Kiss and Makeup
As a father to an 8-year-old daughter, I find myself often telling my little angel, “Go back upstairs and wash that makeup off your face.” She’s 8, and she is dying to wear it for some reason. Kids that young yearn to look older while people my age wish we could turn back the clock.
Truth be told, she looks adorable with a little lip gloss or maybe even some eye makeup, but the abject horror that crawls into my psyche at the very thought of this little cherub actually growing up makes me say things to her that probably aren’t healthy. Instead of explaining how “less is more” when it comes to makeup, or making sure she knows she’s sooooo beautiful that makeup is not necessary, is probably the way I should go. However, I choose to go the route of direct insults whenever she applies even the littlest bit, in hopes she will just throw it away. I am not proud of it, but I am also not crazy about how other parents are letting their kids be less-and-less Disney princess’ish and more-and-more Carmen Electra’ish, so I lash out at the thought of even semi-revealing clothes or makeup as if she was trying on a leather thong or getting her belly-button pierced.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so knocking my girl down a peg in hopes of keeping her off the pole is a risk I am willing to take.
Then I come across this article…
Makes your heart kinda melt, no?
An industry that is mainly known for torturing rabbits or making women look like French whores is stepping up to the plate by way of inclusion in a way I haven’t seen before.
And what they’re doing makes absolute sense. This young lady is beautiful and has a presence that beams positivity, so Benefit Cosmetics isn’t really going out on a limb here (even though what the have done is truly extraordinary).
Kate’s eyes are stunning and are perfect palates to showcase cosmetics of any kind. Add to that the adversity she has undoubtedly had to overcome growing up with Down Syndrome and you are left with one of the few models who is truly a role model.
I remember when Kate Moss said, “Nothing taste as good as thin feels.”
I have heard about the steady diet of laxatives and cocaine that most of Victoria’s angels survive on.
That whole industry is filled with stories of body-shaming, and racism, and drug use, and underage workers, and sexual harassment, etcetera, etcetera. So the combination of modeling and makeup has double a stigma for me. I don’t want my daughter on Terry Richardson’s casting couch, and I don’t want my pet chinchilla having perfume forcibly squirted into her eye at the Maybelline testing facility.
Then along comes this young Irish lassie, and she lifts the pallor off of that whole mess.
So much so, that I called my little girl downstairs and we read the story of Kate Grant becoming the new face of Benefit Cosmetics.
And then we talked about how a young girl like Kate is something that my daughter should strive to become… Not necessarily a model, mind you. Just someone who can bring a positive feeling to whatever industry they choose to work in.
And then we spoke about how just a little bit of makeup can be extremely flattering for a beautiful kid like mine, similar to the way it is for a natural beauty like Kate.
And then we figured out which of Benefit’s products would look best on my little girl.
And then we ordered a fuck-load of cosmetics to support a company that did the right thing in a day and age where that doesn’t happen enough.
Take a report.
-Large
PS- Makeup is EXPENSIVE… I never knew. Thanks a lot, Kate.