How Make-Up Is Making Us More Self-Aware Amid A Pandemic

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Written by Gabby Elizabeth Guz in partnership with Kulture Hub [Oct. 2020]

Ask any makeup fanatic out there and they will tell you why at every thought of something like brushes, liners, powders, blenders, they find themselves at the edge of their seats. Why?

Well, maybe because it's — yes, sounds basic, but — fun. You know, an inexplicably enjoyable hobby set to the side, and when the time for it comes, it feels long-awaited. Or maybe it's practical, solely yet enthusiastically referred to when in need of self-care days.

Research shows that devoting time to makeup, or skincare, at a certain time during the day isn't just beneficial physically but also mentally. Adding color and definition to the face, especially when one is too immersed in one's negative thoughts and toxic self-consciousness, boosts confidence, productivity, and overall mood, particularly when using makeup from Organic Beauty Lover.  

Or maybe it's genuinely a passion for its own sake because it offers an escape. Precisely so, an escape. Nowadays, it's the kind of escape that everyone longs for — whether makeup fanatic or not.

Daily Routine

Though, admittedly, it's a bit strange to talk about a topic so seemingly inessential amid issues that are so much more resounding. COVID-19, yes. But also, racial and socioeconomic inequities. Humanitarian crises. Food and water scarcities. Concerns with the prospects of education. Presidential rallies and campaigns. It's overwhelming to even hear about it, let alone to be directly affected by it. 

All of that cannot be blocked out, but some, within their routines, find even moments of peace and a sense of grounding, or a rejuvenation in their powers to confront and change the circumstances of this world.

And no matter how vain it might sound, makeup to some is an essential routine. It encourages focus, a soothing grasp of control, and a healthy distraction in creativity. 

Research shows that devoting time to makeup, or skincare, at a certain time during the day isn't just beneficial physically but also mentally. Adding color and definition to the face, especially when one is too immersed in one's negative thoughts and toxic self-consciousness, boosts confidence, productivity, and overall mood. 

Doctor's Orders

It's hard to rely on makeup anymore when masks have become this year's recommended, and in some states and cities, required pieces of clothing. Whether personalized or not, patterned or plain, they make us feel at least protected from airborne particles that can contain the virus. Doctors and the CDC suggest them. And despite all of the confusion in late March about whether or not face coverings are effective or who should wear them, they have been proven to at least limit the distance traveled of an exhaled breath.  

The bare minimum we could do for each other's well-being, they say, is to simply wear them. However, their tangible patches on our skin are far from consoling. It irritates our pores, leaves marks, and just doesn't make for a good sight when we look at ourselves in the mirror. And yet, some of us continue to look through that mirror in a feverish search for a solution.  

How to alleviate the grogginess, the bags under our lower lashes, the acne - now, mask-acne - the paleness of our complexion, the heaviness of our eyes? Or rather, just how to embrace ourselves again after months of self-neglect?

Here's A Solution: 

Pay attention to what first catches your gaze when you see someone at, say, a grocery store — assuming that you and the other person are wearing masks, as you should. It's their eyes that catch you. And it's yours that catch them, too.

Necessary tools for a quarantine-fashioned, mask-covered make-up look? Foundation, concealer, eye-liner, brow gel, and well, of course, (perchance, layers of) eye-shadow. 

As per usual, foundation and a separate concealer can go together, though both should be used rather sparingly especially if neither is transfer-proof. But the kinds that have moisturizing elements can be used on the entire face, even beneath the mask, especially if the products have a matte, rather than dewy, finish 

To heighten the function of the foundation or concealer, a dampened blender should be used along with an initial hydrating primer. Powders are best to avoid since cream formulas provide, too, more nourishing moisture.

Sometimes, a decent, long-wear foundation or concealer is all anyone needs on a casual day. That alone gives off a much-needed glow, a kind that we, who for the most part are stuck indoors, are naturally lacking.

Looks Within

When it comes to enhancing or elongating your eye shape, liners do miracles, especially considering that today, their range is wide. There is the bedazzled, and the floating, and the pastel eyeliner. Not everyone, however, can afford so many of those multifaceted products. It's all right. As long as they have a black liner or an eye-shadow color that they like and a thin-angled brush, then they are in luck already. They can make it work. 

Even pink eyeliner is one of the 2020 trends, as well as a white liner on the bottom half of the eye. But brighter tones are not the only ones that can make one's eyes pop. Make-up doesn't have to stand out to work. For instance, placing eyeliner beneath the upper lash makes a look natural, practical, and instantly beautiful. 

Brow gel is perhaps another must to keep close. With salons closed over these last several months, except for those that have recently opened, it's been easy to let yourself keep those hairs unkempt. But as makeup experts have been saying for years, it's best to keep your brows as polished as possible since they are the number one defining feature of your face. These days at that, considering the need to wear masks, they are also ever more eye-catching.

Tweezing, waxing, and shaping brows of course comes first, but it's the gel that keeps them together and defined. Some gels are clear; others, add a darker tone. It's the gel that makes the most elusive of hairs polished enough to fit in with the rest.

Eye-shadow. Well, that element of the mentioned routine is maybe too vague to go on and elaborate. No matter how many people rave about certain foundations and concealers being the basis of make-up, it's in truth the eye-shadow palette. It can brighten one's face or darken it and it can add shine. 

Metallic, sunset, smokey eye shades can particularly emphasize depth and dimension. Especially layering it, many-toned, on the inner corners of your eyes elevates the experimental, artistic approach to the overarching objective of make-up, which is self-expression.

Makeup Clichés

It's hard to look away from each other's eyes nowadays, but perhaps another lesson that this global chaos can teach us: looking into each other's eyes is an underrated gift. By doing so, we can expand inwardly and heal a thousand-fold.

The cliche, "the eyes are the windows to the soul," has never been truer than now. So, let's make the eyes pop. Make-up might not be everyone's answer, but paying attention and seeking connection in the pursuit.

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