Open Thread: Makeup

Hosted by makeup

Isn't it a strange thing, when you really think about it, that humans have - all throughout our history and in every culture I know of - been fascinated with the idea of painting over their faces?

I love makeup.  I love the "traditionally-feminine" use of making my face more attractive, the colors more balanced, the skin more flawless-looking, etc.  I love the slightly-more-subversive use of using it to actually change my face - bold and unnatural colors, wild effects that are more art than enhancement, creating the illusion of shadows and angles where none exist, transforming me into a completely different person.  I love stage makeup, using colors and special effects to give myself scars or open wounds, or to make myself elderly and wrinkled, or young and flawless as a porcelain doll.  And I love face paint - cute cheek art and full-faced fantasy masks and everything in between, love the smell of it and the feel of it on my face and the memories of fairs and festivals it evokes.

I love how guys look in makeup, and I wish it were more culturally-accepted in our society for men to wear it, because my husband looks amazing in just a little bit of eyeliner and my dark brown lipstick.

I love how makeup looks on the shelf, the bright colors and creamy textures and enticing shimmers, like candy for grown-ups.

And I understand that a lot of women don't like makeup, and hate the fact that they're expected to wear it.  I don't like that a woman's face needs to be made-up to be considered "professional" or even traditionally beautiful, I don't like that women who don't wear makeup are seen as less feminine.  For that matter, I don't like that women who DO wear makeup are seen as more feminine, because I don't particularly consider myself super-feminine.  I know that there's a lot of cultural baggage surrounding makeup, that poor body image is often pushed in an attempt to sell it, and that the beauty industry as a whole has about a million and a half problems.

But I still kinda like it.

Open thread!  What do you think about makeup?  Do you love it?  Hate it?  Never leave the house without it?  Refuse to wear it?  Consider it a fun toy for special occasions?  Secretly kinda like it but never wear it, either because you feel like you don't know how to apply it or you think it would send a message about you that you don't want or you don't think it would be socially acceptable?  If you don't like or wear "traditional" beauty-type makeup, what do you think about stage makeup and face paint, or even older, ritual practices of painting the face and body?  What's the coolest thing you've ever done with makeup (of any kind?)

Wednesday Reminder!  Open threads are meant to be fun, chatty places to discuss anything that doesn’t “fit” into a deconstruction or other regular thread.  This can be something totally off-the-wall and random, or it can be something interesting that a deconstruction prompted you to think of, but which would be derailing to get into in the deconstruction thread.  When in doubt, move it over here - that’s what it’s for!  

And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!