Makeup your mind

  Photos by EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff

By Sophia Whang
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Makeup undoubtedly caused a scene when a woman was first seen
with color on her lips.

Flappers in the 1920s later made wearing lipstick, powder and
rouge fashionable. Previously, these products were worn only by
“loose” women.

Makeup soon became sexy and daring. However, as the commotion
died down, it was viewed as mere artifice.

Shelves are stacked with myriad books and magazines that
instruct one on ways to apply makeup more naturally, the object
being to subtly highlight features while avoiding a sense of
artificiality.

However, makeup artists contend that cosmetics don’t have
to make one’s appearance fake; rather, they say that makeup
is a form of art, requiring talent, that enhances natural beauty
just as often as it creates a different or “false”
look.

“Makeup can be very misleading, especially if you get more
into the field of show business. I think you can cover up a
lot,” said Jennifer Pickren, a freelance artist for MAC
Cosmetics. “I think makeup is there to enhance your natural
beauty, not to cover anything up, depending on the individual
person. You enhance what (beauty) they already have.”

Kimberly Rosenberg, a freelance make-up artist for
Prescriptives, agrees that makeup can be used simply to enhance a
person’s natural features.

Lipstick can heighten lip color, mascara can brighten up and
open the eyes, and blush can easily remedy paleness.

Like any other medium, makeup has its critics, but the artistic
process of the application is often overlooked. The average person
rarely recognizes the skills required to apply makeup.

Rosenberg, who has been working with Prescriptives for four
years, formally studied the art of cosmetics during a five- month
program at a school for professional makeup artistry. There she
learned to apply beauty makeup and to mimic the makeup techniques
behind special effects, such as old age and facial hair.

“(Makeup) is definitely an art, just like someone painting
a picture on an empty canvas,” Rosenberg said. “Your
face is an empty canvas and you can make your face look however you
want it to look, whether it be natural, dramatic, a little bit more
intense, avant-garde makeup, crazy, indifferent.”

To Pickren as well, makeup is an art form, especially in regard
to color theory.

“(Cosmetics is an art with) just the placement of color on
the face, and just looking at the color wheel and how blues and
greens can go together,” Pickren said.

There is a method to the madness of color, and the various
shades of blues and greens, among others, can create different
looks such as those Rosenberg mentioned. Although makeup can
produce altered looks, colors are not customarily used to produce
false images or hide features; rather, colors augment certain
features and provide finer detail.

But to accentuate details using makeup such as lipstick and eye
shadow, can cost well over $10 per product in top cosmetic lines.
Men are often perplexed as to why women would spend their money and
go to all the trouble that buying and using makeup entails.

“This year I’ve worn makeup just about every single
day,” said Stephanie Huang, a second-year undeclared student.
“It depends how much I want to put on and how much I care how
it looks … but (it’s not really a hassle) because at the
most it’s around 10 minutes.”

“Make-up is more for myself (than for guys) because I feel
more confident. You feel you look beautiful and just didn’t
roll out of bed and go to class,” said Huang.

“But it’s also not just for myself because when
you’re going on a date with a guy and you really like him,
you’re kind of doing it for him too because you want to look
really good for him,” Huang added. “In the end result
it’s always for you, but you’re spending more time on
yourself so you can be better presented to him.”

Pickren acknowledges that most women, while applying their
makeup. probably envision meeting a man, but she hopes that women
put in the time and effort of makeup for themselves rather than for
men.

“(Women) like to have a little mascara and lip gloss and
that to a guy could be a lot of makeup, but you have to look at it
from a girl’s point of view,” Pickren said. “If
(makeup) makes them feel good, it’s not necessarily
fake.”

However, men may encounter the same dilemmas as women about
choosing the right color and appearing fake. Excluding
advertisements, the media, and just about 99.9 percent of society,
who says that men don’t and shouldn’t wear makeup?

Huang suspects that many men do, but won’t admit it
because of the image of femininity that’s attached to
makeup

“There’s a guy here (at the cosmetics department)
that will put on a little foundation and a little lip gloss to
brighten his lips, and some men do and you wouldn’t know
it,” said Rosenberg.

Men presumably wear makeup for the same reasons women do ““
for the appreciation of the art form that enhances their beauty or
because cosmetics can help elevate levels of self-confidence.

“I would say that some women who have more acne or
don’t have a lot of self-confidence wear makeup because they
think people look at them as if they’re beautiful. But
that’s more of an individual basis and I wouldn’t say
all women wear makeup to hide insecurities,” said
Pickren.

“When I take all (the makeup) off, it can be a shock
because I have to wear it every day with the industry I work in. It
kind of seems like something’s missing, but I really enjoy
having nothing on my face.

“I do wear makeup outside of work because I love color. If
I’m wearing a purple top, you know I’m going to be
wearing purple eye shadow,” she added. “But I think
it’s a good aspect for a girl to be very versatile so that
she can be confident enough to walk out and say “˜I
don’t need any makeup on before I go out of the
house.'”