Blog Dis
Looking one's best
2025-09-23
I try to look my best, like everyone else. We all want to look our best. It's the reason why we stand in front of the mirror adjusting and preening, and why we brush our teeth, comb our hair, wash-up, among other habits, because the basic human need to groom is so ingrained into our psyche that we can't help ourselves.
There have been many instances when I needed to look extra special for author interviews, to have my photo taken by the newspaper's staff photographer or for a magazine. In these instances, I wouldn't go out of my way to look my best. Rather, I'd avoid applying make-up knowing that their in-house make-up artist would do up my face. By the end of the sitting, I felt like I was wearing a pound of make-up, so thick and heavy was the foundation that it required effort to remove all of it, to be followed by washing my face properly and to re-hydrate my skin. Yet, and when you look at the finished product, the photos, you see the difference. The long fake eyelashes ensure that your eyes don't disappear. The heavy foundation evens out the tone of your skin. The camera captures the look that is far from real but the end result gives the false impression that this is how I look all the time. Ha! Not on your life.
Now for my face... a photogenic wonder I am not, and I'm OK admitting this fact. I wouldn't consider having a professional photo taken these days without wearing make-up. Our skin changes so that by comparison, the pristine look of our youthful complexion isn't the same as our skin when we reach a more mature stage, regardless of the quality of foundation being applied, despite knowing that not all make-up companies produce the same level of quality. I don't opt into the expensive varieties of make-up any more. Instead, I look for the healthiest version of foundation, such as the Burt's Bees brand of foundation, which is as natural-based as possible. The same goes for eye-shadow and lipstick, choosing a lip gloss or shiner that is all-natural. There was a period in history, specifically the 15th century, when women's foundation make-up contained lead, which is regarded as a poison to humans because it's a toxic metal. Only the well-to-do could afford to purchase this luxury, without knowing that it was also directly leading to their deaths, all for the sake of looking one's best. How whacked is this?
Ancient Egyptians applied lead-based Kohl to their eyes, and in the 19th Century, during the Victorian era, women used lead in powders, and in lotions too. When I reflect on the beauty industry, and the whopping dollars that are associated with make-up, they have truly been raking in the moulah all based on vanity, to appeal to a target market that knows its target: women, whose shelf-life has long been viewed as brief for centuries, from men's perspective and also from the perspective of manufacturers. You can search for make-up tutorials on YouTube and it astounds me the lengths that some young girls will go to, to ensure that their face is utterly perfect before making a video post. Here is where I diverge to follow my own path, doing away with multiple layers of foundation that include an underlayer of yellow to balance out the skin tone, over top which is applied another layer of foundation to achieve a perfect blend, and finally blush, eye-shadow, eyeliner, fake eye lashes, mascara, brow pencil, lipstick... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
A longtime male friend of mine would complain about the women in his life who wore too much make-up, citing the issue of kissing, and how his face would be covered in make-up when their lips parted, leaving splotches of make-up free areas that showed the real tone of heir skin. Would it not be better if women felt less pressure to alter their faces, and opt instead for a lighter layer of foundation?
It ain't easy trying to look one's best. It's not just the make-up but also the choice of clothing. There's a German expression, Kleidung macht Leute, which means: clothes make the person. And here again, at one point in time in my life, I'd think nothing of dropping half a c-note on a smart business outfit, when I worked up on Parliament Hill but the political environment expected this of you as an unwritten rule. The private industry on the other hand, has embraced business casual, a relaxed form of dress that places emphasis on comfortable while looking professional. And this eventually morphed into jeans on Fridays. However, there are still companies in this 21st Century who feel that open-toed shoes are unacceptable, and that women can only present themselves in skirt suits, rather than pant suits. I say, "Stick it up your a**!" Give me clean and casual, open-toed sandals, and tops with a view, the kind that embrace a little cleavage, otherwise what is the point of summer-wear when it's hot and humid?
And so in this current age in which we thrive, we've evolved to employ members from the LGBTQai2s+ community as well as hetero-metro-sexual men, who are comfortable arriving to work as they are, make-up and all, skirts or pants, hair dyed, fake nails in place, along with whatever accoutrement they prefer. They have my vote. I welcome them, one and all. I'm glad that our world hasn't remained exclusively about men and women, because it would be a lie to pretend that there are just men being men and women being women. Some prefer to dress up, while others are happier dressed down. It's awesome to experience the variety, not just in the workplace but in public life too.
The world continues to spin, to evolve and humans, with our perfectly white, capped teeth, our facial implants in place, our beefed up appearance are no better or worse than every other animal, insect and flower on the planet. We humans just spend more on the products and services to make the magic happen.
There have been many instances when I needed to look extra special for author interviews, to have my photo taken by the newspaper's staff photographer or for a magazine. In these instances, I wouldn't go out of my way to look my best. Rather, I'd avoid applying make-up knowing that their in-house make-up artist would do up my face. By the end of the sitting, I felt like I was wearing a pound of make-up, so thick and heavy was the foundation that it required effort to remove all of it, to be followed by washing my face properly and to re-hydrate my skin. Yet, and when you look at the finished product, the photos, you see the difference. The long fake eyelashes ensure that your eyes don't disappear. The heavy foundation evens out the tone of your skin. The camera captures the look that is far from real but the end result gives the false impression that this is how I look all the time. Ha! Not on your life.
Now for my face... a photogenic wonder I am not, and I'm OK admitting this fact. I wouldn't consider having a professional photo taken these days without wearing make-up. Our skin changes so that by comparison, the pristine look of our youthful complexion isn't the same as our skin when we reach a more mature stage, regardless of the quality of foundation being applied, despite knowing that not all make-up companies produce the same level of quality. I don't opt into the expensive varieties of make-up any more. Instead, I look for the healthiest version of foundation, such as the Burt's Bees brand of foundation, which is as natural-based as possible. The same goes for eye-shadow and lipstick, choosing a lip gloss or shiner that is all-natural. There was a period in history, specifically the 15th century, when women's foundation make-up contained lead, which is regarded as a poison to humans because it's a toxic metal. Only the well-to-do could afford to purchase this luxury, without knowing that it was also directly leading to their deaths, all for the sake of looking one's best. How whacked is this?
Ancient Egyptians applied lead-based Kohl to their eyes, and in the 19th Century, during the Victorian era, women used lead in powders, and in lotions too. When I reflect on the beauty industry, and the whopping dollars that are associated with make-up, they have truly been raking in the moulah all based on vanity, to appeal to a target market that knows its target: women, whose shelf-life has long been viewed as brief for centuries, from men's perspective and also from the perspective of manufacturers. You can search for make-up tutorials on YouTube and it astounds me the lengths that some young girls will go to, to ensure that their face is utterly perfect before making a video post. Here is where I diverge to follow my own path, doing away with multiple layers of foundation that include an underlayer of yellow to balance out the skin tone, over top which is applied another layer of foundation to achieve a perfect blend, and finally blush, eye-shadow, eyeliner, fake eye lashes, mascara, brow pencil, lipstick... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
A longtime male friend of mine would complain about the women in his life who wore too much make-up, citing the issue of kissing, and how his face would be covered in make-up when their lips parted, leaving splotches of make-up free areas that showed the real tone of heir skin. Would it not be better if women felt less pressure to alter their faces, and opt instead for a lighter layer of foundation?
It ain't easy trying to look one's best. It's not just the make-up but also the choice of clothing. There's a German expression, Kleidung macht Leute, which means: clothes make the person. And here again, at one point in time in my life, I'd think nothing of dropping half a c-note on a smart business outfit, when I worked up on Parliament Hill but the political environment expected this of you as an unwritten rule. The private industry on the other hand, has embraced business casual, a relaxed form of dress that places emphasis on comfortable while looking professional. And this eventually morphed into jeans on Fridays. However, there are still companies in this 21st Century who feel that open-toed shoes are unacceptable, and that women can only present themselves in skirt suits, rather than pant suits. I say, "Stick it up your a**!" Give me clean and casual, open-toed sandals, and tops with a view, the kind that embrace a little cleavage, otherwise what is the point of summer-wear when it's hot and humid?
And so in this current age in which we thrive, we've evolved to employ members from the LGBTQai2s+ community as well as hetero-metro-sexual men, who are comfortable arriving to work as they are, make-up and all, skirts or pants, hair dyed, fake nails in place, along with whatever accoutrement they prefer. They have my vote. I welcome them, one and all. I'm glad that our world hasn't remained exclusively about men and women, because it would be a lie to pretend that there are just men being men and women being women. Some prefer to dress up, while others are happier dressed down. It's awesome to experience the variety, not just in the workplace but in public life too.
The world continues to spin, to evolve and humans, with our perfectly white, capped teeth, our facial implants in place, our beefed up appearance are no better or worse than every other animal, insect and flower on the planet. We humans just spend more on the products and services to make the magic happen.
