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This will be my last post so, thanks for reading

Beauty in Asian Culture

1. Eyes

   • As far south as India and as far north as China, the focus of beauty is surrounding the eyes. There are different eye shapes on the Asian subcontinent, ranging from slanted to almond-shaped, and they are typically accentuated by eyeliners and mascara. Eyebrows are often shaped naturally using a method called threading, which is popular in south Asia.

   Skin

   • In Asian culture, the lighter your skin is the more beautiful you are considered. Consequently, many Asian women bleach their skin or use face cream to lighten and even out skin tone. In addition, there are many spa treatments used to give skin an even glow, including green tea steam facials, turmeric paste masks, mud masks and skin cleansers, and soaps that contain milk.

   Makeup

   • North Asian makeup is natural, with the only real color used being blush and lipstick. It is also usually dramatic around the eyes, where eyeliner and mascara, as well as a touch of natural shaded eye shadow, is used. In South Asia, makeup is normally dark colored, as the skin tones of natives there tend to be tan or dark. Lip color is normally nude, brown, burgundy or red, and eye shadow can be any color the woman is wearing that day. South Asians typically use more makeup than their northern counterparts, and they tend to use a mixture of traditional and modern Western styles.

   Hairstyle

   • Asians are trendy and tend to wear modern hairstyles. Women from the north may wear a bun, ponytail, long flowing locks, bob, messy curls, bed head style, mohawk, pixie cut and braids. South Asians prefer to keep their hair long and flowing, so it is normally layered long and kept neat and straight or wavy. Asians have very dark hair, but North Asians have straight hair, and many of the styles reflect this feature. South Asians have wavy or curly, coarse hair, and they often opt to straighten it. Many Asians also color their hair in hues ranging from black to platinum blonde.

   Clothing

   • North Asians tend to favor the latest fashion trends while reserving traditional dress for specific occasions, such as ceremonies or parties. South Asians usually wear salwar kumeez (long blouses and pants) with a matching scarf (dupatta), lengha (long skirt with a short blouse) or a sari (material wrapped around the body to resemble a dress). Although some women in South Asia wear fashions as well, it is frowned upon. Traditional South Asian wear has also become modernized, although the modern versions keep very close to traditional roots.

Hey Imma say goodbay so this will be one of my last posts, hope you enjoy them, see you.

8 DIFFERENT IDEAS OF BEAUTY AROUND THE WORLD ...

In the West, we have a very fixed idea of what beauty comprises. To have a chance of being considered beautiful, women must be slim, youthful and have long hair. Things are very different in other countries and cultures though. It might surprise you just how different …

1. LONG NECKS

For the Pa Dong tribe, who live along the Thai/Burmese border, beauty is a long, long neck. This effect is produced by circling the neck with brass rings, starting at the age of 6, and gradually adding more and more. The only time they are removed is on the girl’s wedding night.

2. BLUE TATTOO

Tattoos are common around the world. For Maori women in New Zealand, the tattoos are placed on their lips and chins. The ultimate beauty is to have full blue lips.

3. SCARS

Scars are considered ugly in the west, but for Karo girls in southern Ethiopia it will help them get a husband. As young girls, the skin on their stomach is cut to create scars, and when they have enough they are considered ready for marriage.

4. THE BIGGER THE BETTER

The western media might push thinness as desirable, but in many other cultures, big is most definitely beautiful. In many African countries, such as Mauritania and Nigeria, a skinny woman would be pitied. In fact, women are fed as much as possible to make them more beautiful (in the west, this is known as feeding and considered an extreme fetish).

5. NOT JUST FOR GIRLS

This Central African tribe prize hold beauty contests – but this time, it’s the men on display! During festivals, the men compete to attract a wife, and are judged on their beauty and singing and dancing skills. As you can see from the picture, the guys go to a lot of effort!

6. LIP PLATE

We like to accentuate our lips with lipstick, but some African and Amazonian tribes consider that beauty is achieved by stretching the lip. They make a hole, which is gradually increased by inserting larger plates. As if that wasn’t painful enough, they may need some teeth removed to accommodate the plate. Ouch.

7. TEETH FILING

Most of us will avoid going near a dentist unless we really have to, but Balinese people willingly submit to a rather extreme treatment. They have some of their teeth filed, which is meant to remove vices like arrogance. It was also practiced among the Upoto tribe in Africa, and among Aborigines.

8. BOUND FEET

While respecting other cultures is good, this is one ‘beauty feature’ that we can be glad has died out. In China, to achieve the effect of tiny feet, the bones were broken before binding, thus causing the woman lifelong pain and making it difficult for her to walk.

So, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder! Some of these practices may seem strange, even unattractive to us, but I wonder what the people who do them would think of ourideas of beauty. Would we seem ugly to them?

Beauty Ideals around the World

When talking about beauty one must keep an open mind. What one finds true beauty someone else might find outrageous, weird or even ugly. There is no such thing as ultimate true beauty because you can not compare beauty. We do not live all following the same standards or principles; we do not have the same ideals. We are different, so is beauty.

In Asia for example the standards for beauty differ from country to country, from culture to culture.

In the Far East, in Japan, a century old tradition offers an original beauty recipe treatment: nightingale droppings. These are transformed into a powder, mixed with soap and used as a face wash. The facial is supposed to make the face look young.

The female members of the Kayan tribe (situated on the border between Burma and Thailand) have another ideal of beauty. Also known as “long necks”, they measure a woman’s beauty according to the brass rings wore around the neck. As they grow older they increase the number of rings which gives them an elongated neck appearance. They start this ritual as early as the age of 5 and their neck is absolutely transformed by the heavy rings. The elongated neck is a result of the pressure the rings put on their shoulders, clavicles and chest. The shoulders are being pushed down, that’s how the elongated neck appearance is achieved.

In India the long hair, the jewellery worn excessively especially at weddings, the coloured saris and the home made remedies take beauty to another level.

In Africa the idea of beauty varies from one side of the continent to the other. In Ethiopia, the women of the Karo tribe wear scars on their stomachs meant to attract a husband. The scarring process starts in childhood and once finished it means that the woman can get married and have children.

In Mauritania being skinny is definitely not a sign of beauty. Here a beautiful woman is a woman with curves…big curves. Nowadays forbidden, the gavage is in many cases the way of achieving a true, Mauritanian beauty. Through gavage young girls are being force fed in order to fatten them up. A “heavy” lady is more likely to be desirable and get a husband.

In the Middle East beauty is sometimes not connected with what ones sees, but with one does not see, or with what one smells or catches a glimpse of. From the head to toe black covers women wear (called abaya) that sometimes reveal only the eyes, to the dark eye kohl pencil, henna tattoos, oud and coloured fabrics, scarves and jewellery.

The Polynesian women are considered to be beautiful if they wear traditional tattoos on their lips and on their chins.

In the Western World the standards are different; the means of achieving beauty are sometimes extreme as well. From plastic surgery, implants, hair extensions, hair colour to fitness, diet and cosmetics, the beauty has a different meaning. What ever nature has not given, the knife can solve. The Western ideal of beauty is a skinny, tall, good looking lady (90-60-90 if possible) with perfect teeth, perfect hair and perfect fashion. A 24 hour working lady if possible, who never complaints, who is up to date with the latest fashion trends, is a fighter, considers herself a “Superwoman” because she can achieve whatever she desires, all by herself.

I don’t know which woman is more beautiful. I don’t know which one of the beauty rituals work and I definitely don’t know how one could compare the different types of beauty. One thing is certain: beauty is dictated by the places we live in, cultures we are a part of, traditions we are following.

All I’m saying is that diversity is beautiful and beauty is an individual, subjetive concept.