Chapter 6: Everyday Cosmetics Practices

    Although cosmetics had expanded into a mass market, distribution was unequal among women regarding to age, location, and class. In urban areas, especially New York, makeup was common and the fashion style circulated more around the working class while wealthy women used makeup sparingly. In rural areas, the expenditure for makeup depended on the income of the farm families earned that year, but gradually grew to include more products and usage. Also, younger, teenager girls under 25 years old became the main indicators and consumers of makeup.

    National advertising gained prominence in the beauty industry as more women began to purchase cosmetics. Although they were common and seen almost everywhere, their circulation varied heavily on economic class. Wealthy women often used them as guidance manuals and submitted frequent questions to manufacturers while national brands were irrelevant to low-income women since they couldn't afford most of the higher quality products and just relied on free samples. These women were more influenced by their families and friends rather than advertisements as well; peer pressure often encouraged or discontinued their use of beauty products. Also, many women continued to use homemade products even with the increase of more cosmetics products, fearing chemicals in cosmetic products would cause more hair growth or create more wrinkles. However, these ads had an effect of shopping, making it more of a social pleasure rather than a chore, and some women even built organized activities around the beauty culture like beauty days, women's clubs, and even party games. 

    Soon enough, face powder, rogue, and lipstick became more popular than vanishing cream and astringents; makeup applications were overtaking the beauty culture regimens. Women increasingly analyzed these products and experimented with them to determine what was best for their complexions. Due to them spending more time on cosmetics, men increasingly became critical of this daily routine, not comprehending the physical and psychological pleasure that came with using these products. In addition, women who had little time or money to spend on cosmetics (farm families) were considered old fashioned and only used face powder or skin cream to protect it from wind and soot, resisting makeup, like rouge, because of its ability to change one's appearance. On the other hand, moderns in society saw it as a "medium of expression" instead of a protective covering. Advertisements took advantage of this by linking appearance with female personality, but didn't include realities of life, like wage-earners and the working class majority. Women, however, incorporated cosmetics into their lives as romanticism and a way to avoid looking old and tired.

    The work of makeup led to two roads: an acceptance of artifice and towards a more natural look. Younger, "problem girls", or immigrant girls wishing to be Americanized believed that makeup should be a makeover, a complete transformation in appearance and made up in public places because it declared an adult status, while others, more conservative and respectable, valued undetectable makeup that merely accentuated one's features. The use of makeup among young girls led to conflicts with families and rebellions but eventually won acceptance in society as a method to personalize one's image. 

    Beauty ideals were also shaped by media messages with the beginnings of Beauty Contests (Miss America) and glamorous celebrities portrayed as heroines in influential movies. Meanwhile, men began to be influenced by famous actresses and became more selective about their attractiveness to women. In the business world, cosmetics developed into an unspoken requirement as some employers took appearance into account, leading to a rise in beauty education and manufacturers giving their employees beauty treatments. Colleges and schools that first condemned the use of cosmetics and promoted a natural face gradually adapted to permit and educate students to give them more opportunities later on. However, a counterrevolution against the dangers of cosmetics was starting to rise as more and more companies were becoming exposed for the toxic ingredients in their products. The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act was intended to make cosmetics safer by bringing them under the arm of the government. However, these activists did not condemn beauty products; they just wanted to distinguish the difference between honest and criminal cosmetics. Women benefited from these new reforms and protests and shared their experiences of gullibility and failures, changing their view of cosmetics. 

Questions:

How did the outward appearance have an effect on women's social and economic opportunities?

What were other reasons that men so strongly condemned use of cosmetics?