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Nigerian Makeup

Our last destination on our makeup journey is Nigeria! We wanted to end our makeup research in a place where the makeup market is really flourishing. We were attracted to Nigerian makeup looks due to their use of gorgeous bold colors. Nigerian women love to make a statement with their look in some way. After doing some research, I learned that specific makeup interests differ among Nigerian regions. Northern Nigeria, which has a large Muslim population, is more invested in eye makeup and nail art. Religious and societal reasons for this were discussed in my last blog post. In other Nigerian regions, one can expect to see other beauty trends, such as bold lip colors and strong colors to sculpt the face. No matter where in Nigeria, one thing is for sure, bright and fun colors are typically used.

As mentioned, the Nigerian makeup market has flourished within the past 5-10 years. This is in part due to the recent stabilization of the Nigerian government, allowing for a more stable economy. Because of this, makeup has become more accessible and world-renowned brands have started to appear on the scene. Apart from Nigerian based brands, MAC, L’Oréal, and others have started gaining steam in the country. As the makeup industry continues to grow there, it will be interesting to see how Nigerian makeup develops over time. I will say that I personally hope it does not change much and become Americanized….it is so stunning as is!

Our makeup artist for all of our blog posts, Madison, crushed this look yet again. She did her best with what she had, using mainstream American products and attempting the look on her own skin. Being white and blonde, it was interesting to see her use of color on a skin tone that differs from the women in Nigeria. She started this look with bold perfect brows. She accentuated the shape by applying concealer around them. This adds more structure to the brows, which Nigerian women love! She then applied foundation normally. Nigerian women often prefer good long wear foundation due to the heat that may ruin the entire look if the foundation can’t handle it. Next Madison applied lots of contour to her face emphasizing the cheekbones. Then she began the eyes. She primed the eye with concealer then began to apply colors. Madison decided to use green, purple, and orange on her eye lids. She did a beautiful job blending such bold colors. To finish the eye she applied liner and false lashes. For her lips, she applied a nice pink color to finish this look! Overall, the three of us truly enjoyed learning more about different cultures and how beauty is defined though the use of makeup. We explored far from home and broke free from our comfort zones. We now enjoy digging deeper and learning about the culture behind the makeup trends. We now better appreciate all the different makeup looks around the world. 

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Middle Eastern Makeup

Our journey exploring different cultures through makeup has brought us to the Middle East! Personally, I have always been intrigued by the eye makeup that I have seen Middle Eastern women wear either on television or through social media. From what I understand, women in some Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, are required to wear an abaya in public. An abaya is a floor length cloak. Some women wear only this, while others are required cover their hair and more of their face due to more government or religious restrictions promoting modesty.

Because these women often have their hair and body covered, eye makeup in particular can be a popular beauty statement for Middle Eastern women as a means of self-expression without disrespecting any restrictions. The Muslim religion is greatly practiced in the Middle East, therefore many cultural norms, as well as societal laws are based on Muslim tradition. There is a strong emphasis on modesty for women, which is interested considering how much money they spend on cosmetic items. Upon doing further research, I found that Middle Eastern women spend over $500 million per year on cosmetics. Many employed women in Saudi Arabia spend up to 80% of their salary on cosmetic products. I found this to be particularly interesting since most Middle Eastern women are required to express modesty while in public settings.

Middle Eastern makeup looks are very bold and dramatic. Our group partner Madison attempted to recreate this look on her own face. Her elaborate makeup look definitely emphasizes the eyes. Middle Eastern women often have full, think, angular brows with very defined lines. When it comes to eye shadows and liners, Middle Eastern women are far from shy. They tend to bring their shadows out pretty far to elongate the shape of the eye. They also focus on using bolder colors like golds and pinks. Before the eye is finished, middle eastern women often go for a bold cat eye with a large wing to complement the dramatic shadow. They then often smoke out the bottom and top lines with black shadow. For lashes, middle eastern women often prefer large dramatic lashes. This look is often achieved using false lashes. Apart from the eyes, many makeup looks we researched for inspiration did not focus on much else in terms of makeup. Foundation, contour, highlight, and lips did not differ much from an average American look. This is probably due to the fact that most Middle Eastern women have to cover that part of their face in public. I believe Madison did a wonderful job recreating a Middle Eastern look on herself. Of course, it is always interesting to see a makeup look on someone who has no ties to that particular culture. Personally, it allows me to better appreciate Middle Eastern culture and makeup trends. They are stunningly gorgeous and intricate!

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French Makeup

Our cultural makeup journey has brought us to France!

Madison was our model for this effortless and classy French look. For Madison’s French makeup, she steered away from the common American practice of using copious amounts of foundation. Instead, she used a light bb cream as her only face makeup. From there, she added some blush, light bronzer, and a bold red lip. For her eyes, she kept things minimal with a bit of bronzer in her crease and mascara on her lashes. She did not use any eye liner or intense shadow colors. This light look, apart from the lips, is a very common trend in France. It is simple and just enough to highlight beautiful facial features, according to the French. 

Through our research of French makeup trends, we discovered that the French prioritize their skincare above makeup. They think that the foundation of proper skincare should be the focus, rather than covering imperfections with heavy amounts of makeup. They do not tend to “cake” on their face makeup for an unnatural look like American women typically tend to do for a full coverage look. They also do not typically incorporate bright colors like Asian women as we saw with our last cultural look we attempted to recreate. Instead, they focus on fluffy brows, minimal eye makeup, and bold lips to appear beautiful. Upon researching the influence of French culture on their makeup trends, I found an article in which Mathilde Thomas, the creator of a popular French beauty and makeup brand, shared what she discovered when she explored American beauty trends.

Mathilde Thomas describes American beauty and makeup as focusing too much time on finding “quick fixes” to make them feel beautiful. Lash extensions, Botox, lip injections and color stains, microblading…..these are just some examples of instant beauty trends that are popular in America. 

These treatments surely speak to the American need to have instant gratification. Us American ladies just want to wake up with our lashes and brows already done and ready to go. The less work we have to do the better. “Permanent” makeup helps us do just that. In America, there is typically less focus on proper skincare due to the notion that makeup can just solve all our imperfections in one way or another. Mathilde Thomas reveals that French makeup trends are very different from this. Instead of looking for the instant fix, the French care about keeping the majority of their look minimal with a heavy focus on skincare and health. This emphasis on skincare over makeup requires long term investment and patience. Overall, I found the French makeup look to be absolutely beautiful on Madison! I am personally a fan of a more natural look, which is currently the norm for makeup in France. 

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Makeup has always been used to help one feel more beautiful, put together, confident, etc. It’s use has certainly grown in popularity as the makeup industry continues to boom by releasing new and improved cosmetic products to consumers. Some promise the look of longer lashes, others a bold lip color that will last for hours. I certainly remember the first time I wore makeup in middle school. At that age, it felt as if wearing makeup to school every day was required. Even as adults, many feel the need to “put their face on” before leaving their house. Of course, individuals should not feel as though they need makeup to be beautiful. However, makeup is a great way to instill confidence and enhance natural features. I’ve always wondered about how other cultures utilize cosmetics, as well as how it differs from our use of these products here in America. Madison, Liz, and I decided to explore the use of makeup in other cultures and compare them to the makeup regimens we know and use. Our first comparison is American and Japanese makeup trends.

I was the makeup model this week, as Madison was the artist and Liz the photographer. We did some research on common Japanese makeup standards then attempted to recreate a popular look. Japanese face makeup often trends towards bright colors on the eye lids, as well as rosy cheeks as achieved by the use of stains instead of blush. Since we did not have access to stain, we used blush instead. Eye liner and fake lashes are often used to help create a very doll like look in the face. As far as contouring goes, Japanese women often contours lightly to stress a v shape in the face. For their lips, more pigment is preferred in the middle then lightly extends outward. Since I do not have a very fair complexion thanks to my Italian roots, the pigmented cheeks were difficult to recreate on the face. It was interesting to see how different cultures highlight different parts of the face, which obviously has to do with skin tones and facial features that are unique to the culture. But we did our best to recreate the look, as seen below...

After attempting a Japanese makeup regimen, we then recreated what we would describe as an American makeup look. American makeup often stresses well-groomed eyebrows, with an emphasis on the arch. Plump looking lips (with either a bold or natural color) and heavy contouring under the cheekbones is common. Highlighter is also utilized to provide a nice shine above the cheekbones and on the nose. For eyes, we went with a darker neutral colored look, which involved some shimmery eye shadow. We also used some eye liner, as well as fake lashes. Lash extensions are growing in popularity in America, but since none of us have extensions, we settled with false lashes. After Madison did my American style makeup, I felt very confident and pretty, which I did not personally feel while wearing the Japanese makeup. This really made me appreciate how different cultures use makeup in different ways to feel beautiful!