By The Landlord
“Beneath the makeup and behind the smile I am just a girl who wishes for the world.” – Marilyn Monroe
“The best color in the world is the one that looks good on you.” – Coco Chanel
“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones!” – Helena Rubinstein
“There’s nothing worse than sleeping in makeup. You wake up looking like a painting that’s been left out in a rainstorm.” – Nina Dobrev
“When I went on the stage to do a show, I would put on makeup because I felt that it enhanced my act; it drew attention to what I was doing.” – Little Richard
“Whether I’m wearing lots of makeup or no makeup, I’m always the same person inside.” – Lady Gaga
“Black eyeliner. It’s standard. It’s all you need. It just makes the world a better place.” – Marilyn Manson
“The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural.” – Calvin Klein
“I wore makeup when I was at school, and I wore makeup when glam started. I started wearing it again when punk started. I've always been drawn to wearing it. It's partly ritualistic, partly theatrical and partly just because I think I look better with it on.” – Robert Smith
You couldn't make it .. actually no, this week you really can make it up.
As vain monkeys, we humans have been painting our faces for thousands of years, and for all sorts of purposes. Attempted enhancement or reduction of certain features, to hide, to attract, and even in attempting some profound form of transformation. It could also be for military or hunting camouflage, for partying or other pleasure, for fashion, theatre, for formal business presentation, there's all sorts of excuses for and ways to doll yourself up with foundation, primer, concealer, lipstick, rouge blusher, eyebrow pencils, creams, waxes, gels, face powder, nail varnish, bronzer (with just a shade of last week’s brown topic), you name it. But what kind of effect do cosmetics have on behaviour and brain? Does makeup boost confidence or constrain it?
Music stars have always been fans of putting on a performance persona mask. And in a narrative, cosmetics can also leave traces of romantic encounters on clothing, make for a great vivid detail in lyrics, as well as an extended metaphor. So in a rather different way this week, it's time to face the music.
Ancient Egyptians to Sumerians, Greek tragedies and comedies to movie actors, the term cosmetics is derived from the Greek κοσμητικὴ τέχνη (kosmetikē tekhnē), meaning "technique of dress and ornament" from κοσμητικός (kosmētikos), meaning "skilled in ordering or arranging," and from κόσμος (kosmos), meaning "order" and "ornament." So it’s an ancient art of a kind with a foundation in narcissism.
Eyeliner in Ancient Egypt
The Ancient Egyptians particularly perfected the heavy eyeliner look, later taken on by many, including Amy Winehouse, by using kohl, traditionally made by grinding stibnite charcoal in mascara. Castor oil was also used in that ancient era for a protective balms, while skin creams in Roman times included beeswax, olive oil, and rose water. The look of the Middle Ages and beyond to the baroque period of big wigs in Europe was less subtle - heavy whitening of the face, perhaps with powder, then a heavy dose of rouge.
Cosmetics might cure confidence, but could also kill. While natural products were part of a skin care / performance combination of the past, it was in the 19th century and beyond that mass market products started to empty the nasty stuff, not merely deriving from cruelty on creatures, but also even poisonous to humans. Poisoning was common with the use of ceruse (white lead) throughout a number of different cultures, even back in the Renaissance. Blindness was caused by the mascara Lash Lure during the early 20th century. Even now, while harmful products and animal testing is banned in many countries in and out of Europe, in the US (and China), cosmetic products and ingredients do not need FDA premarket approval. That's ruthless market forces for you.
Don't even get me started on animal testing ...
Arsenic was another favourite facial self-poisoning. Check out this advertisement from an 1889 US newspaper for arsenic complexion wafers decried blotches, moles, pimples, freckles, and "all female irregularities".
Ooh, can you see the difference? Arsenic works wonders in this 1889 US newspaper ad for complexion wafers
Another difficult area of the multi-billon cosmetics industry, is how much it plays havoc with young minds, tricking girls and women especially into thinking it's an absolute necessity to make them beautiful, and later spawning the term fakeup. In 1882, English actress and socialite Lillie Langtry became the poster girl for Pears of London, making her the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product. Soon the world was awash with such things. Sometimes there were different twists on what the marketers thought women wanted.
What every woman wants?
Even today the major brands continue do this, including L'Oreal, the biggest, and YouTube 'how to do makeup' channels are immensely popular. Is it skin-deep self-improvement or a deep-pore form of social control.
A long time ago, I remember being quite shocked when, with one of my earliest girlfriends, when I personally woke up with a big smile on my face after a fabulous first night together, I noticed her insecurely sneaking off to the bathroom to reapply her mascara etc, fearing that I would see her unadorned face in the natural morning light. I did my level best to persuade her that this was most definitely not necessary, but even the most intelligent and beautiful people can be affected by this conditioning.
Joan Crawford
Smart cookie and brilliant super bitch Joan Crawford took shit from no one, but was also clearly obsessed with makeup. She includes this extensive description and how-to of makeup rules in her autobiography, My Way of Life:
1. Makeup should be just a frame for the eyes. When you lay on all the bright-coloured goop and slather white under the brows the eyes themselves are lost in camouflage. Just accent whatever God has given you with a subtle hand.
2. The more makeup a woman applies after forty the older she looks.
3. Early in my career I had plucked and plucked so that I'd have those spindly little lines that were the fashion then. When eyebrows came back a lot of girls found that they couldn't grow them anymore. They's plucked out the roots. I encouraged new growth by using castor oil and yellow Vaseline - half and half - and rubbing it the wrong way, toward the nose, with a brush. I still use it, it makes my brows grow like mad. It's good for lashes, too, but I always get the oil in my eyes, then they water and turn red. Brows frame the eyes. Encourage them. for they're a great asset.”
But what about musicians and make-up? Makeup is part of the uniform of pop and rock. It’s all about what’s on the surface, but also what’s beneath it. The glam-rock 1970s was arguably golden age of full-on make-up, and paradoxically we immediately perhaps think first more of the men who dolled up than the women, partly because it went against social convention, but more because the fellas didn't seem to know how to do subtle.
Suzi Quatro for one wasn't into it at all: “I never, ever saw myself as glam because I didn't wear makeup... my image is a plain leather jumpsuit, which is not glam at all. I've always seen myself as rock n' roll and not glam.” Suzi was, and is, glam, but she didn't need to try. Her male contemporaries went to the other extreme to various degrees of creativiity, over-excitement and showing off. As well as the afore-shown Kiss, perhaps in different ways they all followed the trail originally set by the great Little Richard:
Highlight: Little Richard
Dolled up
Bowie blusher
Peter Gabriel's a man of the mask …
Makeup also very much had its heyday in the New Romantic and Goth era. Here's prime white foundation fan Robert Smith with his characteristic drollery on the longtime practice: "Perhaps not as badly applied and not as obvious as us, but for thousands of years, people have worn makeup on stage."
And below we see how his look possibly inspired the creation of Johnny Depp Edward Scissorhands, and couple of other striking creations …
Cutting edge looks … Robert and Edward
Devilishly good: Swedish band Ghost
Artful smudging: Lady Gaga
So then this topic is really more about appearances than words, but it will be the lyrics that paint them in the mind’s eye. But for final inspiration, here are some extraordinary examples of extremely skilled and eye-catching, if a little scary, makeup creations by the Vancouver-based makeup artist Mimi Choi often achieving remarkable 3D optical illusions. How does she do it?
Some of the many faces of makeup magician Mimi Choi
Have you got the look? Can you face up to the music? What foundation can we build and then how can we highlight the songs that best captured the subject of makeup and cosmetics? With a keenly drawn eyeline, and a sharp set of ears too, this week's returning guest is Suzi! Place your nominations in the makeup bag below for deadline on Monday 11pm UK time. Let’s makeup time ...
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