Satin on the cheekbones, smoky black on the eyelashes, crimson on the lips… Makeup is a veritable rainbow that imposes itself, touch by touch, on women’s faces. A real phenomenon, yet little commented on when it comes to understanding what it really says about our society, make-up is at the heart of Valentine Pétry’s work. Journalist for the women’s press for fifteen years, she looked into this fact of society in her book Make up – Make-up laid barepublished by Les Pérégrines. Between gendered world and diversity of shades, Valentine Pétry details 20 minutes what makeup says about us and the world we live in.
What prompted you to look into makeup?
I found it interesting to show that make-up is not just a consumer issue. It is sold as an essential of femininity, a central element that will make you a woman and allow you to achieve what you desire. However, when we look at the literature, there is clearly a lack of makeup. There are books on its history or technique, with tutorials in book form. But it is never considered a fact of society. As if he was not worth studying. However, when we observe the color on our face, we see that it is not really the most important gesture but the values attributed to it. All women have a makeup story, even if they don’t wear it.
Does this mean that makeup is central to women’s lives?
I thought we lived in a society that was much less civilized than before. But by studying the testimonies of women, we understand that the relationship to makeup is still very constrained. Women are expected to wear a little makeup but not too much. As if the natural woman was not presentable and the woman with too much makeup was dishonest and hypersexualized. Hillary Clinton explained that she didn’t often envy men but that during her campaign in 2016, she envied her opponents who could go out without makeup. She must have spent 600 hours getting her hair and makeup done, and when she went out without makeup, it was very noticeable!
The pandemic period has reshuffled the cards a bit, but teleworking and video conferencing have also had a deleterious effect. The Teams or Zoom applications also offer filters that are quite sophisticated to look made up and they are, once again, only intended for women. The injunction to wear make-up insinuates itself into the digital sphere.
And precisely, what does women’s makeup say about what society expects of them?
Over time, the role of makeup has evolved. From ancient times, makeup was considered a tool for women to seduce men. Today, make-up is a bit out of the “male gaze”, we have removed the male gaze. The ads speak a lot to the women themselves. They are no longer told that they are going to seduce men – unlike perfumes which are always very focused on seduction – but rather “love yourself”, “feel beautiful”.
Today, women are expected to be energetic all the time and on all levels. There is a dangerous and validist amalgam between beauty and health. In make-up, this is reflected in particular by the “glow”, the skin which shines, which almost shines. It is a recent invention with the idea that our inner well-being is so strong that it radiates. The “glow” has become so popular that there were more illuminators than blush on the shelves of Sephora at the time of writing the book!
Can we say that the beauty industry is driven by women but led by men?
The vast majority of major cosmetics groups are run by men and the vast majority of key positions are also held by men. However, it is a very vast sector, it is estimated that two companies are created every day in France and the profession has become much more feminized. Fifteen years ago, the stars of make-up were all men, this is no longer the case. Social networks have also brought a major change: many make-up artists are doing makeup in front of the camera. Many women have succeeded thanks to this format where they become their own muse.
Men run the industry but they don’t want to wear makeup?
There is a real generational gap on the issue. There are many male make-up influencers but they are very young and when they partner, it’s with brands that target a very young audience as well. The younger generations are much more advanced than the industry, which remains cautious. However, she has been selling men’s make-up for years. But this is men’s makeup that doesn’t say its name. From tinted eyeliner to eyebrow pencil, the ubiquitous idea is that men’s makeup shouldn’t show. We expect from a man what we expected from the Parisian woman in the 2010s, wearing things to look as natural as possible. The change is very slow and very controlled.
There is a social and gendered construction of makeup that is so difficult to change that it is absolutely necessary to reassure consumers: it is not because you put color on your face that you will become a sub-human, lose your rank social or your gender identity. The packaging is always black or navy blue, the great signifiers of contemporary masculinity. We can also cite this brand of beauty products for men who had launched makeup called “War paint” (war paint) or men’s makeup sold in a briefcase that looked like a tool kit. The message is always: “you wear make-up but you’re a real guy”. In reality, gender-neutral makeup already exists, especially within brands for professionals like MAC or Make Up For Ever, where the discourse is focused on performance and not on gender.
Makeup is designed for women in our western society. But he made non-white women invisible, didn’t he?
Absolutely ! For decades, the non-white consumer has been completely invisible. We didn’t talk about it, we didn’t see her and we considered that she didn’t have the budget for makeup so it wasn’t worth looking into. In the United States, things have changed much faster than in France. With us, it is the mark of Rihanna which caused an upheaval. Fenty Beauty, released in 2017, aimed to become the most inclusive line in the world. Before that, there were a few lines with a lot of shades but often these were shades for light skin to which was then added an extension for darker skin, which presented a lower quality. However, there is a long way to go. For example, the training of make-up artists is still fishy. Many professionals explain that on fashion shows or TV sets, many make-up artists are less efficient on non-white skin or do not have the right products. But inclusiveness will continue because today’s generations would not accept that we do not offer all shades.
What is the future of makeup?
The future of make-up will go through personalization and digital. Make-up brands are delighted to invest in all the digital universes that encourage us to constantly reinvent ourselves. When we reinvent ourselves, we reinvent our appearance and, to do this, we consume. But the future of make-up is also in ecological issues, consumers are demanding much more sustainability for non-vital industries such as beauty.