There is a stigma surrounding the type of person who likes to play with their makeup. It’s assumed that they’re probably not very smart and most definitely obsessed with their looks. But as someone who once thought like this and has since come around to understand the wonders of makeup, I think it’s time that society starts to acknowledge makeup for what it is: art.
Between millennials and Instagram, a makeup culture has developed. It’s accepting of all ages and genders and is particularly welcoming both to experts and beginners alike. Of course, there are some people who just like to highlight their already beautiful features, but there are others who take it a step further and this is where I believe we are missing out on an entire artistic medium.
Costume makeup has almost always been praised for its artistic and creative aspects and is even honored with awards. Yet regular makeup artists still struggle to be taken seriously or paid the ridiculous amounts of money that they deserve.
Every time that I do my makeup it takes me about thirty minutes and a solid fifteen of those minutes are dedicated to me working on my eye makeup because blending the right shades and flicking the perfect cat eye are not easy tasks. To think that these things are so easily dismissed as vapid activities for people who have nothing else going for them is absolutely astonishing to me.
When my best friends and my sisters finally started to teach me about the tips and tricks of makeup (mostly because they were tired of doing it for me), I was inspired. I wanted eyeshadow palettes in every color, every shade of lipstick, and a million different brushes to match.
My first trip to Ulta squashed those dreams because makeup is more expensive than most people realize. These price tags helped me realize that to really be good at makeup, you have to be really dedicated and inspired and understand that even though you’ll be called a makeup artist, it’ll be hard for people to take your art seriously.
I love art of all kinds personally, but I believe makeup is actually one of the most important mediums, at least in this time. Paintings and other traditional art forms easily invoke emotion from their beauty but makeup does something different. Makeup makes people appreciate their own beauty. I hate to hear that people only wear makeup to cover up their insecurities because it is so much more than that.
Contouring makes your cheekbones pop and highlighting makes them shine. Eyeliner makes your eyes bigger and mascara lengthens your eyelashes. Though makeup is a way to make the features you have even more beautiful, it is also an incredible form of self-expression. In a world of green lipstick and rainbow highlighter, it’s time that we start calling it art.
