Make up your mind about makeup

The use of makeup originally started because of hygiene and evolved as one of many methods used to enhance beauty. Today, it is a multi-billion-dollar business. As sad as it is, more and more people think they’re just not beautiful without it. Is advertising responsible for this? Or should we all blame Cleopatra?

In my years of existence, I’ve discovered that girls who wear makeup become younger and younger. I once was a preschool teacher and I had a 5-year-old student who would often tell me what makeup she’s wearing that day. There was a pinch in my heart when she answered my question as to why she wears make-up: “because I don’t look pretty without it.” This girl would also tell me she’s on a diet and showed me her collection of pre-teen magazines with her favourite child models in them.

Let’s debunk this situation, shall we? She’s a beautiful 5-year-old girl who’s straight up insecure and she already has a collection of magazines with other girls she wants to look like. If you’ve read “Advertising: A source of insecurity”, you’d know that advertising did affect me when I was younger. Can we say the same for makeup advertisers? But makeup has been there long before people began to advertise and commercialise it.

It’s become another thing that doesn’t need to be advertised because a lot of people would buy makeup regardless of its price, the harm it may cause to the skin, whether it’s been tested on animals or not, and so on. But the advertising message that is put out regarding makeup is the idea that you will look like a certain model or celebrity if you use these products – ensuring that you’ll be worthy to be on the cover of magazines, with millions of likes and followers on social media, and all that jazz.

Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of people who enjoy it, are passionate for it, and treat the face as a canvas but what I want to tell you today is with or without makeup – YOU ARE A MASTERPIECE! You were born into a society that emphasises face value, and you now live in a world full of advertising that profits from this. But the question is, does society dictate what companies are allowed to advertise or do we look at advertisements and set it as the standard for modern day beauty?

Make-up isn’t a quick fix for insecurity. Insecurity is something every one of us should deal with, admit, and hopefully one day let go of.

At the end of the day, you still get to choose what to believe – and what I believe is we all have something good about ourselves. Being the only you in a world with billions of people, being unique is such beautiful thing. So why do we need to conform? Looking beyond what society and advertising dictates is a bold move that I think everyone should embrace.

Deo Deception

Much like a book on anti-gravity, the issue of false advertising is impossible to put down. This week, we’re talking about men’s deodorant commercials! As a female, I’ve always found these commercials to be like insect puns – they really bug me.

This body-spray elevator commercial is wrong on so many levels.

More often than not, men’s deo commercials feature a guy using the product that leads to a lady (or ladies) going head over heels for him because of the deodorant’s scent. Does that happen for real? The obvious answer is no.

I once heard someone say that being aware of something and discovering its purpose may come at two different times. As an example, he mentioned that he’s been aware of deodorants way before he discovered their purpose. As a primary school boy, he just knew that deodorant is something worn by older people but it wasn’t until high school that he discovered what it was for.

And what is it for? History says that before bathing became common, people used heavy colognes to mask body odour and it was only during the late 1800s when deodorant sticks were created by chemists to be commercialised. THERE WE GO. History itself states that mass production of deodorants was done for the sole purpose of commercialism. However, I of course don’t want to disregard the product’s actual purpose which is to prevent and mask body odour. It does the trick, but the question now is when did people become so self-conscious of their smell?

In some cultures, the way you smell is associated to your social class. Smelling nice is one thing, but what about simply being hygienic? Again, when baths and showers weren’t common, people used colognes to mask body odour but it was done outside of the consideration of hygiene. Marketing and advertising become, once again, responsible for making people think there’s a need for this product. (Although, let’s be honest, some people actually do but if they bathed frequently, using soap and more soap, they wouldn’t need it. This is the dichotomy of marketing.)

Can we have more honest advertising? I wouldn’t want to start talking about how sexist those deodorant commercials can be but how sad is it that excellence in advertising lies in the capability of advertisers to bend the truth as much as they can so that their products would sell? Objectifying individuals, casually making fun of issues, or simply advertising a photo that looks nothing like the product you get is, in a lot of ways, disturbing and annoying yet society allows it.

I had a conversation about one of my previous blogs and my friend asked how can an advertising blog be against advertising practices. We’re somewhat like an anti-advertising advertising agency. The norm is sadly dishonest, that’s why we would rather be outspoken about the issues that lie in this industry – call it as it is and even make fun of it, rather than succumb to the practices that deceive people.

On a lighter note, here's another crazy commercial I found for a product that may just work better than a deodorant. Who knows?

Just go with the flow

RED ALERT! We’re talking about period products! Pads, liners, and tampons – not to mention a hot pack, pain killers, and food, lots and lots of food. But we’re specifically going to talk about the ones that us girls use to trap our bloody well… blood! (And mucosal tissue, but let’s not get scientific/visual.)

This menstruation thing is just cramping our style, period. (#pungameisstrong) Ladies, back me up. Most period product ads are the same. A girl or group of girls in white pants or skirts, doing pirouettes, jumping and laughing like it’s all good, doing things they wouldn’t even do if they did not have their period!

The unrealistic advertising of pads and tampons are 100% unnecessary to begin with. First, because it’s totally wrong and counts as false advertising. I know when I’m on my period all I want to do is spend a couple of days in bed with an electric blanket no matter how hot it is outside, fetal position, eating fro-yo, sour squirms, and soup. I most certainly do not want to ride a horse nor do flips at a trampoline park while Aunt Flow is around. Second, I think period products shouldn’t even be advertised to begin with because we’re going to buy them anyway! We don’t have a choice. We will bleed – red blood, NOT some blue liquid. EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH.

Does brand matter? Yes and no. Yes, because we tend to become loyal to the brand we’re most comfortable using. I personally am not influenced by ads in this decision because it’s all a matter of experience. And no, brands do not matter especially when your monthly visitor comes without a warning – we’ll most likely use what’s accessible and not risk the apparently high chance of leaking through and staining our white pants.

A great thing to realise though is with the good ol’ Internet, women all over the world have now been responsive in creating videos and articles that reveal how periods actually work. These often point out how period product advertisers do nothing but ovary-act, showing us stuff that we can do if we had their pads or tampons, all the while masking the rather nasty side of things.

It’s obvious where I stand with this. What do you guys think? Shouldn’t period product advertisers just stop and go with the flow?

Cherubs, and expensive roses.

It’s that time of the year again when couples are excited and singles are freaking out! Whichever team you’re in this year (#teamthirdwheel!), I hope you have a fantastic Valentine’s Day! (You know, if you celebrate it at all and whatnot.)

But what is Valentine’s Day? History says that it’s the commemoration of one Saint Valentine and his act of martyrdom, marrying couples in secret which led to his imprisonment. This caused him to cross paths with his one true love: the jailer’s daughter. Since he was in jail, couples he wed would often send him flowers and notes to show their gratitude and the same is true for him and his lady. He sent his girl a note on his execution day, the 14th of February and signed it “From your Valentine.”

Sweet beginnings are used and abused by modern-day society, we can’t ignore the fact that Valentine’s Day is very much commercialised. Businesses and advertisers needed to give people something to spend on in-between Christmas and Easter, thus Valentine’s Day! Under the disguise of love, Valentine’s Day seems to do little more than raise women’s expectations and give men immense stress to deliver.

After all the heart-shaped lollies, roses, and the misuse of cherubs; how relevant is Valentine’s Day? Apparently, relevant enough to be the fifth most celebrated holiday in the world. Why does society (literally) buy into this holiday? With the power of the internet, you’d want to believe that there will be people who know that Valentine’s Day, much like other holidays such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, is used as an advertising tool to gain profit. This saddens me because I think that love should be celebrated every day.

False advertising has been a prominent issue in society for years, and with the Bunnings and Bike Barn fiascos that recently hit the news, isn’t it possible that Valentine’s Day counts as false advertising too, with its huge and unrealistic upselling of love?

We all will leave this world one day. Would your life’s highlight reel include Valentine’s Day? If you only made extra efforts on Valentine’s Day, then I’m sorry to say but I don’t think that’s love at all. You simply bought into the idea of love trying to please society rather than sincerely extending love to your significant other. Gestures of love are most genuine when you do it because of an overflow of love in your heart that you can’t help but pour it out – and not because advertising told you to.