Air-brushing a Line in the Sand

Why is it that so many of my friends online have avatars that either partially obscure their face or show them as, say, a toddler, a cartoon character or a kitten?  In the blogging world I accept that it might be in order to maintain anonymity but over at one of my other regular haunts of Flickr, the same is true.  In fact, just occasionally a fellow Flickr-ite will ‘bravely’ post a self-portrait and invite others to do the same.  I used the word ‘bravely’ because that is invariably part of the reaction - that it was a brave move, that it’s lovely to finally ‘meet’ someone but no, sorry, we really don’t have the courage to do the same. 

Have you noticed how women, in particular, seem more sensitive about hiding from cameras?  Think about it – how many of your male online friends are happy to show their face, as opposed to your female friends?  You probably know where I’m going with this don’t you?  Yes, yadda yadda yadda…the blame must surely lie at least in part with advertising and media.  However, here is the reason why I’m mentioning it again today:

The Curious Case of Twiggy and Olay

You may already know that here in the UK the advertising watchdog banned an advert, at the end of last year, which depicted a very youthful looking  Twiggy ‘because younger looking eyes never go out of fashion’ (nor does heavy air-brushing apparently).  To be fair to Olay, there were just two complaints specifically about the ad but they were backed up by 700 complaints about the use of air-brushing in general from an anti air-brushing campaign.  It was enough for action to be taken.  Olay’s reaction by the way was that there was some ‘minor retouching’ around Twiggy’s eyes.  Yeah, right. 

The reality is that Twiggy seems like a nice lady, dresses well, has a phenomenal figure, but she’s heading on for 61 this September and unless she has made a pact with the devil she cannot possibly look as ‘pristine’ as she does in this ad …can she?  Well of course not!

I’m not a huge purchaser of glossy mags but I recently brought home a copy of ‘Woman and Home’.  The cover features an air-brushed Jerry Hall – another beautiful lady but at 52 she can’t possibly look quite that good either, can she?  (Well, not according to this article in the Mail Online).  In fact, it struck me that although this magazine is probably aimed at women of around my age (I’m no Spring Chicken myself) that there was barely a wrinkle in sight … until I came to the new Twiggy / Olay advert and it quite literally stopped me in my tracks.

There amongst all the air-brushed, primped and preened faces was a much more honest rendition of Twiggy.  I personally think that it is still air-brushed but at least it’s much closer to what you’d expect from a 60-year-old face.  Olay may have been somewhat backed into a corner on this but it is nonetheless a brave move.  In the same magazine other skincare products are being promoted in their usual air-brushed way, so Twiggy’s face does rather stand out.  Some might say that’s a good thing – I’m paying attention to the product – but it begs the question with me: If she has those wrinkles, how much better is she than any other 60-year-old?  In what way will using that particular product help?  

It strikes me that honesty doesn’t sell products … but if we don’t promote honesty then we’re right back to the dilemma of giving women impossible images to try to live up to, and when we fail, feeling ashamed to show our own lovely, but maybe ever so slightly less than perfect faces to the world.  So what’s the answer?  Brutal honesty in ads?  Or continue with the air-brushing? And if it’s the latter, how do we decide where to draw the line between selling a product and just plain lying?

Friday night

Back in the day, around this time on a Friday (it’s now coming up to four o’clock in the afternoon) I started to get the most glorious fluttery butterflies of excitement in my stomach.  Friday nights were my absolute favourite time of the week because I knew I was ~FREE~ for the weekend!  My friend Ally and I would always head out to one of the few nightclubs here and as dance fanatics would literally dance, virtually non-stop, into the wee small hours.  Booze and blokes didn’t figure in the equation at all - it was all about music and dancing.  When I think about it, no wonder I managed to stay rail thin – I invariably skipped any dinner and then danced non-stop for several hours!

I’ve been having a great time looking around YouTube today and I have to say that if the song below had been around for us at the time, we’d have been on that dance floor.  I had been trying to remember the name of this one to find it on YouTube and, you know how it is, you have part of the riff in your head but can’t actually reach the important bit that tells you the title.  I only had to say to my daughter: You know, the one with the OTT guys flying in space and that funny little ‘po-wing’ sound and she knew exactly what I was talking about.  I found it - my happy Friday night ‘boogie on down’ (!) number:  ’Flawless’ by The Ones.  I like the George Michael remix very much, but even though I’m a big fan of his music, I’d have to say that The Ones – the original - is probably better just for the completely OTT outfits and make-up.  Gotta love it…

In the right light

Photographers understand that the light cast at differing times of day greatly alters the way colours look.  Artists know that the best, consistent, light to paint by is that cast from a north facing window.  Equally, crafters realise that in order to see ‘true’ colours they need to work  by the light of a north facing window or to purchase special ‘blue light’ crafters’ bulbs. 

In exactly the same way, you are the artist of your own face when you apply your make-up, so if you have the option, for best results work in natural light, facing a north aspect window.

Beautiful Eyes: Preventing & dealing with dark circles

As the new year comes around we all tend to take a critical look at ourselves and if what you see in the mirror right now isn’t quite what you’d like to be seeing, then the following may interest you.  Set out below are a few pointers for anyone concerned about dark circles under their eyes. 

The most obvious and common cause of dark circles is a lack of several good nights’ sleep  – the perceived wisdom being that a minimum 8 hours per night is needed for optimum benefit.  Alcohol consumption alters the quality of our sleep, so if you’ve crashed out for an 11 hour session in bed after an all-night bender, the fact of the matter is that you may still be sorely in need of a good night’s sleep!

Alcohol consumption generally may also have put your kidneys and/or liver under stress and an outward symptom of that is dark circles under the eyes.  Do your system a favour, therefore, by cutting out the alcohol in favour of cool, clear water and those dark circles may soon be a thing of the past. 

Equally, poor diet can put our liver and kidneys under strain.  Increase your intake of green, leafy vegetables and fresh fruit and avoid heavy foods like butter, cream, rich salad dressings and chocolate.  Cut out fried food, coffee and any heavily processed food and drinks.

Dark rings under the eyes can be a sign of anaemia (a lack of iron in the diet).  The remedy may be to follow the dietary advice above but if this is an on-going problem, or you are in any way concerned, you should certainly visit your doctor for advice.

Unfortunately some of us are pre-disposed through our genetic make-up to have dark circles under our eyes and it’s a problem that becomes worse as we age and the skin under the eyes becomes thinner.  If you think this may be the case for you then relatively inexpensive cosmetic eye creams may help disguise the problem as many have light reflecting properties that make the eye area look generally lighter and more youthful.  (Look for something, for example, like l’Oreal eye cream, formulated and packaged for men and women). Don’t use regular moisturiser on the eye area.  It’s too heavy and may weigh the skin down, causing bags! 

Concealer may also help, although you need to use a light hand when applying it.  (I’m not making any money out of recommending this but I’ve always found Yves Saint Laurent ‘Touche Eclat’ (Radiant Touch) to be very useful when I need a fake boost.  Again, use it judiciously or else you will look like a panda)!

Remember, in all cases, if you are at all concerned, or it is an on-going problem a quick visit to the doctor is probably in order.

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