The first ever beauty festival in South Africa took place last week at the Sandton Convention Centre with the aim of creating a strong platform for beauty with a purpose. The Beauty Revolution festival brought in the best and brightest from SA’s beauty industry, including Mihlali Ndamase, mega beauty Babe, Beezglam, queen of brows Kendall Aberdeen, Kandy Kane and Diva Cadach. The festival included Influencer panels and makeup masterclasses. We jotted down some of the key lessons we went home with from the festival.
1. Different Strokes for Different Folks
It turns out that makeup is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. While it’s useful to get the best tips and tricks from your favorite YouTubers and bloggers, it’s super important to treat the makeup tutorials as guidelines and not the end all and be all of how to apply makeup. As Kendall Aberdeen said during her masterclass, you want to use makeup to enhance your facial features and work with what you have. Practicing on your face will help you learn more about your face and what works for you. When it comes to eyeshadow, for instance, your eye/eye shape might be smaller, wider or closer to your eyebrow in comparison to your favorite makeup YouTuber. So be aware of your own uniqueness and work around your own features instead of mimicking your fave YouTubers.
2. Makeup as a Feminist Project
It’s no doubt that the makeup/beauty industry is born from patriarchy and the demands of the male gaze on women’s looks. But, makeup is also demonised these days by men, amongst other beauty enhancers like weaves and fake nails. Still no matter what the naysayers have to say, makeup is a form of self-grooming that helps give you that boost of confidence that you need to face the day. It’s fun, it helps you express your individuality and can help transform you into a different version of your on a particular day. The Beauty Revolution festival is about “humanising beauty, it’s about looking at everyone just as they are and saying you are beautiful and you have agency and decision over how you want to come across every single day of your life”, says Pride Maunatlala, Head of Marketing at The Foschini Group.
3. Makeup Isn’t Gender Specific
Celebrity makeup artist, Diva Cadach, made a point to make makeup part of the feminist project when he used a male model during his masterclass. If makeup is really going to be a part of the feminist project, then we need to do away with the idea that it’s only for women and men shouldn’t be shamed for shaping their eyebrows, putting on some concealer or getting manis and pedis. Why should self-grooming be biased towards women? It’s just as weird as the high ratio of women’s hygiene products found at pharmacies and supermarkets in comparison to men’s.The Beauty Revolution is all about appreciating difference and diversity. So, no matter your gender, sex, or orientation, self-grooming is for you.
Quality Makeup is a Good Investment
We get it, makeup can be super expensive and you might be asking yourself “why on earth should I be spending so much money on a lipstick?”.The truth is, anyone who’s gone out of their way to buy quality makeup products knows the difference. If you’re going to want to wear makeup,you also want to protect your skin. Our skin is already exposed to harsh chemicals, affected by our diet and air pollution. The last thing you want to do is to apply cheap concealers on your face that rub your skin the wrong way. The trick is to know which makeup items to splurge on. Items like concealers, foundations, eyelash glues and lipsticks are worth splurging on. Who wants to buy a matte lipstick only for it to flake an hour after you’ve put it on? With products like brow pencils and eyeshadows, you can afford to spend a little less money on because the formulations can often be similar across brands.
