a dark side to the world of makeup.
The Darker Side of Makeup
The dark side involves consumerism instigated by the corporations in their relentless pursuit of profit. If they’re good at it, they’ll sell us things “we didn’t even know we needed”. How? Well, by assuming we want to “correct” presumed “flaws” such as discolouration, pores, blemishes, texture, wrinkles, and other normal human occurances. They aren’t subtle about it, and they don’t have to be – most of us consumers are under the assumption that of course, we want to “fix” these things to appear more visually appealing, and not just to others, but to ourselves – we, too, fall into the trap. We have an idea in our head of what constitutes beauty, and we strive to bring it to life on our faces.
Where did that image of beauty come from? The more subtle marketing techniques of course – it’s very innocent really. Present an image. Pick a human, buy into the assumptions above – even out the skintone, blur it, add colour in strategic places. Here you go.
Do you like the image presented to you? Do you find it attractive? If you do, then not only do you appreciate it, but you want to bring it home and embody it yourself. You’re telling me if I buy this primer, and foundation, and this face palette, and use these brushes, I can present myself in this image of beauty? Sold.
That’s the dark side. What about the light side?
The Lighter Side of Makeup
Makeup is self-expression. It’s a choice, a celebration of what makes us unique! It puts the power in our hands as to how we wish to present ourselves to the world. Maybe we’ve fallen in love with a popular makeup look or application technique. Well, we have the products, the tools and the autonomy to execute it in our daily lives! Have your own vision, your own unique interpretation of makeup that makes you feel confident, powerful, creative? You can embrace it!
There’s something very powerful about being able to alter your appearance to your preference. To enhance your lips with a little lipstick because you love the way it looks, and you love the way you feel. Hit the lids with purple eyeshadow, just because you love purples (and how they bring out your brown eyes).
These are just contrasting examples of the dark and light side of makeup – but where do you draw the line?
How do you navigate the good and bad in makeup?
It’s all in the intention!
Intentional purchasing
You can curb the negative side of makeup by being intentional about your purchases, first of all. Setting the intention to bring in only items you’ll use and love curbs the temptation to overspend. It helps to know why you want something, make sure it fits into your routine (or the routine you wish to develop), and then come home with it.
Consciously engaging with marketing
Being aware of marketing tactics helps you make a conscious choice as to how you engage with them. Honesty, sometimes I have a budget and I’m looking for something new and exciting, and I’m perfectly happy engaging with skilled marketing to entice me one way or another. That’s usually followed by research to make sure the thing will indeed do what I’m hoping it will, but the point is it’s fine to dance with advertising, but it’s important to be conscious of it!
Mindful makeup application
Is your makeup routine about “fixing” this or “hiding” that? Who’s telling you that you need to fix and hide? Of course it’s okay to want to conceal, highlight, correct, contour – makeup can do some magical things! But when you’re doing it, the conversation you’re having with yourself is important. Enjoying the process of applying makeup and appreciating the results is much different than going in with a distain for your canvas. What do you love about yourself and want to enhance? If you’re having a tough time picking something, start by appreciating the makeup; rather than fixating on a blemish, think “wow, this concealer is lightweight and high-coverage. Amazing.” Even thoughts like, “what an excellent smooth base for my most favourite makeup to shine on” can be uplifting.
Embrace the lighter side by “decorating”
When my kids were born, I started to worry about the message I was sending to them by wearing makeup every day. Would they feel imperfect in their bare skin? Could they grow up thinking they’d have to wear makeup like mommy to fit in, to be accepted, to feel beautiful? Then I came across this idea, and I’m sorry that I can’t remember where I saw it (probably Reddit), but the advice was this:
Humourous as it is, rather than leaning on our go-to makeup application dialogue (“I’m doing my face” or “I have to go put my face on”), replace it with this: “I’m decorating”.
Decorating isn’t a chore to be done out of necessity to “hide” parts of whatever it is you’re decorating (your home, or your tree, or your planner) – it’s about taking what’s there already, adding some joy, and celebrating it.
Until next time, happy decorating!
Featured image by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash
