vanity = world peace... essentially.

vanity = world peace... essentially.

Did a friend's make up yesterday for her boyfriend's commissioning ball, doesn't she look like a doll?

I was just wondering, who do we put on make up for? For ourselves, our boyfriends, or for the world to see? I made the very drastic jump into make up a few years ago, after my friends brought me into the store that I am now a slave to: MAC. Previously I'd tumble out of bed jump into some jeans and I'm out the door.

Yes, judge me, I'm gross, I don't shower before leaving the house. How dirty do you get sleeping anyway??

Now, it involves a complicated ritual of showering, blowdrying, contact lens wearing, careful selection of eye colour, lip colour, and clothes to match. During my hey day, I used to wake up at 6am just to complete my full ritual, plus curling of the hair. The entire process used to take up to about 2 hours, shower excluded. Yes, I'm high maintenence.


Personally, I think I did it both for myself and the world. Myself, because vanity is in my genes and I'll do whatever it takes to look good even if it does rob me of sleep. The world: there are already too many ugly people walking about, let's do the world a favour and give them something pretty to look at, one person at a time.

I keep thinking about places like Japan, Korea, London, Paris, where they put real effort into dressing for the occasion. I have respect for these people; many will call it vanity, but I call it effort. Effort to buy the clothes that suit you, make up that enhances and plays up your features, and in general, make the world a better looking place.

I'm not equating vanity to world peace, but if we all put in a little bit of effort to make the world a better (looking) place, isn't it essentially the same thing?