That rings a bell? If you are a make-up fanatic, an ardent YouTube diva and fixated on beauty gurus and routines, it’s hard to miss the emerging trend in South Korea, which goes with ‘#Escape the corset’. In this, women are challenging the longstanding beauty standards and unnatural goals set in place. A thriving sector generating millions of dollars and maligning the body confidence and concepts of beauty to outrageous levels, the cosmetics industry takes a hit when the ladies take it to themselves to banish the practice of spending more than two hours a day packing on make-up and succumbing to unreal makeovers that completely alter how the person looks.
Let’s not go overboard and say India is headed there, but we have a notorious history of having had an obsession with fair skin, and no amount of education or self-help effort has been able to fix the fixation. We, too, are on a fast pace to achieve our own versions of Helen and Portia, with desi beauty gurus and influencers on the front lines.
For the most part in India, though, make-up is a luxury, saved only for the wedding, a day when you are to look the most yourself. Indeed, you are mostly as far from you, as has ever been.
In some places, a little rouge is also frowned upon as too bold. As in all things here, the spectrum is wide. Given this, the number of products and brands surfacing, the luxe collection from Switzerland and Paris to homegrown ones are on a steep rise. A keen onlooker can take a hint as to how much an average woman’s (let’s talk about one gender this time) spend on cosmetics has peaked.
The thing about women, well, most of us is, that make-up is a fascination, it’s our little secret of confidence, and the new age has showered us with an array of platforms that are the pearly gates of tutorials on styles, looks, product reviews and so on by beauty gurus of YouTube. They are also Instagram celebrities, maintaining a constant presence on Snapchat as well.
This is no rant, because these 20+ minute snippets feel therapeutic and addictive at the same time. Hours fly by, by the time you are done perusing through the whole catalogue of videos and teaching yourself about Sisley's pocket-breaking make-up setting spray, when you didn’t even know you had to spray on something to let your make-up stay, or about the cut crease technique. Then there’s the rainbow highlighter that you wouldn't even come across, let alone use at any point in your lifetime. Every tutorial on the outrageous amount of make-up slathered on with a Mac 252 (that’s the brush, by the way; if you thought getting your cosmetics right was a task, you should try stocking up on brushes, that’s a job, right there) creating chiseled looks, never to hold up in real life, or anywhere for that matter except photo-shoots and under beauty lights. Influencer must-haves and routines are enticing as it is, and the ‘link in the description box’ makes everything look accessible and the price tags appear justified somehow.
I don't blame them, it is a new age profession. Movie stars take the back seats in promotions, if you haven’t noticed; the social media celebrities are the ones getting the business done. Real people are easier to sell than stars apparently, and it makes complete sense. I would believe someone like me promoting skin care products than some movie star shelling out millions of rupees on treatments and have a trousseau of make-up artists on hold every waking hour.
Also, beauty gurus are quick to issue disclaimers on what works for me may not work for you, so everything’s covered. Now the hipsters of this glamorous world are shifting to organic, the premium glass-bottled, muddy tone labelled products most thankfully produced or packed locally, a great initiative. From soaps to moisturisers to masks and packs, it is small yet striking.
The price tags are also equally exaggerated, but their organic tag should take care of the brain cells ringing alarm. Through all this, the confused cosmetics-lover sits, brooding over price or quality, organic or luxe brand, local or international: the dilemma is real. But I thought to myself, why not churn up my own DIY. Being an ardent user of a very expensive face-wash to calm my acne-prone skin, it was difficult to let go. But I got my hands on a simple face-wash, churned up in my own head going "why do we wash our face"? To clean. How? A gentle scrubbing and a lotion base for texture.
Off to the kitchen and one finds a small packet of besan (gram flour) and a bottle of honey. Fancy me gets old cosmetic bottles and transfers the contents. Wet the face, mix the two and work it on. Two years of this and my skin feels amazing and my expenses went down drastically. So once, in the flow, everything changes, moisturizer replaced by aloe vera gel, shampoo goes on to baking soda, small quantity, used infrequently. You can judge all you want but a bit of baking soda is so less toxic that the clutter of jargon at the back of the poo bottles.
And I bought myself a jar of shea butter for a body moisturizer and it’s been the best. Not everything can be concocted at home but the little things, a little effort, can be actually good for you. If you are still stubborn, here’s my rule of cosmetics, ‘Get the one with the shortest list of ingredients; it’s much safer there.’
shruthyme@yahoo.co.uk
