by Marty Coleman | Oct 8, 2013 | Women and Makeup - 2013 |
It’s over a week late and is bizarre, but it’s the final entry in my Makeup series.
Experiment
On the first day of my ‘Makeup’ series I drew this line drawing. I was just letting the drawing lead the way, without a real idea of what I wanted to do. I titled it ‘Makeup is Brand’ because I had started to think about our presentation of self in the world and how, in marketing and PR parlance, Brand identity is basically defined as what people think of you or your company. But I didn’t really know where to go with it at the time and the line drawing, without color, didn’t connect enough to do anything with it. So I went about drawing the other 4 napkins of the Makeup Series and kept this one off to the side. After I was done and had moved on to the next series I decided I would just play with this image. Just experiment with color and pattern. This is the result.
In the meanwhile, what do you think about the idea of ‘Makeup is Brand’?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 27, 2013 | Audrey Hepburn, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I will eat my words if today isn’t day #4 of my Makeup Series.
“Makeup can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if you are ugly on the inside, unless you eat your makeup.”
Outside
I am a firm believer that our outsides matter. They matter because we are sensual creatures. By sensual I mean we have senses. We see, hear, touch, smell and taste the world around us, the outside of the world. We get our information, in large part, from those senses. Even the sense that might seem internal, hearing, is just as much about the outside of how a person’s voice sounds, as the actual words they say. For example, if they are said with a grating voice, the internal message of the words can be lost.
Inside
Let’s define ‘inside’ before we go on, shall we? By ‘inside’ I do not mean your liver or ovaries or lungs or spleen or testicles. I don’t mean your heart either. Not your pumping heart at least. I do mean your mind and the heart that resides in the middle of that. That mind and heart inside you matter more than your outside. It’s not all that matters, it is however, what matters most. It matters because outer beauty doesn’t comfort the afflicted. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty does not feed the hungry. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty doesn’t take care of an elderly parent, a sick child, a wounded soldier, a devastated town. Inner beauty does that. Outer beauty doesn’t show sympathy, kindness, patience, or forgiveness. It doesn’t love.
Your Inside Edge is Outside
Then what’s the use of outer beauty? Why pay attention to it? Think of it as the outer edge of your inside. It’s not separate from your interior, it’s just the part of your interior that is at the edge, the edge that connects you to other people. You care about your inside world of thought and meaning, then care about how those things move out into the world as well. It’s through your outside edge that it happens.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Audrey Hepburn, 1929-1993, Dutch born American actress.
young Audrey Hepburn – 1930s
Edda van Heemstra aka Audrey Hepburn – Dance Student – WWII
During WWII, while living in The Netherlands, she changed her name to Edda van Heemstra to allay suspicion about her British roots (her father was British). The story goes that by the end of the war her and her family were reduced to eating tulip bulbs to survive.
She was known, and still is, as one of the most beautiful women in the history of film.
Audrey Hepburn – How To Steal A Million – 1966
And she knew how to use her makeup.
Audrey Hepburn Applying Lipstick Before Academy Awards Presentation – 1954
But she was much more average in outer beauty (as are most Hollywood celebs) than we often realize. She had circles under her eyes, and her other ‘imperfections’, as do we all.
Audrey Hepburn on Broadway in Gigi – 1951
But she was a total beauty because her outer beauty was the manifestation of her inner beauty, her mind and heart. That’s why she was just as beautiful in the photo below as she was in the photos above.
Audrey Hepburn, UNICEF ambassador in Ethiopia – 1988
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 25, 2013 | Jerry Seinfeld, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am coloring outside the lines in making today #3 of my Makeup series!
Lip Blind
When I was waiting tables in California back in the 80s and 90s I worked with a waitress who argued that lipstick should only go as far as the lip pigmentation, no farther. Unfortunately for her, her lip pigmentation discernibly changed before the edge of her lips. So she always had part of her lips with lipstick and the other part without. It was odd looking, to say the least. That was the one and only time I have ever seen that. More often, then and now, I have seen lipstick that goes well over the edge of the lips. If it’s just a bit over, to catch the light on the edge, that’s cool. But lipstick that is used to completely and drastically reshape the lips? That only works on TV, movies and beauty shoots where the photographer knows how to minimize the recognizability of that discrepancy. Otherwise people wonder why she didn’t wear her glasses when she put on her makeup, or why she thought it was a good idea to put her makeup on in the dark.
At least that’s my opinion. What’s yours?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Jerry Seinfeld, funny guy.
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 24, 2013 | Charles Revson, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am sold on the idea of making this day 2 of the Makeup series.
The Good
I once did an engagement photoshoot and part of the fun of it was going to the makeup counter before the official shoot with the woman and take photos of her getting her makeup done. I love taking photos of women putting on makeup so it was a real treat. She enjoyed the pampering process and looked like a million bucks afterwards. It didn’t transform her into someone else, it enhanced who she was into another realm for the day.
Here’s a photo from that shoot:
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The Bad
Yesterday I got a comment from an old friend on my FB page in response to my Makeup #1 drawing. It illustrates a different response to the makeup counter.
“When I was in my 20’s I went to Bloomingdales for a free makeover Sounds like fun, right? I enjoyed being pampered, but when all was said and done and they handed me the mirror, I freaked! Felt I looked like a clown and not myself. I literally ran home hoping I wouldn’t see a soul I knew.
She probably felt she looked like this:
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The Ugly
As much as I love makeup on women, there is one type I don’t like at all. That’s zombie makeup. Why? Because rotting flesh is gross, that’s why. I don’t like looking at it. I don’t watch any zombie movies or TV shows for that reason.
Who wants to look at this, anyway?
Nevermind, i don’t want to post it, it’s gross.
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The Hopeful
So, what is the makeup counter all about? The quote is right, it’s about hope. It’s a physical hope that one will be deemed attractive. Maybe by men, maybe by fans, maybe by yourself. It’s the emotional hope that you are worthy. Worthy of love, of affection, of lust, of passion, of attention. It’s the psychological hope that you look older, or younger, or wealthier, or sexier, or more intelligent, or more employable.
And finally, it’s a spiritual hope. Say what? Makeup has a spiritual component? Really? I say yes. It goes way back through history, the fables that prove time and time again that beauty equals goodness. Is it true in real life? I don’t think it is. But it sure is prevalent and subconsciously persistent in almost every culture , even among those who consciously don’t buy into the myth.
After all, you want to look like Cinderella,
Cinderella by Carlos via Flickr
and not her ugly step-sisters, right?
Why is that? Because they are ugly? No, because they are bad. And bad and ugly are intertwined. Be beautiful and you are not just beautiful, you are good as well. Isn’t that how the story goes?
Of course that’s a lie. But lie or not, it still remains a powerful force when looking in the mirror at the cosmetics counter.
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Drawing, photos (unless otherwise marked) and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Charles Revson, 1906-1975, American businessman – founder of Revlon Cosmetics
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 23, 2013 | Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am passionate about today being day #1 of my Makeup Series.
I Love Makeup
No, not on me, on women. It’s always been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. It’s decorating, emoting, expressing, playing, lying, pretending, truth-telling, covering, protecting, opining and exposing and since that’s pretty much what art is all about for me, I consider it art. Add to it that it’s being done on the canvas of a living, breathing, thinking person and it’s pretty cool.
I Love Passion
I also love people who are passionate about something. Whether it’s saving the world, being fit, learning or putting on a great party or anything else, I appreciate and respect passion. So, which do I love more?
I love passion more. And guess what? I am pretty sure most people feel the same way.
Can’t Buy Me…
So, I guess the quote above is saying you can’t buy passion at the cosmetic counter, right? You can’t just paint it on, it has to be inside you. And I think that is true – to a point. I do however also feel that how you present yourself to yourself and the world can move you towards passion. It can’t create it in you, but it can set the stage to maybe let it come out easier. Just as being in a conducive environment can bring out your passion, so can being in the right clothes, or putting on the right makeup.
Does makeup help you be more passionate? How so?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Yves Saint-Laurent, 1936 – 2008, French fashion designer
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by Marty Coleman | May 24, 2013 | Body Image - 2016, 2013, Rosalind Russell, Women and Makeup - 2013 |
I am making a splash today with #3 in my Body Image series.
Body Goals
Because I coach intermediate runners I have occasion to work with people who do not occupy what they envision to be their optimal bodies quite yet. There are various body goals they may have. They may want to get thinner, have more muscle tone, be more flexible, or have better heart health, to name just a few. Since they have already made the choice to join a running program I take that to also mean they have made a decision to do something deliberate to achieve their goals. I encourage them, do my part in training them, explain as best I can what I think will help them achieve these goals. I truly want them to be who they want to be and I love helping them get there.
Joy Goals
But there is something else I work on with them. And that is joy and happiness. I believe achieving goals can increase one’s happiness. But I also believe you don’t arrive at a body goal (or any other type of goal) and suddenly find happiness waiting there for you. As odd as it sounds, one needs to train for happiness, just like for an awesome body.
Cannonball Fun
For example, the joy in doing a cannonball in a pool is primarily in the fun of doing it. If you are big and round, it is still fun. If you are skinny and boney, it’s still fun. If you are 60 years old it’s fun, if you are 20 years old it’s fun. Now, it is true you might enjoy the walk to the diving board more if you are happy about your body shape. It is true you might be less self-conscious about something if you have the body you want. But if you want to experience fun you shouldn’t wait until you are ‘perfect’ to experience it. Suffer that bit of self-consciousness if you must because the act of doing that fun thing will show you, again and again, that your self-consciousness can be overcome, it can be put in it’s place.
Training Joy
But if you wait for that ‘perfection’ then while you are practicing and training your body to be it’s best you are continuing to train your mind to think it’s not. You are continuing to tell yourself that joy and fun and happiness is dependent on you being the right weight, or the right tan color, or the right bra size and that is not true. You actually may intellectually know it is not true, just as you know intellectually you will be in better shape if you run or work out. But that knowledge will remain academic and intellectual, unproven and unpracticed, unless you practice the happiness action the same way you practice the physical action.
In other words, train your joy and happiness as well as your body, then both will be in great shape!
How do you train your happiness and joy?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Rosalind Russell, 1907-1976, American actress. Her autobiography is titled, ‘Life is a Banquet’.
Rosalind Russell
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