THE UNe OF BEAUTY
ELLE Singapore|January 2023
WHEN ELLE CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JESSICA ANDREWS MOVED AWAY FROM HOME, SHE DISCOVERED THAT MAKE-UP RITUALS WERE MARKERS OF CLASS. BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SHE TRIED TO BEND HER BEAUTY ASPIRATIONS TO FIT INTO A NEW LIFE?
JESSICA ANDREWS
THE UNe OF BEAUTY

I have been drawn to beauty products and their glittering promise of transformation for as long as I can remember. During my teenage years, my best friend and I went out in Newcastle every Saturday night. We got spray tans a few days beforehand, shivering in paper knickers as a beautician coated our limbs in orange-gold. We spent hours getting ready in my room, drinking sickly rosé and dusting bronzer across our cheeks, our hair extensions fixed in heated rollers. We wore heavy, smokey eyeshadow with thick false lashes, squeezing ourselves into tight bodycon mini dresses and strutting across cobblestones in platform heels, our hair bouncing in silver clouds of hairspray, spare tubes of eyelash glue stuffed in our handbags. My hyper-feminine look was partly inherited from the women I grew up with: my mother gets her hair done religiously every six weeks, regardless of whether she can afford it. She refuses to leave the house without wearing make-up; we would spend hours wandering around the shops together, smudging eye shadow across our wrists. Beauty tips and tricks were a shared intimacy between us. My grandmother always said, ‘I’m just putting my face on’, as she applied her thick Leichner foundation at the kitchen table every morning before her shift at the local fish market, a ritual that encapsulates a particular kind of working-class pride.

For me and my friends, our beauty habits transformed us into classy, glamorous women, but when I went to university at King’s College London, I found my fake tan and false eyelashes were no longer symbols of power. I encountered an understated set of middle- and upper-class beauty standards, and I began to understand my own look as stereotypically working-class.

この記事は ELLE Singapore の January 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は ELLE Singapore の January 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

ELLE SINGAPOREのその他の記事すべて表示
in Conversation
ELLE Singapore

in Conversation

Cartier creative director MARIE-LAURE CÉRÈDE delves into the Maison’s haute joaillerie timepieces, while highlighting the importance of creativity and a happy team in her chat with CHARMAINE HO.

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
the inner lives of clothes
ELLE Singapore

the inner lives of clothes

COMPELLING FASHION DOESN'T HAVE TO BE OSTENTATIOUS OR OVERTLY CONCEPTUAL, BUT IT DOES NEED A clear identity AND character OF ITS OWN.

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
SPIRIT OF Samba
ELLE Singapore

SPIRIT OF Samba

ENJOY A RIOTOUS NIGHT OUT WITH YOUR WELL-HEELED FRIENDS AT SUSHISAMBA SINGAPORE. COME FOR THE DRINKS AND STAY FOR THE REVELRYBUT DON'T FORGET TO DRESS THE PART.

time-read
2 分  |
November 2024
What dreams May Come
ELLE Singapore

What dreams May Come

Life as an actress can be an emotional roller coaster. Crazy Rich Asians star CONSTANCE LAU shares the highs, the lows, and everything else in between.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
OF WOMEN & SINGAPORE
ELLE Singapore

OF WOMEN & SINGAPORE

From fashion trends that capture the cultural zeitgeist, to introspective opinion pieces about a life best lived, fashion historian NADYA WANG charts 31 years of ELLE Singapore history through its pages.

time-read
6 分  |
November 2024
SPA AWARDS 2024
ELLE Singapore

SPA AWARDS 2024

50 WINNING BEAUTY TREATMENTS TO GET YOU LOOKING FABULOUS FROM TOP TO TOE.

time-read
6 分  |
November 2024
JAPAN CALLING
ELLE Singapore

JAPAN CALLING

Dive into Japan's perfect mix of tradition and modern flair, with dreamy hotels and restaurants that make for the ultimate quick escape.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
A cultural Conversation
ELLE Singapore

A cultural Conversation

With its Made of Makers programme, JAEGER-LECOULTRE has built a community of like-minded creatives who place innovation, craftsmanship and precision at the heart of all they do.

time-read
10+ 分  |
November 2024
Colours of perfection
ELLE Singapore

Colours of perfection

FRANCK MULLER shows its Love for Asia Pacific with a new region-exclusive watch that’s dressed up in the decadence of a rainbow.

time-read
2 分  |
November 2024
Just a hint
ELLE Singapore

Just a hint

CONSPICUOUSLY MORE UNDERSTATED THAN THEIR GEM-SET COUSINS, THESE SUBTLE rainbow-coloured watches ARE NO LESS DEFIANT IN THEIR INSISTENCE ON OPTIMISM AND STYLE.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024