Face Paint: The Story of Makeup
In this book written by Lisa Eldridge, she explores the history of makeup and the main thing that inspired me from this book is how she talks about makeup once being seen in a negative light. This book has really inspired me by seeing how far the connotations of makeup have actually progressed and how "painting our face has evolved into a fine art" (Eldridge, 2015, p.9).
Eldridge starts off by speaking about her own experiences with makeup from collecting vintage makeup boxes in the 90s to working as the creative director for big brands such as Boots No7, Lancôme and Shiseido. From her experiences, she has learned about producing, marketing and selling makeup and being able to comprehend "the ways in which perceptions of beauty differ throughout the world" (Eldrige, 2015, p.10). This is something that particularly interests me as the idea of beauty is so subjective especially in different cultures when they hold different beliefs. Exploring perceptions of beauty with my photography is something that inspires me, as I am keen to learn all about what other people see as beauty. The way the use of colours especially can influence different people, such as the colour white; to me personally white is a very pure colour, it represents cleanliness and innocence and just overall positive feelings towards the colour. Whereas, for example, people of Chinese culture can associate negative emotions with the colour white as it is seen as the colour of death. This could affect beauty in different people's eyes if specific colours are used.
"Beauty's Most Enduring Shade" (Eldrige, 2015, p.19)
It comes as no surprise to me that "rouge is the longest-standing makeup item in existence and the most multipurpose, having been used to color lips and cheeks for thousands of years." Red has mainly positive emotions associated with it, through many different cultures. Red symbolises love, passion, lust, and desire and can even be a symbol of joy. Eldridge also makes interesting points about how rouge and red used to display higher status. However, it can also have negative connotations such as fear, danger, death and blood but Eldridge points out you need to think about when you use red in makeup looks, and what you are trying to achieve. You're not trying to make yourself look dangerous or bloody, but you would want to make yourself seem desirable and sexy. This is something I will certainly pay attention to in my work, as before reading this book I hadn't thought about what the colours of the makeup might symbolise, it has definitely made me more aware.
Pale Skin
Another interesting topic Eldridge discusses is pale skin. She mentions "there is a wide-ranging and cross-cultural tradition of lightening one's skin in order to fit into a beauty-based, cultural, or social ideal" (Eldrige, 2015, p.38). However, doing this was also very hazardous to people's health and perilous to their skin. She does make another interesting point about cultures that were not aware of the existence of the others having similar inclinations to want pale skin. This then made Eldridge look into why that was as "skin color is of course linked with race, but, although its not something we might not consciously think about, skin tone is also closely connected to gender" (Elderige, 2015, p.40). She talks about how women tend to be paler than men and it is a sign of fertility. "Women are lighter during ovulation than during the infertile days of their cycle" (Eldridge, 2015,p.40) and their skin is usually permanently "darkened after their first pregnancy, forever changing their girlish complexion of youth" (Eldridge, 2015, p.99). Traditionally it was something that was desired and prized that a woman hadn't given birth.
This use of pale skin has also opened my eyes to think about the narrative in which my images would be given if I chose to use pale skin. It has made me think about the social effects this could have if used in the wrong way. It also related to a similar issue I had researched where editorial magazines were 'white washing' their model's skin to fit into the beauty standard. This is also something I am very conscious about when lighting images and making sure I get the mode's skin tone as accurately as it can be to their tone in real life.
The Business Of Beauty
The part of the book that was my main inspiration was the chapter 'The Business Of Beauty' mainly because I was so facisnated by learning about the way makeup was perceived. I was shocked to read that the first pro makeup article in UK Vogue titled 'A defence of Rouge' was not published until 1924. I couldn't imagine a time where magazines didn't feature heavy makeup looks, it is so interesting to me that makeup once was seen as something people shouldn't know you are wearing.
"One was able to use cosmetics, but one must never appear to have used them" (Eldridge, 2015, p.99)
This has really inspired my work in a way to celebrate makeup and showcase how far it has come.
Word count: 851
References
Eldridge, L. (2015). Facepaint: The Story of Makeup. Abrams Image.
Bibliography
Figure 1 - Akeroglu, C. (2016). untitled [jpeg]. In Eldridge, L. (2015). Face Paint: The Story of Makeup (p.1). Abrams Image.