Sunday, 21 November, 2004

cos-me-tics

last Tuesday my flatmate A had her usual Tuesday cook-out with her friends whom she met at the International Student Centre on various occasions during the first few weeks of semester. i often call them her clique, but they are a fun bunch nonetheless. this time it?s A?s turn to offer the kitchen space and she had kindly invited me to join in their pizza and waffle making session. i accepted the invitation willingly; waffles and ice-cream are much too difficult to resist!

i am usually repelled by such large groupie affairs, as the past high-school scenarios of orientation group rendezvous have proved to be more frustratingly trivial, often superficial and purely ?social? than easy-going. and habitually these rendezvous are filled with discussions of relationships which can be interesting but are often annoying. but these are my subjective and biased opinions?

of course we ended up talking about relationships? and anything vaguely related to the topic. one of the topics indulged was to do with makeup. this, for a change, was something i found intriguing because most men apparently don?t like/fancy women with makeup and i've heard this time and again over various occasions... now isn?t that great?! but is this really so? and why then do women feel that they have to put them on and it is considered rude if you don?t? i remember doing part-time vacation work once at an exhibition, as a basic translator (mandarin-english) for this Spanish engineering pump company and one of the organisers of the event pulled me aside during my first day to request that i added more makeup to my face. i was slightly embarrassed but annoyed. i was idealistic. i thought i was there to do my work and not to look pretty? in fact, i was insulted by the fact that i had to put on these artificial colouring to fit into the role i am supposed to perform.

sometimes i wonder why many european women put on so much makeup? perhaps it is to add more definition and colour to their fair complexions? and if that?s the case, why should non-europeans bother since they have much clearer-defined features with their darker skin and hair?? but surely humans have indulged in body painting activities since the days of Egyptian pharaohs? but why then if most men prefer women without makeup, do women still keep up the practice?! or do most men actually prefer women without makeup and if they do, why; and if not, why not? do women uptake the cosmetic-ritual solely for the enjoyment of men? why do they use makeup anyways?

share your views and opinions? i'm curious...

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Sunday, 21 November, 2004 at 16:36 hrs
Comments

you scared people away!

Posted by: tiggie on Tuesday, 23 November, 2004 at 11:35 hrs

c'mon... i'm a 'furry' friendly ball of fun!

i'll start the ball rolling...

maybe if i didn't have to get caked up with makeup for dance performances i might have liked the the idea of putting some facial colouring... but it just feels so weird to have a "second-skin". hmmm, i suppose it can be fun...

someone was saying that he would be appalled to have to kiss a girl with makeup on... to extend the reasoning further -- maybe women use makeup for protecting themselves from being harrassed! hahahah... probably the opposite is true; they want their attention?!

Posted by: hrm on Tuesday, 23 November, 2004 at 11:46 hrs

Get a full face tattoo, see how that turns their crank!

Speaking as a member of the less fair sex, I can back up the "no makeup is better" theory wholeheartedly. I mean, it's not unattractive to see that a woman has taken care enough to want to look hot, but honestly? You'd definitely like to think that lot would be coming off before the cuddling starts.

I think in a business setting, it has more to do with the immediate boss or perhaps local cultural mores (as in your Spanish company case). I shouldn't think it would take much to challenge it in this day and age - how could they have a leg to stand on, legally?

Posted by: gaijin on Tuesday, 23 November, 2004 at 22:57 hrs

perhaps guys like women to have some makeup to look good or better than usual - this might gain them bragging rights (they're dating women who know how to make themselves look good). But not too much to the point where one notices the makeup and not the face beneath it (if one can actually discern it). Women use makeup because they're conscious about flaws, and they want to have what appears to be perfect skin to rope in attention (be it from men or women). It's also a confidence booster thing - if you think you look nice, you feel better about yourself.

Posted by: monoceros on Wednesday, 24 November, 2004 at 04:58 hrs

great to have a voice from the male-camp!

i guess i am idealistic... i like to think that we don't need to cover up our flaws because people ought to like us for who we are... hmmm

Posted by: hrm on Thursday, 25 November, 2004 at 20:30 hrs

You should check out this new book by Umberto Eco. It's called History of Beauty, and he covers the perceptions of beauty from way back with the Greeks to present day. Look at page 217. Baldassare Castiglione, 1513-1518, writes "Haven't you noticed how much prettier a woman is if, when she makes up, she does so with so little that those who see her cannot tell whether she is made up or not?...How much nicer it is to see a woman, a good looing one I mean, who obviously has nothing on her face, neither white nor red, but just her natural color, which may be pale or sometimes slightly tinged with a blush caused by embarrassment or the like, maybe with her hair tousled and whose gestures are simple and natural, without working at being beautiful? This is that disparaged purity that pleases the eye and the spirit, which always fear the deceptions of art."

Posted by: monoceros on Friday, 26 November, 2004 at 01:58 hrs

oh ja... i should! thanks for sharing!! :C)

Posted by: hrm on Friday, 26 November, 2004 at 02:02 hrs

Hmm. I definitely vote against make-up too - at least in all but the smallest, most subliminal quantities (like Eco says).

Although mascara is ok, I think. Although possibly mainly because I wish I could wear it, but it just makes me look like an absolute goth. Unsurprisingly, I suppose.

Posted by: nick on Monday, 29 November, 2004 at 04:29 hrs

haha nick! i didn' know about this little secret! maybe they have colourless or brown or blond mascara in Japan?

lovely sanshin! you must definitely have a performance when you return! wow.

Posted by: hrm on Monday, 29 November, 2004 at 10:25 hrs

Gosh: colourless mascara? I didn't know there was such a thing! Can you actually see it?

sanshin: thanks! I'd be happy to give a little performance! I just need to learn the words to some songs, though...

Posted by: nick on Friday, 3 December, 2004 at 05:47 hrs

oh! i was just guessing that they might have something like a colourless mascara... i would imagine the effect might be visible but if you are looking for colour... it might be just your natural lash colour... sorry for making it sound like it exists when i don't really know if it does! i don't mind patenting the idea though! hahahah

yes! we want a sanshin performance!

Posted by: hrm on Thursday, 9 December, 2004 at 04:18 hrs

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