Beauty Blind Spots
This past weekend we went on a cruise, a Disney cruise full of families. It seems an unlikely place to make some observations about women and their attitudes towards beauty, but that's exactly what I did.
This is what I discovered: Sometimes, we don't see the forest for the trees. For example, one very sweet woman we met on the ship and saw fairly frequently could best be described as plain. Her long stringy black hair was peppered with gray and pulled back off her face, she was very overweight, and her skin was in poor shape. She wore shapeless dresses and not an ounce of makeup or jewelry. She seemed the type of woman who made absolutely no attempt at vanity. However, she wore long acrylic French-manicured nails. Much as I hate long, acrylic French-manicured nails, they revealed something about her. Somewhere deep inside, she did care. Here was this low maintenance woman with a fairly high maintenance manicure. And I wondered, of all the things she could have done for herself to enhance her appearance, she chose her nails. Not that nails aren't that important, but they would have been at the bottom of a long list of beauty advice that I would have given her.
I think we all have Beauty Blind Spots - things about ourselves that we don't see that others do. Whether we take meticulous care of our skin but let our nails get raggedy, or spend hours on our hair but wear dated makeup.
We could all stand a critical look in the mirror every six months or so, if not more often. What are your beauty blind spots? I'd love to hear!
This is what I discovered: Sometimes, we don't see the forest for the trees. For example, one very sweet woman we met on the ship and saw fairly frequently could best be described as plain. Her long stringy black hair was peppered with gray and pulled back off her face, she was very overweight, and her skin was in poor shape. She wore shapeless dresses and not an ounce of makeup or jewelry. She seemed the type of woman who made absolutely no attempt at vanity. However, she wore long acrylic French-manicured nails. Much as I hate long, acrylic French-manicured nails, they revealed something about her. Somewhere deep inside, she did care. Here was this low maintenance woman with a fairly high maintenance manicure. And I wondered, of all the things she could have done for herself to enhance her appearance, she chose her nails. Not that nails aren't that important, but they would have been at the bottom of a long list of beauty advice that I would have given her.
I think we all have Beauty Blind Spots - things about ourselves that we don't see that others do. Whether we take meticulous care of our skin but let our nails get raggedy, or spend hours on our hair but wear dated makeup.
We could all stand a critical look in the mirror every six months or so, if not more often. What are your beauty blind spots? I'd love to hear!
posted by The Beauty Insider @ 7:15 PM
4 Comments:
At June 8, 2007 10:15 AM ,
Roxy said...
I think my beauty blind spot is definitely application. I have tons of products (hair, makeup, nails, creams, serums) but most of the time, I either don't use them, or use them once and then they are put on the back burner. I think I probably need to streamline my collection, but I love beauty products even if I dont' use them!
At June 11, 2007 4:03 PM ,
redgirl1976 said...
Your unflattering description of this woman upset me a bit.
Perhaps she feels powerless over her weight and her skin and her hair, so she focuses on her nails? Do you know how difficult it is to lose weight and fight acne? Do you knwo how hard it is to walk into a gym if you're overweight or a medspa if you have bad skin? Getting a $30 nail service is a lot cheaper and easier than either of those things.
It's hard for those who've always been slim and clear-skinned to understand, but I'm sure her weight, hair, and skin aren't blind spots. People know how what they look like.
But sometimes, even if changing how you look seems overwhelming, there is one thing you can do to make yourself feel better.
At June 11, 2007 9:19 PM ,
The Beauty Insider said...
Hello Redgirl,
I reread the blog, and I can see what you mean, but I have to say I never meant it to sound harsh. I am harder on myself than I am on anyone else. I was trying to illustrate that we all have a tendency to focus on one thing about ourselves, sometimes to the exclusion of others, and this woman was just an example of that.
I was flattered by your description of me as slim and clear skinned, because, although my weight has never been an issue, I battled skin problems for years. Now that I'm in my 30s I find myself worrying more about wrinkles than breakouts!
But I appreciate your comment. Keep reading! I promise I am not always mean. : )
At June 11, 2007 9:20 PM ,
The Beauty Insider said...
Roxy,
I am so with you on that!! I horde beauty products. I consider myself a collector. There's no way I could possibly use all of the stuff I have, but I love it just the same!
Nada
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