Author Topic: The Naked Face Project  (Read 22329 times)

Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2012, 03:04:53 pm »
I'm going to think twice now before reaching for that lipstick.

Me, too!  But only because I'm concerned about the shade.  Is it too bright and/or heavy for a smoky eye (reds or burgundy) or is it too muted when I'm rocking a more subdued eye color?


Offline Mandy21

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2012, 09:28:52 am »
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/angelina-chapin/faith-hill-makeup_b_1345645.html


Angelina Chapin.Blogs Editor, HuffPost Canada
Gawking at Makeup-Less Celebs Makes Us Look Ugly
Posted: 03/15/2012 7:52 am

I remember the first time he noticed I drew in my eyebrows. We were lying in bed, he was close enough to kiss me, and said something like, "Is that pencil?" Whatever romantic moment I thought we were having was ruined. And while my first high school boyfriend thought he was making some off-hand comment, he probed at an issue I tried deeply to suppress: I had a makeup problem.

Every morning I would stare in the mirror, diligently separating each lash with mascara. When it came to the right eye, which was always more finicky than the left (don't ask why), I would feel panic: What if the lashes clumped together? Could I put it on perfectly with only five minutes to spare? What if I had to wash my face and start over? "Angeliiiiiiiiina," one of my parents would usually start yelling at this point. "You're going to be late."

I would curse them under my breath, take a dry mascara wand (yes, I had two) and try getting rid of any clumps until I looked like that Cover Girl close-up of whatever celebrity wearing fake lashes. I was obsessed.

During my high school years, I walked around with cosmetics in my bag for a noon touch-up, which usually involved another coat of mascara among other things. Teachers began to take notice: One (male) told me I had an interesting "cat-eye" thing going on while another (female) spent an entire parent-teacher interview with my mother applauding my cosmetic artistry (finally, some respect).

But like an addict, when those close to me pointed it out, I snapped.

When I saw the pictures of makeup-less Faith Hill going viral this week (including, admittedly, on our own site), that high school girl in me cringed. Huffington Post's own headline was "Faith Hill Without Makeup Hardly Recognizable," which quite frankly was always my fear when I thought of leaving the house without my face on. And she was catching a freakin' morning flight.

Apparently, six out of 10 U.K. women share my anxiety of being seen bare-faced according to online beauty site Superdrug.

Obviously celebrities are put under a microscope, but this kind of commentary fuels real-life female hysteria and insecurity. And to be fair, a makeup trend is now starting to affect men. I'm not saying we should all go au natural because I think makeup can look great and be a real confidence-booster, but I am saying women (or men) should never be afraid to leave the house without it.

Making fun of somebody's natural face is as sinister as making fun of the kid with acne, or the fat kid whose genes make him/her pre-disposed to obesity. That is to say, it is a mean, childish, bully tactic. There is no honour in criticizing people for something they can't help. It only proves your own ugliness.

My makeup rehabilitation came when I enrolled at a liberal arts college, where it was much cooler to have dark circles under your eyes from reading Derrida all night than it was to look fresh as a poppy in lecture hall. Gradually, I loosened my grip on the mascara, and every other makeup wand I could and did possess.

I even walked into meal hall the next day, and let guys I may or may not have romped with the night before see my un-made face. And guess what: I still got male attention. (A study conducted by skincare experts St Ives revealed that one in five men wish their partner would tone down the slap-on, while one in 10 said they liked women who wear no makeup whatsoever.)

I'm not completely cured. I would still have a heart attack if I left my makeup case somewhere, but I certainly don't treat my face like an unpainted Sistine Chapel anymore. But I will say that seeing Faith Hill berated on the Internet is the kind of thing that could throw me into a relapse. And I really don't want my father to tell me I have "pharmacy eyebrows" again at the dinner table -- whatever that meant.

Dawn is coming,
Open your eyes...

Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2012, 10:58:59 pm »
Hey, its all good.  And in the words of that great philosopher Sly Stone, "Different strokes for different folks!"  ;D

Offline bentgyro

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2012, 05:53:45 pm »
I live in a very small town and have been looking around at the women in the bank, supermarket, etc.
Not very many of them wear much makeup other than mascera and lipstick or lipgloss and if you could
see their legs, they probably aren't shaved.......it's still winter ;)
I have a girlfriend who wears foundation, mascera, lipsick and does her eyebrows to hide the scars form bad acne.
That's her choice and she shouldn't be judged, just as the bare- faced women shouldn't be.

The naked face project is just something else to make people (women) feel guilty.

Offline RouxB

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2012, 06:40:30 pm »
Make-up is take it leave it for me. I, mostly, wear it when I am going out in the evening but my world wouldn't come to an end if I got caught without it. Oddly enough, in the earlier days I was never without it at Brokie meet-ups. That changed Alberta III I think. Mostly I am happy with my face and don't feel compelled to overly enhance it. Don't shave because I am pretty hairless to begin with and I never wear sleeveless clothing.

I completely support the statement

Quote
The naked face project is just something else to make people (women) feel guilty.




« Last Edit: March 21, 2012, 09:32:26 pm by RouxB »

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Offline Luvlylittlewing

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2012, 09:14:58 pm »
I live in a very small town and have been looking around at the women in the bank, supermarket, etc.
Not very many of them wear much makeup other than mascera and lipstick or lipgloss and if you could
see their legs, they probably aren't shaved.......it's still winter ;)
I have a girlfriend who wears foundation, mascera, lipsick and does her eyebrows to hide the scars form bad acne.
That's her choice and she shouldn't be judged, just as the bare- faced women shouldn't be.

The naked face project is just something else to make people (women) feel guilty.


I agree!

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2012, 02:05:30 am »
The naked face project is just something else to make people (women) feel guilty.

Quote
I completely support the statement

Quote
I agree!


Really? Now I'm surprised.
I see it comepletely the other way round. I see it as liberation.
Let's face it: in many, many jobs, and I'd guess in the most qualified jobs, and/or wherever one has to represent, women are expected to wear makeup.

Imagine the spokeswomen of some well-known organization without makeup (just like the two who satarted this)
Imagine any female politician.
The boss of a successful, nation-wide company.
Middle management from the same company.
Even the head of a bank branch in a small sized town.
The mayor of the same town during a town hall meeting.
Pretty much any woman who has to go to some official meeting.

They all need to make a neat, well-groomed impression. But why the heck do make-up, shaved legs and plucked eyebrows so matter-of-factly belong to what our society percieves as well-groomed?

If you want to do the make-up, even want to go all glam, all power to you, enjoy what you do.
But when women feel they have to to all the named stuff in order to be repesentable, then something in the way we look at women is at least questionable.

Offline RouxB

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2012, 03:34:18 am »

Really? Now I'm surprised.
I see it completely the other way round. I see it as liberation.
Let's face it: in many, many jobs, and I'd guess in the most qualified jobs, and/or wherever one has to represent, women are expected to wear makeup.

Imagine the spokeswomen of some well-known organization without makeup (just like the two who started this)
Imagine any female politician.
The boss of a successful, nation-wide company.
Middle management from the same company.
Even the head of a bank branch in a small sized town.
The mayor of the same town during a town hall meeting.
Pretty much any woman who has to go to some official meeting.

They all need to make a neat, well-groomed impression. But why the heck do make-up, shaved legs and plucked eyebrows so matter-of-factly belong to what our society perceives as well-groomed?

If you want to do the make-up, even want to go all glam, all power to you, enjoy what you do.
But when women feel they have to to all the named stuff in order to be presentable, then something in the way we look at women is at least questionable.

Well, it's liberating if it validates what you already do, it is stressful to go without if you are used to it, and it just makes you feel vain or sheep-like or whatever if you are someone who feels more secure or beautiful or whatever with a little enhancement. I don't feel pressure to wear make-up so I wear it when I want and don't worry (too much) about it when I don't.

Would the world be a better place if people were judged on the content of their character rather than superficial attributes? Absolutely. But that isn't the world we live in and the chances of turning back time are slim (though I wish for it every stinkin day  :'( ). So what we have left is to cut people some slack when they do what makes them feel better about themselves, "artificial" or not. When I was 20 I said I would never dye my hair. I started going grey at 21 and that "never" eventually marched right out the door. I "feel" better without the halo of white around my face (and I cringe when I see pictures of me here with white hair. I want to go on a mass delete spree). Is feeling that way baggage? Yeah but I'm okay with carrying it.


I work in banking-customer facing postions at times-and my make-up was pretty hit and miss. There is more of an expectation of business dress rather than a made-up face. 

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Offline bentgyro

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2012, 02:01:20 pm »
Men in these same positions that present themselves as well groomed probably cut the hair out of their ears
and noses and plucked their unibrows.  I know women in high positions around here that are well groomed in that
they keep their hair neat and tidy and wear mascara and lipstick and if they shave their legs I wouldn't know as they
usually wear pants.  Our museum curator goes to fuctions and speaks in front of people often, she doesn't wear
makeup, keeps her hair short and tidy but she always has her nails painted, her little fetish.  Men are put under
pressure about appearences, too.

Offline RouxB

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Re: The Naked Face Project
« Reply #19 on: March 22, 2012, 02:52:05 pm »
Men are put under pressure about appearences, too.

True but not anywhere near to the degree that women are.

Heathen