to wonder why the "fake look" is so popular?

[Namila]

Obviously light-hearted and I fully appreciate that people have different tastes and like different things. Apologies if you feel offended by this post.

However.

Every time I turn the TV on, it seems like the prevailing beauty standard is what I heard to be called "the fake look": fake tan, fake lashes, fake eyebrows, fake hair, fake nails and often times some fake features due to plastic surgery. It seems like these beauty interventions are meant to look obviously fake and very easy to spot.

Many of these women truly look fake as they resemble plastic dolls, but usually not in a flattering way!

I wonder why the current ruling beauty ideal implies so much "fakeness". Of course women have always spent time and money trying to improve their appearance to a certain degree, but I feel like this is a whole new level

What do you think the popularity of this "fake look" tells about our society? Do you reckon the trend will go away?

I don't think young men particularly go for the fake look. DD1 is 22, loves a good time and a laugh and a dance and is fairly unbothered what she looks like and very low maintenance. To be fair she is reasonably naturally attractive in a girl next door kind of way. She is honestly beating them off with a stick to a slightly ridiculous extent.

DS is 24. Admits he only goes for the good looking ones None of his girlfriends have done the fake look, all very naturally pretty.

There is an upside to the fake look.... as soon as you take your slap off and go out, you can walk past your next door neighbour and they wont recognise you. It probably has its uses as a security blanket for some.

I don't think the natural look is morally superior to the heavily made up look

When we're talking about makeup and may be hair dye, I'm with you.

When we are talking injectables or surgery, or tanning in ways that increase skin cancer risk, I don't. I think that taking a medical risk just to look "better," isn't a morally neutral thing. The first level of morality is not to harm, and harming ourselves is still harming.

I also question where all the hair for the hair extensions comes from, and how the women whose hair is being woven into heads in th UK and America feel about the situation. I've heard that a lot of the hair comes from temples in India where women shaved their heads as an offering, but that is such a nicy nicy story that I have trouble believing that it is the whole truth.

Hip - Interesting article here.

I see photos of the 1960s in magazines. Pale powder ridiculously long lashes panda eyes etc. 1970s plastered on, and so on. There's always been fake hasn't there...?

There's more surgery now (maybe) also online filters etc but fake is fake. No it won't go away.

& there'll always be older women scrutinizing younger women and scorning their makeup style. Different decade same shit.

I like makeup. Not to over-fake level but I'm sick of the makeup police thing, let people like what they like.

@BitofFun Thanks for that link! It's very interesting. This quote is what I suspected:

"in India some husbands were forcing their wives into selling their hair, slum children were being tricked into having their heads shaved in exchange for toys, and in one case a gang stole a woman's hair, holding her down and cutting it off."

So much for it being a morally neutral decision. And to think, it seems to be a growing market. Things will only get worse for poor women in the developing world.

I'd really love to read a movie star say 'to look like this costs several thousand a month and 80 hours of beauticians and gym work... Wouldn't that be refreshing?

Gwen Stefani said a few years ago that she worked really hard at it. I thought that was a nice change.

Dolly Parton also said "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap". Love Dolly, whatever she looks like.

Excellent post MistressDeeCee

Look at Cleopatra and the ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago. They wore lots of make up for cosmetic purposes (not just practical) and wigs. Apparently they invented the art of hair extensions before Cleopatra was even around. Cleopatra also wore nail polish. The Georgians are another example of faking it up with make up, wigs and manipulating skin tone. This 'fake' look is nothing new at all. It's just changed course slightly as technology has advanced.

Btw I don't do fake hair/eyelashes, and the eyebrow craze is certainly not to my taste, but I definitely don't feel the need to be catty about women's appearance without their make up etc. I think a large proportion of women who do that are threatened on some level and this makes them feel better about themselves.

I love playing with make up and I still use moisturising self tan. I did both the natural look and the fake look in my early to mid twenties and I was 'beating them off with a stick' with both looks. Honestly though, the fake was just more fun. Men don't all prefer one thing, they are all different and can like different things. It's possible to find more than one look attractive too.

The fake hair does bother me though since I learned how it's obtained a couple of years ago. I've only seen it once on a relative, and all I could think about was where it might have come from. I don't completely buy the temple story either. I think a good amount of it is obtained under more sinister circumstances. Apparently a lot of women are pressured into donating the hair to make money for the temples. I also vaguely remember a quote from one woman who said she preferred having hair but she didn't want to offend her god and wanted to show thanks or something along those lines. Basically she would have preferred to have kept her hair! Also many men can grow their hair too so why aren't they shaving it off? I might be completely missing something there but it has crossed my mind?

Buckys spot on re Egyptians and in fact so many other nations. The thing is that "you're only wearing it for men" has been so pushed into the forefront that it's almost as if women have to justify wearing makeup.

Why should we? Women are over-policed as it is we are damned if we do damned if we don't. If we all stopped wearing makeup tomorrow it wouldn't take a week for something else to scorn us for would be found. I like make up and will wear it when I please, no justification or explanation. That's freedom of choice.

Yes I have heard of hair coming from India, and poorer women selling their hair. I've not heard of the temple aspect of it. I must try to find out more. I wonder if men actually do shave off their hair..maybe they do.

Having said that some of the hair is from Brazil. No "temple" connotations there. & more and more nowadays, synthetic fibre that looks and behaves like the real thing and is less than 1/2 the price of "real" is used anyway. That's as much as I know of the hair issue. It is intriguing..and I'd be surprised if there wasn't a sad story behind it all.

I've dated men in the past who wore mascara and eyeliner😁. It was a man who introduced me to transculent face powder and I love it to this day. Makeup to me is like playing dress up. I'm fine without it but when I want to glam, a made up face is part of it.

I have no particular issue with the fake look, it’s just a popular look of the moment. Very young women having cosmetic procedures is concerning though, I think.

I have no idea how to achieve the fake look, even if I try to look extra groomed, I always look slightly “undone”. Not sure why