Makeup and Philosophy

Ever since I started wearing makeup at the age of 14 I felt a sense of guilt in applying it. I feel guilty that I was covering up my natural beauty, that I was fooling people into thinking I looked differently. I felt guilty because I had a nagging feeling that beauty was evil, and that the beauty industry preyed on the shallow insecurities of all women. Vanity, materialism, egoism: these were all negative words that one can associate with the beauty industry. In spite of this, I continued religiously wearing makeup while feeling a pang in my heart due to my overactive sense of consciousness, even though I enjoyed the creative process of choosing a color palette, deciding whether to use a monochromatic blend of eyeshadow, or an analogous color scheme. Although I felt guilty, I knew there must be a flip side to the negative aspects of wearing makeup.

It wasn't until 5 years later that I got my answer. Last Tuesday I read "On Beauty" by Plotinus for philosophy class at Saint Mary's College. Although Plotinus's works are from around 18 centuries ago, his wisdom is still relevant to my modern day problem. As I understand it, Plotinus believes that there is one uniting principle that makes all things beautiful. This uniting principle is unknown to our minds, but our souls, being divine, are able to recognise the divinity in beauty, and are thus attracted to it.

Plotinus describes beauty as of a "higher order." This means that beauty is not a lowly earthly plight that drags our souls down, tying them to the material world. Rather, beauty is a glimpse of the higher orders that reminds us of what existence is like above. In effect, when I put makeup on because I think it is pretty, I am applying it according to what my soul recognises as a glimpse into spiritual realms. I am not applying it to be superficial, hide my self-consciousness, or to make people lust after me. I am applying it to be an earthly embodiment of the intangible sublime.

I have no way of knowing what the truth is, but at least my mind is at ease, and I can do what I love without feeling guilty. Regardless, natural beauty is always a safe bet.