Is Makeup Like War Paint?

originally posted by: zazzafrazz
a reply to: ladyvalkyrie

She's wearing Lipstick, Mascara and eyeshadow

And a little eyeliner too, I think.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

NOOOO!!!!

ZaZZ!!!!

Can't be!

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Lol come on girly! You know it's true

a reply to: zazzafrazz

I know but she's soooo pretty!

I don't want to believe it!

I want to be like a man (for a minute only!) and believe it's au naturale!

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Pffft it never is natural honey, It never is

I've always found the subject of make up interesting, in it's deeper psychological meanings.
I became a cosmetologist early in my life, but only wanted to do make up for the film and tv industry.

My reasons for using make up really vary. But basically, I see it as an artistic self expression.
Just as a painter might use a canvas and color to express their emotions, I simply used my face. The same way some people use clothing to express how they feel each day, using form and color and texture. I didn't have much money when I was young, I couldn't carry around my self expression in clothes very easily, it was cheaper to use make up, and gave me much more possibilities than clothing.

I am also very aware of how it impacts others. I once got a job in my twenties because I purposefully went to the interview wearing no make up and with my hair looking incredibly dorky. I got the job, and I am convinced I would not have if I had come in looking as I usually do. Being pretty and made up is not always desirable.

In some jobs, I found it was necessary to wear make up in order to have people take you seriously. Lack of it can sometimes be seen as a lack of confidence and/or professionalism.

I personally am not competative with other females, and do not want to attract their attention. So I have at times felt torn between wanting to put on colors to express a mood, and having to go without so that I can make friends with the women in the room.

But there were plenty of times I used to make up to hide myself- to blend in to the surroundings. I had very bad cystic acne, and sometimes, if I didn't cover it up with make up, people would notice me more. I would be a monster in the room that people would whisper about.

Now, I am at an age in which make up is a bad idea and only makes me look older and ickier, so I kind of miss being able to play around with that! Putting on little touches of gold and peach when I am feeling joyous, purple and blue when I am feeling spiritual or thoughtful, red and black when I feel excited....

I sometimes have our neighbors hire me to do make for special occasions, and I have fun again.

Now that I've read the rest of the thread...

It always makes me laugh when guys say they hate make up on women, and yet most of the time, they can't tell a woman IS wearing make up! What they mean is- I don't like women wearing badly done make up.

That woman in that photo a few posts back? She is wearing make up.



But there is some protective reasons for make up sometimes- like my use in the past to make my cysts less visible.
And I still feel defensive of that when men say there is something bad about hiding yourself this way. Who are you to say a stranger should make visible and evident to you their pains and insecurities, weaknesses and vulnerabilities??

You think that you should write out your deep insecurities on your face so that strangers can see them? Put those father /son issues on your forehead?

I think that it is acceptable and perhaps even beneficial to keep some of yourself to yourself in public places.
I'm a pretty open person, but I still think there are limits to what one should expose to the whole world. We have the right to protect ourself a bit from the ignorant, the insensitive and the cruel.

This Chola makes me crack up!

a reply to: Bluesma

For my part, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and expect the same from those I would consider worth spending time around. Zero BS. Zero facade. One hundred percent reality.

If the first thing I learn about a person, is that they desire to be hidden away while in plain sight as a matter of course, then it's a pretty good bet, that the person in question and I have too little of the important stuff in common.

These rough edges I have are left on me by the world. Like a large stone in a river is shaped by the passage of time and water, I am shaped by the life I have lived, and am proud to still be standing here, as I am, flaws and all. I do not dye the grey streaks in my hair, because I earned every single one of them. I do not pamper and preen away the lines of laughter beside my eyes, nor the bags beneath them, because I have lived, and do not regret my life, do not fear the future, and see no reason to hide where I have been, and what life has done to me along the way.

Understanding this, do you still find it offensive that I want to be around people who have the same approach and outlook? Or do you understand that my preference does not necessarily represent an insult to those who feel differently?

Well, I think it is one thing to say you want to be around people who expose themselves completely to you, and quite another to say you think they should expose themselves to all others.

Tell me this- would you say that to your daughter?

YOU might be kind and compassionate, but do you imagine everyone is?
You might be a very tall and very strong male who can defend himself physically,
but what about small and weaker young females?

Is it somehow virtous to let others abuse you?

Now, I have fully grey hair that I keep that way (despite all the pressure from my entourage, even my own husband, to color it) and like I said, make up isn't a choice for me now, and I am old and ugly and do not try to hide it.

But once I was deformed with boils on my face, and they hurt, and I was young and sensitive and people were very, very cruel. Not only do I feel no shame that I learned to call their attention less with some carefully crafted make up, but I will defend the right of other young people to choose to share their most vulnerable parts ONLY with people they trust. Maybe when they are old, have gotten tougher, they will expose it all publicly. But I see no reason anyone should feel it somehow better to become the target of bullies and creeps.

Besides that point about people with deformities, there's the other one I made, about self expression- the colors one is wearing influence the image one communicates. So when , for example, one is expressing a joyful mood with touches of gold and peach, it is an open sharing of ones mood and emotions... that is the not hiding. Though make up could be used to hide one self, it can also be used to more clearly communicate oneself as well. Big block moral judgements often fall short of their idealistic expectations.

originally posted by: zazzafrazz
a reply to: ladyvalkyrie

She's wearing Lipstick, Mascara and eyeshadow

Ok ok...so she's not 100% make-up free. There's no make-up, there's natural looking make-up (quite acceptable and not 'war paint'), then there's this:


Now THAT pic is 'war paint'. A girl doing all that is hiding something- something internal, not just a blemish or two.

Then there's the drawn on eyebrows:

Wha???? I can't even begin to fathom that one.

originally posted by: Bluesma
It always makes me laugh when guys say they hate make up on women, and yet most of the time, they can't tell a woman IS wearing make up! What they mean is- I don't like women wearing badly done make up.

Nailed it!!! The guys that like 'natural' looking girls, actually like properly applied, subtle make-up. Like the guy I'm seeing complimenting me on our first date that I wasn't wearing much make-up. Are you kidding? It was a first date, I was maxed out! Lol!

On the other hand, caking it on and using it to actually change how your features look- as opposed to enhancing them- is the 'war paint'. At that point a girl is literally hiding behind a mask.