While riding the train today, I saw a woman spend the entire 20 minute ride "painting" her face. She literally looked like a different person from the time I got on the train to the time I got off....actually a lot less appealing (...to me at least). I know that we all have our own ways to make-up stories about who we are (ie types of clothes, cars, friends, house, etc), but cosmetics (and plastic surgery) perplex me the most. I'm sure I'm not the first guy to say this, but I prefer women who don't wear it.
According to Wikipedia, worldwide cosmetic sales were expected to reach $18B in 2007 in comparison the to the self-improvement market which only totaled $8.5B in 2003. On a global perspective, it is no coincidence that Mother Earth is in the state that she is in. Women are a reflection of Mother Earth. They are the life-giving force of the world, fertilized by the rays of the Father Sun. A woman's true foundation is not made by Mac or L'Oreal; it is made by God. Nothing accents a woman's eyes, lips, or dimples like the aura created by the spirit within her. Until men and women alike learn to appreciate Mother Earth for her natural beauty, she will continue to bathe herself in hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes to open and cleanse her pores.
When I think of Mother Earth all I see is beauty. When Mother Earth has a crack in her skin, we call it a canyon. When she has a oozing pimple on her surface, we call it a volcano. When she has a tear running down her face, we call it a river. We travel to the Grand Canyon, Mississippi River, and other national parks because they are the most pure parts of Earth; They aren't painted with cement cities. In the same way one shouldn't have to travel miles upon miles to replace the unnatural cityscape with a beautiful landscape, one shouldn't have to peel back layers upon layers to see the true beauty of any woman walking on the face of Mother Earth. Like Mother Earth, woman are perfect and whole the way they are and should be acknowledged as the first wonder of the world.
Art: "Mother Earth" by Jenness Cortex Perlmutter
thank you for this! i believe when a woman wears a plethora of make-up, it provides a mask to the world for her to hide behind. i feel more beautiful in my natural state, and thank you for reminding us that we are perfect, as we were created.
and after all, beauty is a holistic concept, not solely a physical one. make-up won't make up for a funky disposition!
Amen to that! Although many of us enjoy a well put together woman, makeup was intended to accent and not to create beauty.
Thanks for this reminder! Natural beauty lies in natural states of being and should be understood and celebrated for what it is. I think maturity helps us be consciously aware of our nature as is (our social ecosystem and our important role in it). Before that happens, we continue to be anxiously trapped spending our time, money, and minds denying our true nature, while feeding to that idea of unnatural nature (“perfect” shell, wealthy wallet, but unnatural being).
Thank you for writing this. I find myself extremely frustrated that I seem to be the only woman around here that doesn't wear make-up. I live in a smaller town, so there are fewer people with perspectives like this (they exist but are hard to find). It kills me everytime a girl comes up to me and tells me I'd be prettier with make-up or I'd be "sexier". When I start to discuss all the toxins in make-up, when I start to point out that they only wear it because they are brainwashed by television - I'm the jerk but they never seem to get that telling someone their real skin is ugly is extremely offensive and hurtful, and oppressive. I often feel very isolated around here and it's refreshing to hear these things and from men as well... I think if more women knew that men didn't mind the natural look - they would think twice about cosmetics.
i was probably the girl on the train putting the make-up on... i feel like there is a time and a place for almost everything... we all make certain choices based on the weighing of the possible consequences in our own minds... if we choose to wear make-up then we've chosen a certain set of consequences versus the ones we imagine we'd get with out the make-up... it's all bases on choice and i am all about free will, informed free will... why i wear make-up: as i've gotten older i find that i don't always look on the outside how i feel on the inside... i may feel very happy and light and airy and someone will say "oh, you look tired" because of the dark circles under my eys... a consequence that i don't really enjoy and since my life is seen through my eyes i change the next scene of my movie and i put on some concealer... when i'm going to a party i put on some liner and get into a different character--it's something i enjoy... but i do value your oppinion on your preference
I couldn't be happier to find this entry about Mother Earth by Jullien. It helps me to make a healthy decision about makeup, something I've struggled w/ for years! My mom had many low self-esteem issues; she "hid" behind black eyeliner, and won't even put the garbage out w/out! Because she has issues of her own w/ her fair complexion, (hence the dark makeup,) she made comments about a darker-complexioned woman or man being more "desirable". Though lovin, she mentioned that she'd wished she'd married a man who had dark eyes, so her kids would have ended up w/ dark eyes. (As it was, by dad had fair skin, super-dark hair, and hazel eyes.) I have fair skin, chestnut brown hair, and hazel eyes. Because I sought her approval (and her opinion soon morphed into my own,) I thought not being tan, etc. made me less attractive. I was self-conscious, and thus becoming "popular" in school wasn't gonna happen. To get noticed, I learned to pack on the makeup, portray a new "image", and advertise those things about myself that guys might want. I got popular; I also got used up and spit out. Now I'm married, to a great guy who hates makeup, and am a mom. Every day I spend tons of useless time putting the mask on (because I feel like something huge is missing if I don't; I'm so USED to it,) and then hating how fake I feel, and washing it off, only to put it back on again! I can't even give my husband the natural woman he deserves and prefers b'c I'm so stuck in my unhealthy past w/ makeup! It poses a problem when I go to the pool or beach, b'c I have to leave it off (or it'll run,) and if I leave it off that day, I feel like I never woke up. If my kids and husband are having a pillow-fight, and I happen to see the pillow coming towards me, I get worried it'll smear my eyeliner. And though I wish to be a hands-on mom, I can't let my kids get too comfortable touching my face, 'cause they might mess it up. I'm teaching my daughter, though all this, that she's not "good enough" to face the world w/o a mask on, (though I think she's so naturally beautiful; I admire her real beauty.) I'm conveying messages I don't believe in. And now Jullien has told us something so beautiful. And that women reflect the state of the environment? How true! By not wearing makeup, I'll save money and hours of time. And spare myself the 15-minute wash-off process each night before I brush my teeth. That means less unecessary wrinkles later!
As a high school teacher who battles within myself makeup vs. no makeup, I find this very appealing! I am young and don't consider myself completely attractive. I notice that I DO look better with makeup on, and of course people notice. But when they notice, it bothers me. Why can't they think I'm beautiful naturally? I don't enjoy having to cake nasty crap on my face just to be pretty. It's horrible. I think being clean is one thing, but adding crap to your face just to please others?
Think about it: When you wear makeup, can you see it? Besides the tip of your nose? Only when looking in a mirror can you see all the work you've done. Makeup isn't for yourself- it's for everyone else- to make you easier to look at. If people can't stand you naturally, then they aren't worth it.
PEOPLE WHO MATTER DON'T MIND, AND PEOPLE WHO MIND DON'T MATTER!