Skin Deep: The Face of Women’s Makeup
Representative of womanhood, femininity and sexuality, it has been both celebrated and vulgarized. Face makeup has long played a role in beauty and women’s endless pursuit of it, but is there a significance in painting our faces that is more than just skin deep? What does makeup symbolize and how does it influence society’s standard of beauty? Women use makeup to highlight feminine features and conceal flaws, but are these also subliminal advertisements? Is makeup a way to demonstrate gender, youth and fertility to potential mates? If this is the case, are women celebrated or subjugated by makeup and does the cosmetic industry sexualize girls too soon by marketing products exclusively for teens?
Makeup has altered faces and sculpted society’s standard of beauty, changing and evolving since it’s origin in ancient times. It’s use is mentioned in The Old Testament when Jezebel paints her eyelids (2 Kings 9:30) and in the book of Ester, where various beauty treatments are depicted. Often, and in the case of Jezebel, it is written that a woman enhances her eyes and lips in attempts to seduce illicit lovers. Ancient civilizations are noted for their use of cosmetics in both men and women. During the Hellenistic Age, ancient Greeks and Romans used skin creams made of beeswax and olive oil and bathed in rosewater and frankincense for their aromatic appeal. Even Alexander the Great is said to have developed an affinity with makeup and perfumes after a campaign through Asia. Egyptians used natural resources like kohl and green malachite to create eyeliner that they believed had magical and healing powers. (www.reshafim.org) Pharaohs and queens requested to be entombed with their cosmetics as not ...
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... effects. The way we perceive and achieve beauty are always changing, but the need and desire to be beautiful will never fade.
Works Cited
Web Pages
“A History of Cosmetics from Ancient Times.” Cosmetics Info. 2012-02-02 cosmeticsinfo.org/Ancient-history-cosmetics> “Herp and Green Iguana Information Collection.” Melissa Kaplan’s Herp Care Collection. 2014-01-01
“How Makeup Works - HowStuffWorks.Com.” HowStuffWorks. 2014-02-03 peopl.comhowstuffworks.com/about-makeup1.htm> “The Science of Makeup.” Youbeauty, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
“What Are The Signs of Parakeet Mating?” AnimalsbyJaneMeggitt, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.
Books
Basten, Fred E. “Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World”. Arcade Pub. New York, NY 2008.
Schaefer, Kayleen. “Hard Times, but Your Lips Look Great”. The New York Times. New York, NY 2008.
Nowadays, she is well known as the living Barbie doll after spending her legacy on extensive cosmetic surgery since 1987. Although she is fifty-seven years old this year, she just look like around thirty. With her experiences in cosmetic surgery, she is now a respected cosmetic surgery advisor, author, famous artist and she even has developed her own microdermabrasion product. All these procedures that she has suffered in the name of beauty is to look younger and better. According to Cindy Jackson, all these things that she did is to achieve her ideal of beauty- looking like...
Beauty is often described as being in the eye of the beholder. However in modern western culture, the old adage really should be beauty is in the eye of the white makeup artist, hair stylist, photographer, photo shop editor, and advertiser. Beauty and body ideals are packaged and sold to the average American so that we can achieve vocational, financial, social, and recreational successes. Mass media and advertising has affected the way that women perceive and treat their own bodies as well as their self-concept. Women are constantly bombarded with unrealistic images and hold themselves to the impossible beauty standards. First, we will explore the role of media in the lives of women and then the biggest body image issue from a diversity stand point, media whitewashing.
Alexandrina Victoria reigned over the British for a longer time than any other royalty in British history. Queen Victoria was a very strong, influential woman and during her reign, England grew into 4 million square miles with 124 million people (“Victoria”). Luz Maria Martinez, a feminist who shares information on women’s history, noted that Queen Victoria did not want the British to adopt the French cosmetic ways so she banned makeup in the 1800s (Martinez). The queen did not like the idea of covering imperfections and she thought that makeup was associated with promiscuity and only worn by actors and prostitutes (Martinez). According to awarded author Christy French, since makeup was banned, women no longer wore full makeup and instead starting using specific ingredients to accentuate certain features on their faces (French). For example, lemon juice was dripped into eyes to add a sparkle, pomade added sheen to lips, and rice powder was used to dust a nose (French). Far from being banned, makeup is part of most women’s everyday routines in America today. Compared to the Victorian women, American women today can be seen wearing full makeup. Stay-at-home moms and workingwomen alike wear makeup. Makeup has become such a normal part of everyday life for American women that it is sometimes seen as a must for a profe...
We all know that cosmetics existed thousands of years ago. Cleopatra used a heavy arsenal of beauty aids to help her shake the foundations of the Roman Empire. Yes, cosmetics and perfumes have a long history, but the consumer industry we live in is relatively recent, a creation of the decades 1890 through 1920. The products hawked in the 19th Century by druggists, perfumers, barbers, physicians, and a colorful assortment of other enterprising individuals were primitive by our standards. Certainly, active ingredients were used with abandon, notably arsenic, lead, and mercury. These were products that really made visible differences, and the consumer was well-advised to be wary of the majority of these mysterious concoctions.
...of Beauty is full of condemnation for cosmetics and threats to women about the ‘dangers’ of cosmetics.
Make up has been around for about 12 thousand years. Woman use makeup to make them look more beautiful, woman now and back that weren’t happy with their natural beauty so they chose to event or come up with something that would make them beautiful. Woman got the idea that they would use some things form nature that they found and smashed it or do something to but on their face. At first it was a poisons thing to use but now a days makeup have reached a point that it’s not dangers to put on now. In this paper making to talk about the different make up their development of each. Some of the makeup history that I’m going to talk about are lipstick, mascara, eye liner, Eye shadow, body painting and a little about nail polish. I’m also going to talk about who wear makeup. I am going to explain why they wear makeup and what it meant to wear makeup.
There are so many forms of propaganda that surround our lives on a every day basis, and these negative messages persuade and shape our thoughts of perfection, of who we are, and who we ought to be. The beauty industry and its’ advertisements is one type of propaganda that ultimately characterizes the way we think of ourselves. The media is relentless in reminding us every chance they get why women need to be perfect and what we need to achieve that. There is endless pressure as women to have a perfect body and appearance. The beauty industry’s aim through advertisement is to make women feel as if we need to buy the beauty products in order to look and feel like the models on television, magazines, and in commercials. The beauty industry is very successful because as women, we often feel compelled to buy whatever is necessary to look “perfect.” In years past the beauty industry has been solely focused on the obvious beauty tools such as makeup, hair accessories, lotion, etc. However, we have become more intrigued by even more aspects of the beauty world such as undergarments and everywhere in between. In other words, media propaganda is more interested in the “selling of sex” now than ever before. An unfortunate yet accurate depiction by actress Helen Mirren reads, “Flesh sells. People don’t want to see pictures of churches, they want to see naked bodies.” Just as Mirren knows this to be true, so does the beauty industry and they have taken it and ran with it.
I have examined and analyzed the COVERGIRL™ NatureLuxe advertisement that uses common feminine stereotypes. In this advertisement, COVERGIRL™, which runs in Seventeen magazines, targets women through their choices of colors, fonts, and images used. Certain stereotypes are used; such as, those who are more feminine tend to prefer lighter, happier colors, such as pink. Also, the use of a celebrity, who many young women look to as an icon, assists in the advertisement of the COVERGIRL™ product. COVERGIRL™, more than likely, is able to successfully market their lip-gloss product in the United States by using common gender stereotypes to show femininity and how those, mainly women, should be presented in today’s society.
2. In 1967, America was hit with its newest trend—Twiggy. She emerged suddenly, appearing with the wink of a darkly lined and thickly lashed eye. Twiggy's impact, how...
In the 1920s, makeup played a vital role especially for women trying to recover from the fears and horrors of the war. After the recession, it lead to an increase of manufacturing new cosmetic products and brands such as Maybelline. As makeup made its debut to the world, stores were opening and slogans such as “try before you buy” just like Gordon Selfridge proclaimed women to get a sense of what products to use along with spreading the word to others if content with the amazing outcome. Face and complexion was considered by most as an important factor for representing beauty of an artificial face. Face powder was very essential because many women wanted to create a light, sandy
Ancient Egyptians’ are widely known for their beauty and method’s for enhancing their facial features. Egyptians’ wore make-up for magical and spiritual reasons, they believed that cleanliness and tidy appearance would open a door of acceptance to the gods. Women and men used Galena Mesdemet (made up of copper and lead ore) to apply to the eyelid, creating a pointed almond shape. Malachite was applied to the face, giving the skin fine definition and colour.
...ibillion dollar industry of beauty. She argues that “Scientific studies have proven that human beings are hard-wired to respond more positively to beautiful people”. She also cites a recent report published by the University of Bristol which states Neanderthals wore “makeup” as long as 50,000 years ago, all in hopes of attracting a mate with the chance for successful breeding (Zilhao 2009).
Makeup has transformed the lives of so many individuals and continues to play an important role in the daily routines of many women (and those men who choose to wear makeup). [Pause] The main reason why makeup initially became integrated into the daily lives of many individuals was to help conceal facial features that people were insecure about. Now, as of 2018, makeup has helped many people in terms of their general self-confidence. The stereotype that makeup is used to impress others is as far off as one can get. No individual would put so much time [Pause], effort [Pause], and education [Pause] into a task that is only to impress others. It is nice to present our self-expression to others, but it all reflects how one feels. One can change
First, women spend huge amounts of money to improve their looks. So here we are unable to escape the reality that we can never be flawless or blemish free; moreover, as long as women have the belief that all greatness de...
Over the years, America has become a society that judges beauty based mainly on appearance. Throughout the course of a day, men and women are bombarded with grotesque images of malnourished supermodels selling their own bodies; claiming that they are somehow beautiful. What does it mean to be beautiful? Can self-worth be measured by body weight, clothing size, or shade of lipstick?. “Sometime ago I came across an article in a beauty magazine in which a man said that there were no more ugly women in the world because make-up, weaves, false eyelashes among other beauty treatments have evened out the playing field and has resulted in all women looking the same” ( Gale 1). At the same time, misinformed judgements have caused women to change their physical appearance in order to become more beautiful rather than embracing their own true beauty. To measure beauty effectively one must remember that beauty cannot be determined by physical attributes, but is found in the personality and uniqueness of each individual.