What is the truth about makeup? Most women—even some little girls—wear it. Yet few know its history. Even fewer know what God’s Word says about it. Are cosmetics addressed in the Bible? Does it approve their use? Is makeup wrong—sin? What principles apply? Here are the answers!
The cosmetics industry makes billions of dollars annually. Fashion and Hollywood have set the standards for “beauty,” and most people agree with their taste. Women of all ages wear makeup! To most, it is important to be fashionable. But is this practice right—or wrong? Could it even be sin? Is painting your face “fashionable” to God?
Of course, some have no interest in what God says. The Bible has no meaning or value to them. They are not concerned with pleasing God. They are only interested in pleasing themselves or being accepted by people. Yet, others are concerned with what God says, but do not know His will.
The Bible is God’s Instruction Book to mankind. It reveals all the essential truths and principles necessary for salvation. However, most have rejected it as a Source of authority in their lives. They are content to believe traditions without actually taking the time to prove why they do what they do. Most are also content to coast through life believing and operating on assumptions. Others simply practice what they do because of habit—and old habits die hard.
Yet we must ask: Is the use of makeup something that only religious extremists worry about? Are “fanatics” the only ones who would consider such a question? Or is it something you should be concerned about?
You need to know what the Bible clearly states about this subject. If makeup is important to God, it has to be mentioned in His Word—both specifically and in principle.
All nations are now rushing toward the grand smash conclusion foretold to occur in the “last days.” Humanity plunges ahead—blind, pleasure-crazed and largely detached from important world…
Wearing makeup is a worldwide custom—yet it is one that has become socially acceptable more recently than you may think. Therefore, to even question the use of makeup may seem old-fashioned or out-dated to countless millions of women—and, of course, men—who have grown accustomed to and comfortable with its widespread use.
What is the TRUTH about makeup? What are the facts? To see the big picture—with all the facts and the truth—you must read this entire booklet!
Recent History
Makeup is used everywhere. When was the last time you turned on the television, watched a movie or went to the supermarket and did not see women wearing cosmetics? Probably never. A generation ago, this was not the case.
Notice: “The last two decades have seen make-up progress from its early category of woman’s conceit to become an art and an integral part of feminine beauty and psychology. Chief credit for this about-face in the acceptance of widespread use of cosmetics should go to the motion picture industry, which set new standards of beauty and…brought new products and principles of application and use to the world’s women” (Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 18, 1956 Edit., p. 157).
At the turn of the twentieth century, makeup was viewed as something only proud, even arrogant women wore. With the invention of movies and television, Hollywood injected into the limelight the image of a movie starlet’s face covered with cosmetics. Once this image was accepted by the masses, cosmetics became commonplace.
A world government—called the “First Dominion”—will soon come to all nations of Earth. God’s Master Plan, involving over 7 billion people, will require a highly structured government…
The movie industry has been most responsible for associating makeup with exquisite beauty, by presenting Hollywood actresses as sex goddesses. It became natural that young girls and women would wish to be as attractive and desirable as world-famous screen idols.
Hundreds of millions of adoring fans want to look like their favorite movie stars. Even little girls can become obsessed with being pretty, when they should be enjoying childhood and playing with dolls and toys. They can easily become slaves to fashion trends that are inseparable from using makeup.
But it was only after World War II that the cosmetics industry began promoting, through advertising, the concept of flawless beauty. Relatively quickly, this thinking took hold around the world, with women and girls becoming enamored with the idea that they could be more attractive.
Vanity—the desire to look more beautiful—is what causes women to paint their faces, and is perhaps the most powerful of human drives.
The Pull of Vanity
Psalm 39:5-6 states, “…verily [truly] every man at his best state is altogether VANITY…Surely every man walks in a VAIN SHOW [an image].” Vanity is a powerful force in all human beings, and it is far stronger than most understand. Each person must have a healthy respect for the pull of vanity at work within him. Be honest with yourself, and admit that this tendency is within you. We will examine it more closely later.
While newspapers, magazines and other news media report what happened, The Real Truthanalyzes and explains the root cause of whyevents happen—why humanity is at a loss to solve today’s problems.
Pride and vanity are why the Encyclopaedia Britannica defines “cosmetics” as “…products nobody needs—but wanting them is human nature. Today, the desire to look better, smell better, and thus feel better causes consumers worldwide—mostly women—to spend an estimated $65 billion annually on personal enhancement—cosmetics” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2001). (Read our free booklet Did God Create Human Nature? to learn more.)
It is reported that “An estimated 1,282 tubes of lipstick and 2,055 jars of skin care products are sold every minute” (“Beauty in the mind and wallet of beholder,” Minnesota Daily Online, March 7, 2001).
Those who wrote the Encyclopaedia Britannica are not selling cosmetics. Their profits—and livelihood—are not at stake if they tell you the truth about why people purchase makeup. Since their reputation for being an authority on what they write is at stake, they cannot afford to be less than honest.
Everyone wants to look or be considered pretty—or even beautiful. The pull of vanity begins early in life. Modern society places enormous emphasis on beauty. As a result, recent studies demonstrate that even very little girls are unhappy with themselves to the point of depression, with many actually contemplating suicide as a result! They feel that they do not measure up to their peers or favorite movie stars. Today, the obsession with being beautiful has led nearly 10 million adolescent and teenage girls into eating disorders.
With the market already grossing 65 billion dollars a year and rising, a well-known chain store announced that it has “recently decided to expand its…line of low-priced cosmetics for teenagers and tweens—children in the 8- to 14-year old age group” (“Rouge to Riches,” by Catherine Valenti,abcnews.com, June 25, 2001).
The widely publicized death of a six-year-old “beauty queen” demonstrates there is a growing culture obsessed with beauty in very young girls.
The American Society of Plastic Surgery reports that over 1.3 million people had cosmetic surgery in the year 2000, and 1.2 million were women. A 1999 Gallup poll revealed that 72% of people say that they are pleased with their appearance, yet the amount of cosmetics sold, as well as the growing numbers turning to cosmetic surgery in the United States, is skyrocketing. It is even reported that younger and younger girls who enter beauty contests are also having cosmetic surgery to attempt to win and to improve upon how God made them. Astounding!
The obsession with looking young, and turning back the clock, has now gone beyond outrageous. Consider this: 1.6 million women, even some men, are now injecting tiny amounts of a deadly poison, Botox (from botulism), under the skin of the face to remove wrinkles. Within four days, the toxin in the treatment literally paralyzes the facial muscles and temporarily smoothes the skin. (The treatments only last for 90 days.) The goal is to “look the best you can for as long as you can”—for $150 to $1000 per treatment!
However, so many actresses are now using it that movie directors are complaining that they can no longer produce normal facial expressions. While they may look younger, most also look frozen and artificial.
In describing this new trend, one beautician said, “It is as though we have given up on authenticity.” Another expert cut to the heart of why women wear makeup or want all their wrinkles removed: “The wisdom that a person’s character can be etched on his face, or [the] observation that at twenty you have the face nature gave you and at fifty you have the face you merit, may no longer apply.”
Botox is only the beginning of the threat from various harmful chemicals and toxins that are latent in cosmetics. This has long been understood!
Consider the meaning of the word mascara. If we just accept the word for what it is, then it becomes its own honest statement from the cosmetics industry. It comes from the word mask, and the wordmasquerade also derives from it. In essence, to wear mascara is to wear a mask—and to masquerade as something that one is not—for the purpose of vanity and perceived beauty.
Even the word cosmetics has a revealing origin. It comes from the Greek word kosmos, which means “of this world, worldly.” For women to be accepted by the world, they must literally masquerade.
Before continuing, other important questions must be raised. What is the history of makeup? Whereand when did it originate? What purpose did it serve in ancient times? The answers to these questions will shock you!
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