A common saying is “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,” which means beauty doesn’t exist on its own but is created by observers. Beauty is the most natural and instinctive thing that humans pursue. However, if it is not in our control then what is the reason to worry about that thing.
Nowadays, not only females, but also males take care of themselves and put on makeup, but still, female use of makeup is more common and no comparison to that of men. But, recently I observed some middle and high school students on the road and even university graduates who had full makeup on their faces and it flabbergasted me completely that what happened to the youth of 21st Century.
What does makeup mean? To compensate for something lost. It complements one’s weak points while highlighting the strong points. In other words, doesn’t it mean to hide parts with which you have a concern while emphasizing the parts with which you have confidence? In other sense, it seems like moral corruption that someone is hiding its real shape and present something which he is not in reality.
I cannot meddle in one’s favor or lifestyle, but I personally think that teenagers putting on makeup is a kind of like erasing their inner beauty and youth. They are beautiful enough in whatever shape and size they are created. Every individual, in my opinion, is extremely beautiful as in Quran Allah says: “I have certainly created man in the best of stature”. So if we are being created in the best shape then why we are using that much of makeup to change our shape which is already beautiful and also benefit multi-national conglomerates.
I can understand teenagers’ sources of troubles and difficulties of living in modern society when I see the news of rising education expenses, high unemployment, domestic and foreign unstable affairs. Also, there are some problems in infrastructures such as teenagers’ own space where they can release their dissatisfactions and accumulated desires, and in culture and education systems that can embrace teenagers. However, in my thought, relieving stress by leaning on their outer beauty isn’t that beautiful and not that desirable for their lifestyle and also for their future. Instead of trying to hide something which is not even concerned to anyone if every individual stops doing make-up.
There are hundreds of complications that are also attached to this makeup curse. One of the most basic is the complexity to look fair. Why everyone is trying to be white and in this ridiculous competition youth is wasting thousands of rupees and time every month which they can easily spend in some constructive activities. Inferiority complex, loss of confidence and several other evils are attached to this insane competition.
In eastern societies, young girls face a lot of difficulties especially during marriage proposals because every boy wants a white girl. It seems like the eastern people dislike their own skin color. These all are self-made problems and we have to control this before it shoots out. A couple of months ago a group of girls in South Korea started a campaign in which they tried to inculcate young people that they don’t need any more make-up to look beautiful. They broke their makeup kits live on YouTube. It seems like someone finally took a step in the right direction.
There is an impressive quote, “Boys, be ambitious!” but nowadays this quote is not limited to boys only, and girls should be equally ambitious. Teenagers should have ambitious dreams. Setup a goal in life. There should be a purpose in life. A life without purpose is a life wasted. Teenagers should have big dreams and those dreams come from your inner minds.
In order to reach your dreams, you need to control well the most basic things in your mind. In this sense, it is certain that your mind is the most important thing in your life. Your body is like an ordinary thing, the important one is the inner soul. If the soul is beautiful then everything is beautiful and the thing which stays behind is the impact of your inner soul on somebody. The makeup on your face, your outer beauty, can be worked on at any time, and you can also erase it if it doesn’t satisfy yourself. But, to make up your inner soul/mind cannot be done easily or fast unless you put any effort into it for a long time, building your own character that you hope to get.
To conclude, makeup on your face is just a moment, but the makeup on your own mind is a process of becoming an adult and is an eternal attitude, which is more important than anything else is. So my advice for teenagers is to make up your soul, not your face.
The writer belongs to Gilgit Baltistan, currently pursuing Masters from University de Lille, France.