There is an old age that goes like “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”.
In recent years some have changed it to “beauty lies in the eye of the beer holder” for the simple reason that, after having a few drinks, men start seeing women in a different light and start appreciating their beauty a bit more.
But I would just like to say beauty lies in the hand of the one with the make-up brush.
Another way in which one might look at it is that beauty lies are told through the make-up bottle because there are so many un-natural looking women walking around town.
Make-up is not something that has been brought to us by the white man, yes they might have introduced us to a world of more options where make-up is concerned, no make-up has been there in our women’s lives for ages.
For Batswana women the option we had was letsoku, which we could compare to the MAC compact powder.
It came in different shades that catered for different skin tones and gave women that desired and polished look and complexion.
Although women used it for beauty purposes, initially it was meant for women who had just given birth so that after 3 months when they leave the house the marks of pregnancy would be treated and also for them to have improved complexion and a glow to their skin. But obviously all women love looking good and in no time at all every other young lady had caught up with the craze of the skin wonder working letsoku.
It’s been said over and over again that women should appreciate their inner beauty and men have more than voiced their opinion or rather hatred for make-up but let’s face it, a little blush really does make those cheeks pop and give you that extra glow you need. Sure make-up does not have to dictate a woman’s beauty but it sure as hell can enhance her looks, if used properly.
Make-up was not made for women to walk around looking like zombies or ghosts or clowns and not even dolls. It was not meant for women to wear it to change the way they look but, unfortunately, it has come down to that and the obsession of looking perfect and looking young has made it difficult for women to appreciate their natural look.
We used to have only vanishing creams, then there were acne creams which were good because acne can be a nightmare but we have now moved to the whitening creams and age defying creams. Whatever happened to that saying that a woman is like fine wine, she just keeps getting better with age, whatever happened to black being beautiful?
Yes, beauty does lie in the eye of the beholder but these days women tell so many beauty lies with make-up that the poor beholder is just being deceived.
