Beauty Bytes: September 6, 2013
Guys: you grow your hair long, and for what, exactly? Just so we can look at it while it hangs there? oh, maybe you put it in a ponytail. But how about doing something with it? Jessica Saia from the Bold Italic took eight men with long hair to a salon to see what dudes look like with proper coiffures. And while some look as goofy as you’d think (to be fair, some of the do’s would look silly on women), others hint at the possibility that men’s long hair could be stylin‘. The Bold Italic.
“You look tired”: Whether the statement is delivered with true concern or an undermining condescension, it’s a hard one to counter. “No, I’m fine, everything’s great!” sounds defensive, and who wants to admit that yes, “life has been brutal lately, and a few days of sleep and hot chocolate would do wonders, thank you very much.” But the alarms that go off when we hear this favorite frienemy phrase aren’t just in our imagination: when we are tired, we’re not just paler and puffier, we look sadder as well. And as “you look tired” is usually just a nicer way of saying “you look like crap,” being told so is not likely to raise our spirits. Slate.
But you can get surgery to fix that droopy smile, at least. The Smile-Lipt, the latest craze in Korean plastic surgery, gives patients a less gummy smile, and turns the corners of the mouth upwards for a more “pleasing” look. Dr. Kwon Taek Keun claims that he has patented the procedure, but it’s been known as “valentine anguloplasty” for years in the United States. The biggest difference in the two countries’ use of the surgery is that in the US it’s done mostly as an anti-aging surgery, while in Korea it’s done more for a stylistic affect. As with any Korean facial surgery trend, this one is being met with mixed reviews: from horror over its “Joker-Like” results to “everybody calm down.” Though one surgeon in the article notes that lips, like eyebrows, are subject to trends, so maybe it’s a little early to make that appointment…RealSelf.
How about getting “everything” done so you can look like your favorite model? Liverpool, England’s Carolyn Anderson has spent $30,000 altering her appearance to look as much like Pamela Anderson as she can. Carolyn, known locally as “the Scouse Pammie”, has endured multiple breast surgeries since her implants have exploded twice under suntanning lamps, and regularly injects herself with Melanotan II, an unregulated tanning drug. At least her obsession with all thing Pamela Anderson has some use – she makes decent money as a look-alike. The Gloss.
Ok, so you’re not going to get all that surgery, you’re going to go to college, work in tech, and when you’re CEO of a major technology firm, Vogue asks you to do a shoot. Well, who wouldn’t??? Marissa Mayers’ shoot with Vogue has people gossiping, as in “if-shes-such-a-serious-CEO-why-is-she-posing-for-Vogue?” And it’s not just because womens’ talents aren’t fully embedded in the corporate power structure – it’s an ambivalence about the role that looks and beauty play in others’ perceptions. (Btw, the short-lived Men’s Vogue featured accomplished men on its covers.) Vivian Diller, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Face It, takes a look at the double bind women find them selves in regarding their beauty, where we are criticized for neglecting our looks as well as playing them up. Huffington Post.
In Pictures: When is a scarf not a scarf? In the 21st century, a scarf covering a woman’s head becomes a political and/or religious statement. But women have been covering and uncovering their hair for ages, throughout countries and cultures. So what if you switched the scarves? Artist Katrine May Hansen and photographer Dot Severine Nielsen did just that – switching the traditional headscarves from the Danish Island Fanø with those from the Indonesian island Java. The results, which are on public display in Copenhagen Town hall square, Copenhagen until October, are a startling reminder of the political connotations of head coverings. “A scarf is a scarf is a scarf”, at Dot Severine.
