The power of lipstick

BY KELSEY LYONS

Lipstick can be applied in seconds but can provide empowerment in women forever.

Visual Merchandising student and makeup artist Chelsea Kumar says she wears makeup for her.

“Personally, I like makeup and I’ve been wearing it for a long time and I can cover up blemishes that I’m insecure about,” she said. “I wear it for myself and I don’t wear it for anyone else.”

Kumar says that lipstick does more than just enhance a woman’s beauty.

“It’s something different, something you can change. It’s kind of like clothing, like you can wear a new one everyday and it’s an empowering feeling to get that compliment, a self-esteem booster,” she said. “There’s so many things lipstick actually does, it does so much for women and it’s kind of like war paint in a sense.”

Self-esteem and relationship coach Laurie Hannah says that women sometimes wear makeup because of self-esteem issues brought upon by judgment and teasing.

“Comments are not necessarily meant to be negative, [but] they’re taken the wrong way and they are internalized,” said Hannah. “So, ‘Your hair looks bad,’ is changed into, ‘I look bad.’ ”

Hannah says that self-esteem is something we are born with and issues start arising in girls between the ages of 11 and 12 as they become more aware of their bodies.

“The images that the kids see when they don’t have the ability to understand that the videos in the movies and the commercials have been edited,” she said. “And kids within that age group don’t have the ability to understand that even though if someone were to tell them that’s been changed, it’s still because of their brain development and their cognitive ability that they don’t have the ability to understand what that means.”

Marketing Administrative student Maranda Gregory, 18 says that she suffers from self-esteem issues.

Gregory wasn’t always comfortable without makeup, she felt she always had to wear it, until she came to the realization that people like her for the way she is.

“I hated not wearing makeup,” she said. “But after realizing that my boyfriend liked me the same without it I realized that makeup doesn’t change me as a person and that I can look good without it.”

However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to wear it.

“I think each girl has a favorite part of her face that she uses makeup to stand out more,” she said. “For me it’s the eyes so I focus more on eyeliner. For women who really like their lips they probably are makeup artist level skilled on lipstick.”

Gregory says she also loves wearing lipstick.

“It can either make my look classy, sexy or even cute, depending on the colour,” she said. “If I’m going somewhere fancy I feel like my makeup isn’t done unless I have a nice shade on.”

Office administrative executive student Dianne Yacoob, 20 says lipstick is her favourite makeup product.

“Not only does it bring confidence but I feel it really shows what mood I’m in,” she said. “If I’m excited and feeling good, I may go for something bright that pops out. Lipstick really does make me feel better when I look in the mirror.”