Free Yourself From Your Corporate Masters
by MadelineSo, I’ve been thinking about making a series of posts on the subject of abandoning the beauty industry. Jumping, like a rat from a sinking ship. Sending them the one-fingered salute as one rides off into the distance.
It took me a long time to come to the point where I even recognized that I needed to purge the beauty industry from my life. I’m still not done with the process (makeup sits, waiting for use, in my cabinet; sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and think today is a day when I need lipstick real, real bad; more than half my shoes are heels) but I’ve taken some steps. Do I need to explain why I’ve taken them? Underweight models, eating pounds and pounds of toxic chemicals in makeup over your lifetime, the “benefits” of never letting your skin breathe. The belief that without expensive toiletries you aren’t fit to be seen in the world. Makeup, the grand apology for your face — your face.
When are men asked to apologize for their own face?
And then I went into my cupboard and looked at all the crap that was sitting around. Why do I need medicated lotions and potions? Sure, I’ve had pimples, but who doesn’t? Does that really mean I have an “acne problem”? No, no, no. So why do I spend money on it? Because Neutrogena puts out ad campaigns wherein pretty white models splash water on their perfectly made-up faces? I guess. That’s a stupid reason to buy something.
And what about my hair? What is it about hair that makes regular soap not work? Seriously; I want to know. Why doesn’t soap suffice to clean hair anymore? I’m happy to use shampoo if it’s going to make a difference, and I know for a fact that shampoo makes my hair feel better than Dr. Bronner’s, but why? Is there some special reason that shampoo requires so many more long chemical names in its ingredients list than plain old natural soap does?
So next time: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, AKA “You mean that despite the fact that the beauty industry has been trying to convince me that oil is BAD EVIL BAD, I can actually use it to wash my face?” and an examination of a few bullshit PR campaigns regarding makeup + makeup remover.
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June 1st, 2007 at 11:52 am
Hello, I’ve just found your blog (I’m another feminist classicist and was looking for likeminded blogs).
A few years ago I totally stripped back the products I was using, and learnt what all the ingredients mean (by reading actual studies rather than just the scare stories). I cannot STAND ‘beauty’ advertising.
Here’s the [cod] science: soap leaves an alkaline residue on hair. If you want to use soap then follow it up with a vinegar rinse (a cap or so of vinegar in a jug of water) to restore the acid mantle.
(I wash my hair with the cheapest shower gel I can find - it’s just like using a weak shampoo, with half the ingredients)
I went the OCM (Oil Cleansing Method) for about two years. Everything was fine, except I got some red blotches on my skin that just wouldn’t go. So I’m currently having an experiment with some cheap facewash & moisturiser. Everyone else I know who OCMs has fantastic results, so I’m sure I’m just an anomaly. I still use oil for makeup removal - it is the best remover in the whole world. I wear a he-youge amount of eyemakeup* and it dissolves it immediately.
* I only wear eye makeup, and I do this to mark myself out as a member of a subculture, rather than for beauty reasons. I stopped wearing makeup a while ago for various reasons, but recently had a rather embarrassing conversation with a visiting colleague along the ‘no, really, I am a goth’ lines, & it was easier to go back to eyeliner.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
as regards all this, i have a question that you (or some online resource heretofore unknown to me) may be able to answer. the fact that i have eczema makes all skin things pretty complicated for me. on the plus side, oil cleansing has always worked well (i can’t use anything comedogenic, after all, so actual soap was out to begin with). the shampoo is a different matter. all my life, attempts to use anything but stinky super-strength coal tar shampoo has resulted in hunks of my scalp snowing onto my shoulders at an alarming rate. the coal tar isn’t for your hair, it’s for dandruff prevention in super messed-up skin. so while my hair might be happy with no-poo, my skin, i fear, would have none of it.
are you aware of an alternative hair-cleansing method that also takes skin into account? (maybe you are already planning to address this in your upcoming post. at any rate, i would super appreciate any input.)
June 1st, 2007 at 4:57 pm
You’ll have to let me know how your experiments with OCM go!
I am of two minds about makeup. Day to day, I do not wear anything more than Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in roughly the same color as my actual lips. I do own a lot of makeup, though. But that is because when I get dressed up, I sometimes like to dress like this.
Btw, I love Praireland Herbs’ shampoo bars, which are basically soap that smells really really good.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:39 am
Re Shampoo: V05 V05 V05 V05. It is the only true shampoo. It’s mostly just soap, and it’s been around forever, quietly enduring and never really advertising. And it costs about as much as a decent beer. And lasts longer.
Re Men Apologizing for their Faces: Other than razor commercials (which women have too, of course), I can’t really think of a parallel. Nose hair trimmers? LOL. I’ve known a lot of guys who shaved/tweezed their unibrows (just like girls!).
But but…HAVE YOU SEEN THE AXE BODY SPRAY ADS? HAVE YOU SEEN THEM? I think men might be getting some pressure to buy their own forms of “beauty products.”
-Ash (too lazy to log in)