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· May 15, 2007 12:21 AM by
Colleen Shirazi
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Posted by Dain, Monday, May 14, 2007 5:49 PM (Eastern)
I sometimes wonder why I crave expensive skincare. I know magazines like to talk about the latest thing, but that is more often than not an excuse for product placement, is it not? Have you ever picked up a fashion magazine? Let me find an issue of Lucky... Ok, I have in my hand February 2007.
Here is what it looks like:
Rosario Dawson on the cover, a beautiful girl but for whatever reason, not a memorable actress. I remember seeing her in 25th Hour, but it's easy to get upstaged by Ed Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman and Anna Paquin. Except when in silver, in which case you can't take your eyes off her. Rosario Dawson is down-to-earth eye candy. Lucky subtitles her: "Gorgeous and supercool". Hehehe... they really must find people with writing skills. In every issue, they do an "interview" with the featured cover girl, but instead of a standard interview it's celebrity product picks (something they call, rather cheesily, "her way"), which I usually find really interesting, because I like looking at other women's tastes. And looking at Rosario Dawson's choices: "down-to-earth eye candy" seems like a good estimate. She wears a gorgeous red silk dress, simply cut but with a cascade of ruffles like flower petals. It looks great on her, because she's got a beautiful body, and looks like a big red rose. She cites Bianca Jagger as a style icon, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, too. She likes terracotta rose blush (Benefit Dallas), a Japanese fashion superstore, a cashmere Bottega Veneta scarf that looks like leopard print till you come closer, and it's butterflies. And Chucks. And Smith's Rosebud Salve: though Lucky, I suspect, has replaced it with one from BBW as a product placement. O, how very New York.
There's an over-quoted saying by Freud: "Anatomy is destiny". Now, maybe Ms. Dawson is a raging, egocentric bitch, or she could be of saintly mien (rather than my own description of her as down-to-earth eye candy), hard to say, given that I don't know her. We all know that appearances can be deceiving, but they are responsible for first impressions, and it is easier to play the role of our first impressions than otherwise, so perhaps it is often true, that anatomy is destiny. My point being, that we, especially we women, sometimes seek to enhance our destinies by enhancing our anatomies. This is not a great philosophy, I might add, because first impressions don't last. Style should be a reflection of substance, rather than the other way around, or you'll bore. But I think it is easier to buy a pair of shoes as a way to boost self-esteem than learn from the mistakes we make in life. Shopping is fun: it's entertaining, not at all serious, it has immediate gratification built into it, and whether it's high-end or low, it has the thrill of waste. But there's such a thing as taking things too far, and when magazines are more interested in profit than taste (people call Anna Wintour a good businesswoman as if it's a good thing), it's hard not to see how these same magazines are exploiting female insecurities.
I mean, hey, it's great that women are earning the money to spend on themselves the things that once we had to depend on men for. Great, but the money that we earn, at a greater cost than men, I might add, goes straight back to the man. And that doesn't help us, because a new lipgloss will not make you a better person, and it doesn't help the guys, either, one, because women need men anyway and the feeling (but not the nature of the need) is mutual, and two, because you're only making a handful of men very rich. And if you don't think that's true, the popularity of Lucky itself attests to that fact, though it may just be the tyranny of Condé Nast. The pages of this magazine look like a catalogue, not a work of journalism. Ok, it's not supposed to be serious journalism: Jean Godfrey-June's column is risible, though Andrea Linnet's editorial work, though hardly impeccable, is often so spot-on. There's an editorial, a "stylish & sexy guide", and it is just fun and impeccable, and you really couldn't demand more of taste: the cover is a plain and monastic black silk blouse, but with a v-down-to-there and feminine sleeves, paired with simple gold hoops and opera-length pearls. The editorial draws inspiration from Jane Birkin, Lauren Hutton, Anita Pallenberg, Catherine Deneuve, and Ava Gardner. In the same issue, Ms. June exalts Dior L'Or de Vie, like any banal press hack, whose only interest in Château d'Yquem is the exorbitant price.
So we return to my original conundrum. Why do I desire expensive skincare? My current interest is in Sisley Botanical Intensive Night Cream, which is $300 or something. I have really nice skin, you know, I hardly need the exaggerated desires. In my experience, for example, I've found that Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser works better than anything else because it's gentle and simple. And lately, I've been enjoying very soft, smooth, clear skin, but that's because I've been using olive oil as a mask and then a wipe-off oil cleanser, the way that Eve Lom's cleanser works. Which means my skincare budget really ought to be closer to $30, rather than $500. So why do...? I don't know. The more you own, the more you owe, but necessity has little to do with it. I can't blame the magazines, exactly, for that.
Anyway, here is my cheapie-vision of a skincare routine:
1. Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, because, I might as well face it, it is a holy grail.
2. Burt's Bees Repair Serum with Attar of Rose, it's for eyes, but I suspect that it is also perfectly suited to dry, sensitive skin on the face. The ingredients: Rose Hip Seed Oil, Jojoba Oil, Lavender Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E), Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Seed Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Hazelnut Oil, Neroli Oil, Rose Oil, Calendula Extract, Green Tea Extract, Beta Carotene, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate (vitamin C), Retinyl Palmitate (vitamin A). I would like to compare this to the Decleor Rose oil, which is not the same product, but it would be nice to find something comparable for a mere $20.
3. I must face the truth: I need two moisturizers. Lightweight? I really like Decleor Harmonie Emulsion, Better Botanicals Dandelion, and Nuxe Creme Fraiche. The Nuxe, I think, is the best. It makes you glowy, and a jar, though expensive, goes a long way. As for richer moisturizers, I think it's time to finally invest in Body Time's Lavender cream, or at least, I will when it gets colder. Won't need it for a few months.
4. Kiehl's Blue Herbal Spot Treatment
TOTAL? About $100. Ok, that is not $30, but $100 for a year? I guess I could do worse.
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May 15, 2007 12:21 AM,
Maybe you are just curious...it's something you have to find out, whether or not there's anything to it.
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