I was at my book club two weeks ago—via Zoom, of course—where the featured guest was none other than internet-beloved cookbook author Alison Roman. Members asked her about pantry stocking, recipe substitutions and using fewer dishes, but finally, someone brought up what we were all thinking: What’s that lipstick you have on?
I looked at Roman’s Brady Bunch square on the screen. It was brightly lit, and she looked great with her hair neatly parted down the middle in a low bun and a swipe of red lipstick. (It was Maybelline’s Baby Lips in Crystal, she divulged.) I stared at my own square. It was poorly lit, and I hadn’t put on makeup in weeks. It hadn’t even occurred to me. As my pallid face stared back at me, I cringed a little: Why hadn’t it?
Sure, part of it is pandemic-related anxiety and figuring out how to work and take care of my 2-year-old at the same time. Plus, I’ve never been someone who wears a lot of makeup or partakes in a multi-step skincare routine. But after more than a decade working in fashion and beauty, I understand the power of putting on a little mascara and lipstick. I had just chosen not to.
As we’re all adjusting to a terrifying new world indoors and isolated from others, thinking about one’s appearance can feel trivial, selfish even. Who cares about makeup at a time like this? Don’t we have much more important things to worry about?
“Not wearing makeup is less about saying, ‘F-ck it’ and more about redirecting time and resources to focus on the things that matter,” says Julia Cheiffetz, a publisher at Simon & Schuster in New York. “Makeup does not matter.” There’s something subversive about going barefaced too, says novelist and fashion marketer Lauren Mechling. “It’s one of the few pleasures of this godawful moment, my bra burning if you will.”
Still, those who have stuck to their pre-pandemic makeup and skincare routines aren’t necessarily acting out of vanity. They may just be trying to feel sane. According to Dr. Stewart Shankman, chief of psychology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, establishing and maintaining routines that boost one’s mood can be beneficial.
“This COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented time of uncertainty and uncontrollability. So people putting makeup on will give them a sense of control given what’s going on outside is uncontrollable,” he explains. “What people are doing when they’re putting on makeup or getting dressed is they’re doing something to improve their mood, and we know from research studies and interventions that when people can control their mood, it helps their sense of well-being.”
Samari Blair, a first-year medical student at University of Florida in Gainesville, had been feeling a little down after days of quarantine, online classes and staying in her pajamas. So on a recent Sunday afternoon she decided to do her hair and makeup and put on “normal-people clothes.” She took a few selfies and posted them on Twitter. “Getting dressed and putting on makeup just made me feel a lot better,” says Blair. “It made me more confident. People always say, ‘If you look good, you do good.’”
Source: time.com
