Empow(d)ering women

At the Edinburgh book Festival, Zadie Smith asked if women were paying the hair and makeup tax, and she has a fair point: should modern women be spending up to four hours on their hair and makeup? If they do spend that long, then she is surely justified in limiting her seven-year-old daughter's mirror time. Mind you, she looks pretty glamorous in her makeup!

I also think that four hours is way too long. I'm not sure what these women can be doing, unless they are straightening their hair daily. Which, as any hairdresser will tell you will eventually leave you with no locks to straighten at all, as straightening is very bad for your hair. 

So can it be the makeup? 

Can you spend two hours on your makeup? I can't. At a push (i.e. most mornings) I spend about five minutes putting on my makeup. In fact, being fairly sad like that, I just timed myself to check, and I can slap on the slap in just under five.That includes foundation, eyeshadow, eye liner, mascara, lip liner, lipstick, blusher and bronzer, by the way. As I am a trained MUA, maybe that doesn't count, but my clients are also taught how to makeup quickly, as really, who wants to spend that precious time painting their face on a daily basis?

If you want to do all that contouring, though, it might take longer

I'm not a huge fan of contouring on the High Street; it usually looks as if the wearer has war paint on. Contouring was really designed for photography and bright lighting, but, if it makes you happy, and you have damn all else to do with your time, by all means watch some YouTube videos and learn how to do it properly, with the caveat that what looks splendid in the bright light of your room might look a little 'Frankenstein's bride' in the great outdoors. Fine if you like the Goth look but otherwise, maybe save it for the Insta filter?

Wasted time?

Back to that wasted time, though: it's only wasted, if you feel that you have to wear makeup. You don't. You look great without it too, so only wear it if you really want to, not because you feel imposedupon. Feminism is about free choice, and if you choose to spend your precious time painting yourself, fair play. In fact, recent studies suggest that women do better in exams if they are wearing makeup! So maybe that time is not wasted!

So makeup can be empowering! 

If you feel more confident with a little paint and powder, that's fine; just learn to do it faster, and enjoy it! Makeup should be for fun and enhancement, not for hiding behind.