Beauty and Culture

Category

A Week Without Mirrors

What would a day be like without looking at ourselves in a mirror? The idea of seeing our own reflections - first thing in...

War Paint

Do you watch Vikings? I'm totally hooked, and between the violent clashes between cultures (and the costume details), I've been musing about Floki's eyeliner.   Fierce...

Faces: Thérèse Le Prat

As a makeup artist, I love faces - that goes without saying. But I don't just love a pretty face with makeup on it...

Is Wearing Makeup Unvirtuous?

Quite often when I tell another woman that I'm a makeup artist, she'll respond with an immediate confession about her makeup habits. "I don't...

The French Beauty Secret Magazines Won’t Write About

We're all familiar with the articles and books about French women's beauty secrets. The secret moisturizers, the insouciance, the je ne sais quas -...

The Duty of Beauty: Vanity in Downton Abbey

Any of us who are into fashion and beauty watch Downton Abbey with an eye for the details: the clothes and jewelry, and of...

Beauty Inventions: The Eyelash Curler

The modern eyelash curler is iconic - and for those of us in the beauty business, it's indispensable. It seems simple enough, but the...

Beauty Archetypes: Tattooed Ladies, Part Two

When we look at Tattooed Ladies, we often think of them in the context of individuality, self-expression, and self-ownership. And in the United States,...

Beauty Archetypes: Tattooed Ladies (Part One)

Tattooed Ladies! Even though we missed the circus sideshows that ran from the 1800's well into the twentieth century, the name itself conjures up...

Does Makeup Hurt Self-Esteem? Is The New York Times Sexist for Asking?

The New York Times published - on its "room for debate" page - a by authors with various viewpoints about makeup and self-esteem....

My Writing

Who’s Afraid of Wrinkles?

Recently I met a Celebrity Dermatologist who gave me quite a lecture on exfoliation, and how I should do more of it. This isn't...

Artist Francesco Vezzoli Shows us What the Ancient Romans Looked Like With Their Makeup On

True Colors (A Marble Relief Head of a Goddess), c.1st century A.D.-2014. Francesco Vessoli It's easy to imagine the ancients in monochrome. Their classic architecture...

Blue Eyeliner, Tattoos, and Face Packs: Beauty Secrets from a Prehistoric Siberian Princess

Finding remains of ancient people is rare enough - finding them well enough preserved to guess at their daily lifestyle is a revelation. In...