A diet of teen magazines during my tender developmental years introduced me to one of the great oxymorons of womanhood: makeup should look natural. Guess what, if I looked so damn fantastic naturally, I wouldn’t be messing with cosmetics. And yes, I admit that eyeliner and I are attached pretty much by an umbilical cord, no matter how much I rah-rah for female empowerment. Frankly, I’ve never understood the accepted wisdom that a desire to present oneself in the most aesthetically pleasing manner and feminism are diametrically opposed. But maybe I missed that lesson in Women’s Studies 101 while I was in the bathroom checking my lipstick.

But that’s besides the point. I’ve always been under the impression that makeup is meant to make your face look better than it does naturally, not as it does naturally. So whenever I see some new ad campaign with women moving through a lush bundle of leaves, raindrops slipping down tree boughs, I get a bit annoyed.

Recently, Sephora released a new compact, which it calls the PURE Natural 7-Color Palette. The palette includes blush and six shades of eyeshadow: green, pale blue, navy, beige, taupe, and brown. Now, pardon me, but how is it natural to have green, pale blue, or navy eyelids? Oh wait, it’s not.

• Foundation Index Sticks It To The Lipstick Index
• Do We Really Eat Lipstick?
• Bizarre Beauty: So Smurfy Eyeshadow Begs the Question “Why?”
• Cuddle Up With These Luxorious Essentials
• Pale Faces… New Trend?

Trackback URI | Comments RSS