swaly
Well-known member
I've always been a staunch defender of beauty products, against the naysayers who proclaim going totally natural is socially or politically superior, or reflects a feminine "strength of character" and belief in one's own natural beauty. I have no problem with the use of cosmetics itself and think you can have a totally solid self-image and still delight in the use of colors and powders and creams and all the bells & whistles.
But my occasional wonder/bemusement is twofold:
• I sometimes have one of those stop-and-think moments when I see stuff like sculpted roses on fake nails, or creams with bizarre supplements added to it, or fake eyelashes made of animal fur, etc. I just get this feeling like the entire culture of using beauty products is just...so...weird. Not shameful, not "bad," only that it's such an incredibly strange social phenomenon. Factor in beauty practices from all over the world, and suddenly it all seems so alien to me! It's like looking at the same word over and over again––it suddenly loses context and meaning and seems inexplicable.
• The beauty industry and tried-and-true tactics corporations use to "hook" buyers. I hate the gimmicks of the beauty world and the fact that I can't get a straight pitch from anyone. This is sort of a separate topic altogether but it does factor in to the momentary "What am I doing with this oddly-colored goop on my lips?" feeling I get from time to time.
But my occasional wonder/bemusement is twofold:
• I sometimes have one of those stop-and-think moments when I see stuff like sculpted roses on fake nails, or creams with bizarre supplements added to it, or fake eyelashes made of animal fur, etc. I just get this feeling like the entire culture of using beauty products is just...so...weird. Not shameful, not "bad," only that it's such an incredibly strange social phenomenon. Factor in beauty practices from all over the world, and suddenly it all seems so alien to me! It's like looking at the same word over and over again––it suddenly loses context and meaning and seems inexplicable.
• The beauty industry and tried-and-true tactics corporations use to "hook" buyers. I hate the gimmicks of the beauty world and the fact that I can't get a straight pitch from anyone. This is sort of a separate topic altogether but it does factor in to the momentary "What am I doing with this oddly-colored goop on my lips?" feeling I get from time to time.