Is Outer Beauty the New Universal Sign of Acceptance?

Hannah and Marnie from HBO series “Girls”

Lena Dunham, the writer and producer for the HBO hit series “Girls,” detailing the lives of four New York ladies navigating through their mid-twenties would beg to differ concerning the question of outer beauty as the sign of universal acceptance. Seeing that her socially awkward and frumpy character Hannah, seems to lure in some of the most attractive suitors on the show. Most recent being Joshua, a middle aged doctor played by the insatiably handsome Patrick Wilson. Many would argue that “Girls” is only a TV show. My reply would be yes it is, but one that mocks the life experiences of a coterie of females so fucking well that no matter how staged the scenario, reality is wedged in there somewhere. With that being said, if we were only exploring Hannah’s character, outer beauty could not be a form of universal acceptance, but because of her attractive bff Marnie, it just might be, or is it?

Why do I ask?

I was the epitomy of an or rather African girl, throughout grade school. Far from the posh queen of cool, I occasionally mingled with the go-to girls to bask in their ambiance in hopes of adopting their glow. It royally sucked, but in hindsight was necessary to my development [#longlivetheuncool]. What I envied most about these now women was the universal acceptance that seemed to come with their looks. It appeared nothing was withheld from them. Were they actually the chosen people? As I’ve gotten older, and graciously grown into my looks I’ve realized, not so. This could be because I’m not yet an official member of the ‘pyt’ club, or that outward beauty only gets you in the door, but not beyond the lobby.

Marnie and her egotistical art fling, Booth Johnson

What Would Lena Say?

Hannah’s best friend Marnie has the looks thing down: she’s skinny, fair skinned, has polished hair, and did I mention skinny? Basically all the things that society has etched out in its code of attraction handbook. Despite her looks, Marnie has landed in some super sketchy situations in man-candy land. After dumping her last lover for having a bad case of the boring boyfriend syndrome, the serial dater goes on to sleep with Hannah’s gay roommate, mutual friend, and ex boyfriend Elijah while cleaning up after a house party. While venting to Marnie about his alcoholic boyfriend, Elijah briefly alludes to his confused sexuality. I’m sure he was struck by the ambiance of her fresh perfume, soft skin and supple breasts and fell face first in her cleavage. So much so that he socially accepted her as a desirable mate despite being with a man. After his hasty test drive, he comes to his senses to marvel in disgust at what he’s allowed to take place. In this case it would appear that outward beauty is a universal sign of social acceptance, not only for the attractive individual but both parties involved, the party being Elijah.

Marnie’s next love affair is with the egotistical artist, better known as Booth Johnson, who audaciously proclaims he’ll sleep with her within minutes of meeting her - flattery gets you anywhere. Yes, she sleeps with him, only after realizing she did so because of the socially accepted idea of his profession and looks. In this case Marnie approaches his success as a universal sign of acceptance.

Hannah, on the other hand is short, chubby, tatted, and quite tackless. But attracts men just the same, two of which, her ex boyfriend Adam and latest fling Joshua, fall for her witty personality, honesty, and satirical confidence. But in both cases, as with Marnie’s interactions, it only gets her so far. While with Adam, Hannah quickly realizes how clinically insane and co-dependent he really is, after accepting his mountaineering charm and brawniness as socially cool, and pushing herself upon him until he’s forced to ignore her looks, and by default fall for her charm. Same backwards story with Joshua. The successful doctor is completely smitten with Hannah’s sociable wit when he first meets her, but after two days is turned off when she proves how outwardly insecure she really is.

Based on Marnie and Hannah’s circumstances we can conclude that both outer and inner beauty are universal signs of acceptance, but on their own are incapable of taking you the full distance – and the point in any relationship and or venture in life is to go the distance, right?

 

Hannah and her middle-aged doctor fling, Joshua

Where Do We Go From Here?

So, outward beauty is a universal sign of acceptance, but it only takes you so far if you’re battling insecurity on the inside, and inner beauty gets you no where if you’re not equally confident on the outside. Meaning, the total package thing is kind of necessary, and despite what you’ve heard, is very obtainable. “Girls” is a modern day interpretation of young women looking to complete their package. Although it can be difficult with the media constantly vomiting up new trends to follow, new weight loss goals to try, and new lash extensions to buy, it makes the picture of perfection seem surreal. Much is the case when you spend too much time idolizing someone else’s idea perfection, as I did as a young adult, instead of discovering your own. But if it’s our perfection we’re after, I doubt it’ll be difficult to obtain seeing that it belongs to us. 

The Cat Eye

Oh the proverbial cat eye, how we adore thee! The Ancient Egyptians were right on the money when they began crushing fine metals, and mixing them with oils and animal fats to create the original kohl eyeliner. And we can’t forget the late greats like Ms. Monroe and Holly Golightly, better known as Audrey Hepburn, who resurrected the trend in the ‘50s. I give them all a round of applause, because if it hadn’t been for them, I don’t believe I would have ever started drawing squiggly lines on my eyes, and that would be a very sucky thing. 

I’ll occasionally dust my lids with shadow, but my everyday face paint has always been a nice clean cat eye. Love how it emphasizes the almond shape of my lids, and it’s just such a darn classic, you can never go wrong with it! There is a slight science to it, in regards to instrument and application. I suggest a liquid liner with a felt tip brush; some are skilled with the wand like brushes, but I’ve found that because it is a brush with small hairs it has the ability to leave behind wispy rifts, as opposed to felt tip brushes which deliver a clean line.   

1.   Start your line in the middle of your lash line, and slowly move your line outwards towards the outer edges of your face. 

2.   Use the edge of your lash line as a guide, following it as you near the outer corner of your eye. Once you reach the outer corner, slowly begin to sweep your brush up and outwards. Unless you want a dramatic cat eye, keep your swoop subtle, a light sweep up will do. You can add a bit more eyeliner to fill in any dramatic dip in your sweep if you’d like your cat eye to be more parallel as pictured here.

3.   If you’d like your cat eye extended to the inner corners of your eye, now is the best time to lightly fill that part of your eye in. Start at the inner corner of your eye, staying close to the lash line and keeping your line thin. Slowly extend your line until it meets the one you originally started. Repeat all steps on opposite eye.

Complete the look with a couple sweeps of mascara, dust your cheeks with blush, and your cat eye look is complete. It may appear that your eyeliner isn’t as cooperative your first few takes, but after some solid tries the look will come out just right! Hope you guys found my illustration helpful...

Double Meows!

 

Aqua Eyes

 

So for awhile there I retired from extravagant eye makeup. I used to be really talented at the sport but then I went to college and found that nothing was worth sacrificing 45 minutes of extra sleep. Inevitably the pathways of my brain mildly forgot the trade, but with a few refresher courses I plan to pick it back up again.

This was a simple attempt at a cool aqua eye. This cerulean blue color is great because it pops against any skin color! I wanted a bit of an ombre effect and added a touch of silver but you can keep it all blue if you like.

What You’ll Need

-        Angled eyeliner brush

-        Eye shadow brush

-        Blue liquid eyeliner

-        Aqua blue or ice blue eye shadow

-        Smoky black eye shadow

First prep your eyelids with primer or concealer, (works just as well as primer at keeping your shadow in place). Lightly wet your eye shadow brush with water and dip into your blue eye shadow – the water actually gives most eye shadows a smudgy consistency which allows it to apply smoother. Gently dab throughout your lid slowly blending at the same time. Sometimes blending with your index finger actually works better. Remember to blend away any harsh lines.

Gently dot the inside corners of your eyes with a small touch of blue eye shadow using your index finger. Then lightly wet your angled eyeliner brush and dip in your blue shadow. Begin lining your lower lash line with the angled brush from the inner corner of your under eye. End by blending the shadow along your lower lash line through with your finger to achieve a smudgy look. Lightly wet your eye shadow brush again, this time dipping it in your black shadow. Warning: you don’t need a lot of this color, only enough to achieve a very natural and well blended smoky look. Dab just a bit of the black shadow to the outer parts of your lids using your shadow brush being sure to blend. Follow up the look with a cool aqua blue cat eye with your blue liquid liner or feel free to substitute it with black if you’d like a contrast.

It’s a chill style and from what I hear it’s all the rave on the Spring 2013 runways, not like I’ve been peeking or anything? Anywho give it try and see how it works for you. Let me know how it goes and look forward to more decadent eye tutorials in the future!

Meow.

The Look of Au' Natural

Allow me to introduce the look of Au’Natural, or as close as I currently get to it!  Notice that the left side of my face appears buttery smooth, eyebrows primed with my lip stain “popping”.  While the right side of my face is oddly freckled, with under eyes petitioning for rest, and lips edging on the verge of chapped.  I underwent this rather uncomfortable performance to present my skin Au’Natural with make-up and without.  One might assume that there’s no such thing as skin Au’Natural with make-up, but my friend there is indeed!  It’s my little secret, but I’ll share it with you.

Some years ago I was the girl with the face full of make-up – I adored vibrant eye shadows and took pleasure in 'mermaid-fying' my eyes each day.  I was also obsessed with my brows and constantly over plucked, lastly my lip gloss was always popping thanks to my uber shiny $.99 store “Glassy Gal”.  Eventually I just grew tired of the process and the look.  What would I tell my future husband when I took off my Princess Ariel face at night?  “Oh, she’ll be back at 9am”!  Plus life became to hectic to keep up with my makeup.  And so birthed the look of Au’Natural.

Now this look basically involves using as little makeup as possible to cover your blemishes and highlight your beauty bonuses.  It’s an especially nice regime when fall and winter come along when minimal makeup is just easier!

What You’ll Need

-        Light weight concealer

-        Under-eye concealer

-        Mascara

-        Blush

-        Powder

-        Concealer brush (looks like a paint brush/far left)

-        Powder brush (middle brush)

-        Blush brush (far right)

 

Now if the good Lord blessed you with flawless skin or you’re not a makeup gal, Amen!  I hope to be a part of your fan club soon.  If you don’t really wear makeup but would if there were a “minimal makeup” option, this is muy perfecto for you!

Basically start with a light weight concealer, I use Clinique’s “Acne Solutions”.  Dab a dime sized amount on the back of your hand (it warms the concealer and makes it apply smoother) and apply a generous amount on your concealer brush.  Touch up the primal areas, including your cheeks, chin and forehead where it’s needed.  Don’t overdo it!  A thin layer is all you need.  If you have under-eye issues like moi’ take your under-eye concealer, I use Origins “Quick Hide”, and once again dab some on the back of your hand.  Remember when purchasing under-eye concealer to be sure it’s a shade lighter than the concealer you use for your face.  Use your index finger to dab underneath your eye and blend.  Then set your concealer by brushing a little powder on your face in round circle motions.  One quick application is enough.  After, take your blush brush and gently tap a bit of blush on the brush and apply to the highest part of your cheek bones, (the best way to identify them is to make a fishy face and where ever your cheek bones appear is where you aim).  This only takes one application as well.  Then end the look with a couple swipes of mascara and you’re good to go!  For my lips I keep it simple and just add a raspberry colored lip stain and top it off with Vaseline or wear a tinted lip balm.  Feel free to prim your brows it you’d like, but I’ll have to save that for another post – it’s a tutorial all its own! 

Hope you enjoy your Au’Natural look!  Sashay Shante’!  Meow.