The Beauty Chronicle #2

"On my trauma of fake eyelashes"

Brought to you weekly, a to-the-point drawn reflexion on beauty as a general concept.

Last summer, 2014 that is, I dressed up with my group of Asian friends in Tokyo. I was dressed as a pseudo-Lady Gaga, and decided it would be a good time to take the step towards fake eyelashes I had never taken. A step in the dark enabled by my friend Mika, who's expertise on makeup was much needed. It was both an interesting and traumatic experience. Final diagnosis: I will never repeat the operation.

On my experience of Japanese quest for beauty #1

Girls in kimono during the Lantern Festival, in Tokyo (Photo owned by me)

As I've written before, I have lived 4 years in Japan. Granted, that isn't enough to grasp all things about a culture; granted, I am no expert on Japan and Japanese people. Yet, what drives me crazy in that culture is largely compensated by numerous fascinating elements, that make Tokyo home. One of the thing that fascinates me most is the place beauty holds in Japanese women's lives.

Everyday was a surprise in Tokyo. Going out in the city was always an adventure, as I always discovered something new, even doing the most normal/boring thing such as food shopping. Hey, you should see the tofu shelf or the fish department in an average Japanese store. It's a haven for pescetarians - fishlovers - truly.

As it is the case in most cultures, how the quest for beauty is incarnated varies from generation to generation, and is often very characteristic to an era. It's definitely the case in Japanese culture. Japanese girls, and apparently around the age of 12-13, start caring about their appearance, mostly to fit in with their friends. They can actually choose from a panel of countless transformations, as Japan is known to be a nest for eccentricity and the multiplicity of styles, so these girls can choose from a panel of transformations. The beginning of the quest of beauty for young Nippon girls first means discovering a new side of life, away from middle school exams, and night classes to prepare them. Teenage girls start getting interested in cosmetic products and want to look like their favorite idols or manga character. While some girls turn to extreme looks such as the Super Girly girl (burikko, pretending to be cute) like the AKB48 stars (they are all the rage in Japan, attracting both young girls, boys, but also older men..), or otaku (manga/anime-obsessed), the beauty codes that are most common and most fancied by boys are more natural make-up. In fact, even as they grow up, Japanese girls fancy the "perfect finish" beauty styling.

The quest for beauty in Japan is incredible: Japanese women put 14 beauty products, on average. That's about 7 make-up products, and 7 skincare products. Layering, to attain the Perfect Finish beauty ideal. And I'm not even mentioning hair products. Talk about transforming yourself. I was amazed at how flawless some women become after meticulous application of their layers. In fact, this sense of layering has inspired beauty brands to develop adapted products. The layering to Japanese women is what mixing products (that inspired the BB cream) is to Korean women.

But it goes further that just buying products. While cosmetic product sales have been rising on a year-by-year basis, there is more to it. The desire to be beautiful seems to know no bounds. But more of that later.

The Beauty Chronicle #1

"On girls refusing the rule of makeup"

Brought to you weekly, a to-the-point drawn reflexion on beauty as a general concept.

As passionate as I am about the cosmetics industry, and as fascinated I am by makeup and skincare practices, personal habits and intricate rituals, I still refuse to put makeup on a daily basis. Even on days when I look like I haven't slept in days and my skin could use a bit of photoshopping, I usually neglect the mascara-foundation-blush-lipstick ritual that may give rhythm to others' mornings. No makeup ritual yet, though I am intransigent when it comes to skin care. Got to wash and take care of your skin.

Through others' eyes

Photography by David Sims for French Vogue August Issue n°949, modified by me

My first year of high school, I moved to Japan with my parents. I had lived in Detroit for the past four years – Detroit, Michigan, USA – and I had never been kept up at night by beauty or the quest of beauty as concepts. 

Beauty as a sociological matter never hit me as much as in Japan. The quest for beauty had never been so palpable. The quest for specific attributes, the quest to attain certain physical traits, comparing oneself to pale-skinny-big-eyed-girls who looked like they were twelve, seemed to be the rage. At least from where I stood. Suddenly, what I had always called pale became “fair”, and what I saw as unhealthy skinny became fashionably thin. At the same time, the tiny noses and thick black hair I envied weren’t enough for Japanese girls. Suddenly, it became clear that what seemed so obviously beautiful through my eyes, was a whole other set of adjectives through someone else’s. 

Living in Tokyo opened me up to countless encounters of incarnated quest for beauty. I became fascinated with the tendency to transform one's body to a new form. One would think the quest for beauty has never been so vivid than in the 21st century. Sure, the cosmetic industry, the plastic surgery empire, and constant innovations for new ways to mask our imperfections, enhance our perfections and glamour our traits, would be enough to conclude to that now is the era of metamorphosis. But the quest for beauty, and the recognition that beauty may be present in the human body, if exposed, has been present for centuries. Maybe even since the beginning of mankind. This is where it gets interesting. 

It seems that the representation of what beauty entitles has not been the same from one century to another. Let alone been unique within one era. The first representations of mankind were found on tombs. Maybe this is when the quest for beauty began. Yet, the criteria beauty was judged upon were probably, evidently, different.

I find fascinating how relative beauty criteria are. Who is beautiful, what is beautiful, am I beautiful. And it seems to be the talk on everyone's lips today. More and more we turn to beauty we had not considered. We look at different, we look at atypical, we look at deformed, and wonder if it wouldn't also be beautiful. Or rather she, or he, wouldn't also be beautiful. The relativeness of beauty criteria fascinate me. So do the attempts to look at new ways we can celebrate the human body. New ways we can transform it. That's all part of the quest for beauty. Dressing the body up, putting make-up on, tattoos, implants, body creams, gels, serums, powder, foundation, lipstick. Exfoliating, pulping, firming, hydrating, lighting. We have developed an infinite set of words to describe how we transform the body. Such a set comes with a palette of possibilities to alter the human form to pursue beauty. But upon different criteria.

Such differences are even more current with globalization. There is a gradual realization that there is not only one ideal beauty, but rather a multiplicity of beauties. I will try to explore the ways we, as humans, view beauty, its criteria, its leading issues, depending on the time period, but also on geography and culture. Try to grasp the underlying elements of the quest for beauty.