"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

... Can I be the fairest of them all?"

I'll admit. I have a beauty regime I strictly follow every Saturday evening. It's one of those ways I use to relax myself and I also do it so that I do not look horrible the following Monday morning.

When I told a guy friend about this, he started ranting about the evils of cosmetic products and procedures and finished off with "Whatever happened to natural beauty?" The very next moment, he got distracted by a very pretty woman, wearing at least an inch-thick of makeup, walking by.

Once back in college, while I was talking to a classmate, he looked at my arms and asked "Why don't you shave your arms? And your skin tone seems uneven. Why don't you do something about it?" I was surprised that he noticed all of this. I asked him, "Why do you give so much importance to looks? Why is it a definite must for all girls to look pretty even if it's through artificial means?" He shrugged his shoulders and said "Girls have to look pretty. That's the way it is."

Then we have women who sometimes involve themselves in some competition of sorts. Who's the prettiest? Who's the slimmest? Who's the trendiest?

We are all equally guilty of setting standards when it comes to beauty and rules about what we should and shouldn't be. And being humans, we are apt to being insecure when we don't meet those standards and we succumb to the pressure of it all. That's when we ramp up to do something about it. So if cosmetics helps the process, why be a hypocrite and crib rather than accept it?

I understand that it can be a vicious circle. The latest of products claim to make you look younger/fairer/prettier which makes you buy them which sets the new trend for 'beauty' and so on...

I wish I lived in a world where external appearances meant nothing. But I don't. What I can do is either choose to be unconcerned about it and be happy with what I have even though it may mean being one of the uglier ones or I could get 'help', be more prettier and be fine with it anyway.

What I'm trying to say is that natural beauty is almost a thing of the past. It's very rare to find. Cosmetics, when not used in excessive amounts, are good and help ease at least some of the pressure a person finds himself/herself under.

Unless something radical is done to change the concept of beauty or people are suddenly blessed with tremendous amounts of self-esteem, cosmetics will always be used. By men and women alike.

So get used to it.