True Beauty

There are many different brands of makeup that try to sell you the exact same product as that no-namer that’s a bit cheaper, so why do you buy the more expensive, brand-name product? Because of your hopes of looking like the brand’s celebrity endorser and fearing that you if you don’t society will look down upon you, you pay for the brand and not just the product. One of those brands in particular uses a marketing technique even in its name: Covergirl.  It begs the question: Are you worthy of being a “Covergirl”?

That girl who makes it to the front cover of a magazine has to be the epitome of beauty because she is not only representing that monthly issue but the entire brand itself. No sweat. Covergirl suggests you can be just that, too! Throughout their website, you are referred to as a Covergirl. Now, don’t you feel special? They’re giving you hope, hope that you can look like Ellen DeGeneres or Taylor Swift, who are only a couple of their celebrity Covergirls, but they’re wearing the Covergirl brand so that’s what you have to buy, too, if you wish to have their look.

If they’re giving you so much hope, then why is it that you feel as though the girl on the front of the magazine isn’t just challenging you to a staring contest but is rather challenging your appearance by saying, “Are you absolutely gorgeous with flawless skin and perfect makeup down to the last twirl from your mascara brush? Did you use the Covergirl product correctly, so that you look like one of us?”

Unfortunately, our society tells you that you need to look like those women on the front page. If you don’t, you had better make it that way because it seems as though looking like and following the example of cover girls is what it means to be human (at least, a female one). This is where they are seducing your fears to get you to buy their product. If you are not sure how to use it, don’t worry. They have made it easy and convenient for you. Just buy one of their magazines or visit their website to get those helpful hints.

If you’re anything like me, then you don’t even know where to start for buying products. Online, you can choose a toggle that suggests different looks, such as seasonal looks or celebrity looks.

Seasonal looks: does your face really go out of style depending on the season? They think so, so they suggest the season’s hottest looks and of course tell you how to do it! Oh and conveniently on the same page are the products that would work best for creating that look that you can “add to your cart” right then and there with only a click of a button. Not sure if you do? That’s ok because they have a “Makeup Mirror” that you can upload a plain photo of yourself and “try on” the look before committing to the sales. How easy and convenient! (http://www.covergirl.com/makeup-look/makeup-trends/browhaus)

Covergirl looks: want to look like a celebrity? Well, of course you can look like Ellen or Taylor, and with a “1-click” option at the Makeup Mirror you can see how it looks on you.

Now, they have you trapped. You’ve seen how great Taylor’s look is on you, and now, you cannot resist getting to look that way, too.

I would like to point out here that the look you just saw was computer generated and that their makeup was done by a professional with maybe some minor technological tweaks. They’re not actually flawless, darling; they’re human too.

Here’s, now, a new look at what it means to be human: striving for the perfection that seems within our grasp yet remains illusive. This all depends on the kind of perfection you are trying to obtain, though. A human perfect or one of Godly origin.

Proverbs 31:30 tells us that “beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” not one that is chasing after some “ideal” look that changes with the season or trend. 1 Peter 3:4 says, “Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” And that is what it should mean for a human to be beautiful – to have a “gentle and quiet spirit.”