In recent times, the words “slay” and “on fleek” seem to be on everyone’s tongue, and the need to look elegant all the time is on the rise. With an increasing number of people embarking on being make up artists either as a profession or for personal satisfaction, it is becoming so easy to witness the total transformation of ladies to the “exotic” image they love to exude. This is made more evident by photo shoots carried out by these artists where ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of models (those ladies whose faces are used to showcase the make up artist’s proficiency ) are displayed side by side, with The “before” image revealing their faces in its most natural state, often punctuated with pimples, black spots and presented as less desirable as opposed to the “after” image which features the skin in its most sleek form, often as smooth as finely polished glass. Thanks to technology, the images are even further edited, presenting such ladies as an epitome of perfection.
Based on this, a lot of issues are being raised. People wonder, could it be that we are no longer comfortable in our own skin? Why the sudden need to conform to a particular kind of “beauty”? what happened to days when a completely natural face or just white powder and lip gloss sufficed? The funny part is how some guys make jokes and say “guy, abeg before you marry one fine girl take am to the pool” or “you gats see her early morning face first o” and these jokes are true, aren’t they? With layers upon layers of primer, foundation, powder, toner, bronzer, blusher and kaajal coupled with the advanced camera filters, Nowadays, looks really can be very deceiving.
Then there are those who ask: “why can’t I choose to beautify my face? ” and I personally agree with this point of view. After all, we all seek to attain perfection in all aspects of our lives (academics, social, relationships) so why should our looks be any different? and since make up enhances beauty, I don’t see why we can’t indulge in it, as long as we can stay true to ourselves and keep it real. We keep hearing the cliché of how it’s the “inner beauty” and self confidence that matters and all that. Yet, we dress well, admire those who always look nice and reprove the shabby ones. This shows that it’s in human nature to appreciate efforts aimed at achieving a good appearance.
In the light of this, I strongly believe that everyone has a right to look more pretty but what I disagree with, is the total reliance on these products to feel beautiful. Its no news that some ladies find it difficult to step out of their room without a perfect eyebrow, imagine going out for an early morning workout and seeing a lady jogging with “eyebrows on fleek” I was like “okurrrr???” lol, I am sure you all can picture how my expression would have been, I really did shake my head. This is really heartbreaking as it shows a great decline in the level of our self confidence and an increase in insecurities.
Health wise, it has been discovered that heavy make up on a daily basis really is no good for our facial skin as these products asides cloging up pores and aggravating acne, can also increase the risk of having cancer, skin irritation and disorder when used in excess. In my opinion, Wise beauty practice involves going natural or using maybe just powder, lip gloss or lip stick (preferably colours that aren’t too bright) on more occasions, foundation and a perfect eyebrows can be added at times to give a more sleek and chic look. While heavy make up which includes highlighting, contouring, and application of a heavy eye shadow should strictly be reserved for those occasions when it is essential to give a “wow” effect.
Yes, the world is evolving, things are changing and technologies are improving but that’s no excuse for us to be unnecessarily vain. So as we go about our daily routine, let’s work towards being comfortable in our skin and remember that while it is always good to take care of our appearance, it isn’t just our looks that define us. Total acceptance of one’s self is the first step towards being a beauty in itself.
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