Fashions in faces

[mme_hardy]

Women used to obsess -- or to be supposed to obsess, which is mostly the same thing -- about their noses being shiny. The stereotypical things a woman did when adjusting makeup in public were to fix her lipstick and to powder her nose. The fancy euphemism for the toilet was "the powder room", and you left the table "to powder your nose." Writers described women as shiny-nosed to show that they weren't taking care of themselves.

Nobody cares about that now. No ads try to make us care about that now. What happened, and when did it happen?

Comments

[recessional]

Actually they sort of do, it's just now focused on all over the face, and aimed specifically at those of us with "oily skin" who develop "afternoon shine".

Solutions range from pressed powder to oil-absorbant wipes to products ~*swearing*~ that it just doesn't happen with them!

For example.

[mme_hardy]

Golly. I was just talking about Korean face care with my daughter, and she explained "They like a 'dewy' look, which doesn't work as well here." (We are in bed wearing pajamas and watching the Golden Globes runway.) Either way, it takes a lot of product.

[recessional]

Well, yes. I'm not surprised.

It's like the difference between genuinely touselled hair and "touselled" hairstyles that take an hour and three kinds of hair-stuff. It's really very rare that you either get a genuine touselling or a genuine so-called dewy skin look that actually looks great; it happens to like 1% of people or to most people 1% of the time, usually when you can't take advantage of it.

So you spend a huge amount of time and product in order to make the "natural" look . . . that still actually looks good, rather than like you REALLY just rolled out of bed/don't have any makeup on/have fresh, moist skin. Most of the time when most women try it, our hair just looks messy, or we look like we have greasy skin.

(Because god forbid, even here, you look POWDERY, either.)

I just have super oily skin*, so it's the kind of thing I notice.



*general note to all viewers: please do not recommend anything that was magical for oily skin/explain that it's only extra-oily because of modern cleaning regimens/etc etc. Trust me, you are not actually thinking of skin like mine; skin and hair like mine are the kind that result in the long tradition of historical descriptions of persons as "greasy" or with "greasy hair", a la Snape. I get really testy about this.

[movingfinger]

I agree with recessional; if you shop for makeup in the sense of foundations and powders, the finish that's desirable isn't shiny. I think this is one reason the mineral makeups are so popular, it is slightly easier to get the look with them, for a lot of women.

Add to this the (apparently Asian-imported, given the provenance of the products offered) custom of women shaving facial vellus hair for a better cosmetic finish/younger look, and overall the preferred skin appearance is one that is soft and not shiny yet not damp/sweaty.

ETA: Didn't connect the thought-dots there. Women used to achieve that dry/unflustered look with powder, pressed powder in a compact being the field version. It's not unheard of to carry a compact now but the blotting papers are very popular. Overall powder use seems to be declining, possibly? If you use a mineral makeup, usually a powder to set/finish it is not necessary. Over liquid foundation, yes.

[mme_hardy]

I read somewhere (some fashion article) that the point of shaving the vellus hair was exfoliation.

[movingfinger]

Nonsense. If you're scraping hard enough with a razor to exfoliate, you're likely bleeding. It's hair removal to present a more smoothly pristine, cosmetic- and moisturizer-friendly surface. And once you start you have to keep on, because of the stubble. Possibly women who do this are saying it's for exfoliation because face-shaving is so masculine.

Facial exfoliation is acidic or abrasive; scraping with a razor is no way to exfoliate!

[cupcake_goth]

From what I've seen/experienced, "shiny" is still objectionable. But "dewy" and "glowing" are the things to strive for. It's part of the ongoing quest "natural, effortless" look that actually takes a helluva lot of work to achieve. And once you manage to achieve a "natural" application of cosmetics, there's endless blotting and special powders to keep the dewy-but-not-shiny look for the rest of the day. Bah. Bah I say.

I am not a fan of the "natural" look. Give me my compact of powder, my glittering burgundy eye shadow, and my poisoned wine lipstick.

[sara]

I am trying to imagine a time when I'd want to look "dewy" and failing. Perhaps my vision of this is not what is conventionally meant.

[nineveh_uk]

It became more socially acceptable to admit that you were going to the toilet?

[legionseagle]

Or, alternatively, the hectic 80s led to knowing looks if you said you were going "to powder", especially in the City?

[dejla]

Good point, with bonus marks for having lots of nosebleeds which led to more-knowing looks.

[rinue]

I've tended to assume (without data that tells me I'm correct) "shiny" meant sweaty, implying you'd been working hard or rushing around (ergo not rich). In maybe the 80s, ideas about the leisure class flipped and busy implied wealthy (work hard, play hard) whereas poverty was "lazy." At which point looking a bit sweaty became a different kind of status marker.

[caulkhead]

The shop from which I buy my sports bras has decided to market its campaign with the slogan 'Bravissimo girls don't sweat, they sparkle'.

Ugh.

[movingfinger]

!

NO

I came up with instant unprintably tasteless snark and I cannot believe no one at the advertising agency did the same.

[dejla]

Right. Horses sweat, men perspire, girls glow. Gag me with a spoon, Maynard.

[executrix]

In a sense, mineral makeup *is* facepowder, and it's tremendously popular. And every makeup line sells pressed powder and loose powder. Some women who wear a lot of makeup still use powder for touch-ups.

Also, once you get old enough for your skin to start drying up, believe me, "dewy" is a virtue.

[lexin]

I'm amazed by all this. I almost never wear makeup, and it's intricate beyond my understanding, unless it's pan stick for stage wear.

[lizbee]

I agree with the other comments -- I'm in the process of upgrading my daily make-up as I prepare to start a new job in a more formal setting, and I'm trying a lot of products that claim to eliminate shine.

Oddly, though, I've never found my nose particularly shiny.

[edenfalling]

I don't wear makeup and consequently pay no attention to makeup ads, but I do worry about my face getting shiny over the course of the day -- and also about my glasses smearing up. This is because I have a very oily hairline, skin oils seep everywhere, and 'greasy' is not a good look on anyone. However, since I don't wear makeup, I just wipe my forehead, my temples, and the bridge of my nose with a clean tissue (or my shirtsleeve in a pinch) every few hours, and carry on.

[dejla]

When the "dewy, fresh" look came into fashion because shiny noses meant young and girlish and not needing to wear makeup.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

It wants my credit card, which isn't an option for me right now. Can I send you money via interac transfer, and you send it?

[sabotabby]

Wow, that's never occurred to me, but you're right.

I mean, there's shiny oily faces, but that's less specific.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

I think we're older, and the problem doesn't apply to us any longer. And of course we no longer pay attention to youth-oriented ads.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I hang out with a 25-year-old and she says, no, shiny noses are not a focus of advertising.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

It's true, advertisers are much more concerned with helping me maintain a dewy, radiant youthful appearance and not worried at all about any possible shininess.

[madrobins]

Advertisers focus on 1) the older demographic with money for high end product, and anxiety about their skin (and as someone said above, oiliness has ceased to be an issue); and 2) "skin health" for the younger demographic. You get more money for more product that way.

I wonder if anxiety about a shiny nose had to do with sweat as much as oil? If your nose was shiny because you were sweating, it meant you were working hard, which was a class marker.