Skin Deep: The Face of Women's Makeup

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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.

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