In defence of retro beauty

During one of our countless makeup-bag raidings, me and my friend got  all caught up with the theme of beauty and how much it has changed over the years.  Being the makeup lovers that we are, having our (not so little) bags filled up with so many products we can hardly zip them up, we couldn´t help but wonder; is this all necessary?  Yes, we do like the process of using a different brush for a different part of our face or adding a little sparkle to our cheeks, but… was it always like this?

Then my friend remembered a conversation she had with her grandmother. They were going through some old photos of her and her family and she picked up one and said something like this: “oh, I remember how beautiful I felt that particular day”. Not wanting to be rude, my friend just nodded and kept thinking about it. When she told me and described the photo, I immediately knew what she meant. The younger, black-and-white version of her grandma seemed to be sporting a huge updo on her head and nothing but a lipstick on her lips and maybe a little vaseline on her cheeks.

What is it that we need so much today? Is it just a fashion phase inspired by all those YouTube beauty gurus that will be soon over, or is it higher standards of today´s society that push us to look the best we can? How is it that our grandmothers felt beautiful with only as much as a sheer wash of red on their lips, giant updos that were meant to stay on your head for weeks and clothes in which you couldn´t by any chance feel unique, because you were only able to buy them from the one seller at the local market?  How is it that we need a full-coverage makeup (that, honest to God, often looks like the mask Hannibal Lecter was forced to wear), Instagram brows and perfectly concealed undereye circles to feel beautiful? 

I guess I am not the right person to talk about this issue, because I myself watch those beauty gurus on YouTube, spend hours at my local drugstore and have like three different hair colours in a month… But that doesn´t mean I can´t speculate about what precisely was the reason that led to such a drastic change.  Was it the gradual liberation of society and the release of tension in the middle of 20^th century? Was it the fast development of modern technology? Who knows?

But there´s one thing I am sure of. I would give anything to feel as confident about myself today (with all the beauty junkie stuff I am so eager to own) as my friend´s grandma must have felt on the day that is forever captured on the photograph she showed to her. I hope that one day I will also be able to look back at my past and say, “oh, I remember how beautiful I felt that day.”

Until next time,
čauko, Lenka :)