Naked face

Makeup.  What purpose does it serve?  Is it to accentuate, to draw out your natural beauty?  Or is it to deceive and conceal?  How does it make you feel?  Can you go without it?  Is it a luxury or necessity?
 
Sometimes it's fun to wear interesting colors or go all-out crazy with the makeup just for kicks.  That's cool, I have no problem with that.  I don't even have a problem with makeup in general, I just don't think it's for everyone.  I also don't think anyone should feel compelled to wear it if they don't want to.

I have personally decided to go mostly without makeup.  I will still probably wear it occasionally like if I get professional photos taken or go out on a nice date.  But even then, why should I?  I don't think makeup is evil, but the truth is this.  I don't want to feel like even if I'm running late I haveto put makeup on to be presentable out in public.

A year ago, I was at home in my grubbies on a Saturday.  I had an unexpected visitor show up from my church to just check and see how I was doing since I just recently moved in.  We had a good conversation for a few minutes.  When he left, I said out loud, "how embarrassing, I didn't even have my makeup on."  My 8-year-old boy turned to me and said, "what do you need makeup for?  You look fine!"

Well he sure told me...haha.  I began to realize how silly it really is.  I also began to notice how many women there are that go without makeup, and did that mean I thought they were ugly?  No.  I was never really into using makeup growing up.  I thought it was stupid and never wore any all through High School.  I thought girls who spent an hour getting ready every day were really dumb.  Then I met a guy who convinced me I needed it and I became indoctrinated with the idea that I had to "take care of myself" in order to be a functional member of society, ward off depression, and be acceptable.

Speaking of "functional member of society", here's just a little proof that women are taught they can't be acceptable without being adequately "made up", particularly as we start to get older.  This is a graphic made by Beauty Redefined:

Click for an Anti-Aging blog by Beauty Redefined, the source of this graphic

Brad is considered handsome and distinguished with his naked face, and Linda is still supposed to look like she's 20- or 30-something, with a face so painted it looks fake.

I have never felt comfortable with that level of makeup.  I tried out a lot of stuff, at one time (when I was with that guy I mentioned) using the full twice-daily regimen of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing.  My makeup routine included using foundation, powder, blush, bronzer, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, eyebrow liner, and tweezers to pluck stray eyebrow hairs (OUCH).  I found it cumbersome and ridiculous to spend so much time and money.  My skin isn't so bad anyway, so why cover it up with a bunch of junk that gets mostly rubbed off by mid-day?  I don't think anyone's skin is that bad in fact.  I HATE when women with freckles use makeup to make them disappear.  That's a shame.

So, after that nonsense, I pared my routine down dramatically.  I used only concealer for the bags under my eyes, eye liner, eye shadow only because it kept the eyeliner from running into my eye crease, and mascara.  Since I already felt good about not being a "sell out" to a full-blown makeup routine, I convinced myself that the 4 products I used daily were just what was required to be presentable.  Bare minimum.

Well guess what?  BARE is actually the bare minimum.  And it's actually an all new kind of freedom.  I no longer have to worry about rubbing an itch on my eye and if that's going to smear makeup all over.  If I cry I can just cry and not obsess about having black tears.  I don't have to stash makeup in my car and purse for hectic days.  I don't spend $9 on one freaking tube of drug store mascara.

So there it is.  I'm not saying everyone should do the same.  Makeup isn't evil, it can be fun.  But all I'm saying is don't let yourself be a slave to it.  Decide how much of your makeup regimen is actually what YOU want and makes you YOU.  What are your reasons for doing it, and how much of it is to quiet anxieties the beauty industry has gifted you and others with?  How much do you really want and need?  Take an inventory of yourself and these questions, then have the courage to do what is right for you.  Good luck and God bless.

Barbie is "On the Job" shaping girls' futures...whether we want her to or not.

This is a repost, originally written March 14, 2012 on BioGeoNerd.blogspot.com.  Decided to crop it down and put it here, as it's very appropriate to this blog.

Barbie "I Can Be..."

Can I just comment on what I happened to see on the girls' toy aisle the other day (I was going down every aisle looking for a stuffed animal moose for a friend).  I stopped when I saw a couple of Barbies saying, "I can be....[insert career here]"  Okay so now Mattel is going to tell all the girls in the world what jobs they can do?  That's my first problem with this - what if something they're interested in isn't on the list and therefore isn't cool or beautiful like Barbie is?  Will they abandon it and go for one that IS on the list?

My second problem was the options there at the toy store - Pet Vet, Teacher, Art Teacher, Preschool Teacher, Ballet Dancer, and "Kid Doctor".  Okay at least they had a doctor, but why can't you actually call her a Pediatrician?  Teach the girls some vocabulary for heaven's sake!  They've probably all been to a Pediatrician, it's not that far-fetched that they know what they're called.  Must we continue dumbing everything down?  And does Barbie HAVE to be wearing high heals and a dress only slightly longer than the lab coat (mid thigh)?  Seriously, what doctor do you know that would dress like that?

The Barbie website has some information on each of the professions complete with a couple of videos and games.  I cannot believe this game I just played for the "Babysitter" job.  You have to guide the little kid around the house and move toys out of her way so that she doesn't have an accident on the way to the potty.  When she makes it there you see her sitting on the potty, hear a distinct plop and the girl grins, and they show the toilet flushing with yellow and yes a little brown circle in there swirling around.  Holy heck!  Are you serious?

They do have more professions that just weren't on the shelves where I went, but they still have a pretty limited scope: lifeguard, snowboarder, baby doctor, zoo doctor, rock star, cooking teacher, fashion designer, track champion, tennis champion, gymnastics champion, chef, movie star, and my favorite - bride.

Girls aspire to be "brides".  But are they ready for the title that comes next - "wife"?  Or did they spend all their time planning for the wedding instead of the marriage?

The only non-traditional things are race car driver and architect.  The website showed a software engineer, but I haven't seen the actual toy of that anywhere. 
Anyone notice the trend?  Girly stuff involves either: being famous and adored by all (rock star, sports champions, movie star), cooking, or liking "cute" stuff like kitties and babies.  Don't get me wrong, I love cooking, animals and babies.  But I also love seeing cells in various stages of mitosis under a microscope, collecting Brine Shrimp eggs, taking way too many pictures of rocks, and cutting things open to see what's inside.
So, Barbie's at it again...  shaping our society.  Thanks, but no thanks, Barbie.
A Different Kind of Barbie
Speaking of Barbie, I went to this way cool seminar at the beginning of the semester by this awesome lady scientist who does a lot of work in the rainforest, and she has many non-profit projects she does to educate people about the rainforest.  She uses rock climbing techniques to study the canopy of the rainforest.  They actually created a "Tree Top Barbie" with her all decked out in her gear to climb to the top of the canopy, and she kind of joked that she was surprised that Mattell was not interested in it.  I think it's sad though, it's cool stuff like that they should promote in addition to Ballerina, Art Teacher, and Babysitter. Broaden the horizons of girls.

The battle field is probably a lot younger than we think.  Girls in Elementary school have already been brainwashed that they need to be pretty to be worth anything, they can't "get" math and science, and they're only supposed to like things that are small, fuzzy, and/or pink.

Well, I've got one for you, girls.  A curious symbiotic relationship between an animal and algae - hungry corral polyps grasping for dinner.  This is the basis of an entire ecosystem in the tropical oceans- the corral reef.  More importantly: AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL -  just like you.
 

  (Source)

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Be curious, be strong, be kind, and above all: be yourself.