Millionise your lashes. These were the words staring me in the face late one Friday evening. I literally started crying, sobbing like a little baby. Admittedly, I may have been more than a little bit intoxicated; but still, those words hit home. Millionise your lashes.
What, exactly can this phrase mean? It is relatively easy to surmise what the advertisers want us to understand – that through the use of their product your lashes won’t merely look like they have bulked up a little…no, it will look like you have millions of them. Your lashes will be so volumised they will have become millionised. Apparently the pin-cushion look is desirable these days.
Not only that, the use of the word – along with the image of the ‘beautiful’ woman to go with it – brings more than a subtle connotation of wealth and celebrity. Not only will your lashes have more volume, but you as a person will be more popular; more desirable; more successful. It is such a sorry state of affairs that such an ad need exist, and let me now remind you again of the pitiful sight that the late-night revelers feasted their eyes upon…
For here I was, drunk enough to no longer care about public perception, yelling obscenities at a cosmetics ad whilst crying enough tears to turn the world around me into a salty blur. What a sight it must have been, I wonder if my ramblings were even coherent enough at the time for anybody to hear them. Thankfully, my wife was there to drag me away from my ideological tantrum – to provide me with the soothing ‘I know, it’s awful’ that gave just enough of a respite to put me on a bus home. It was just all too much, this single phrase had pushed me over the edge and into an existential despair as to the shape of the world we live in.
Despite being in such a state, ‘Millionise Your Lashes’ has now become for me a catch-phrase that represents so much. It is a call towards recognising the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in. A perfect reminder that, unless we specifically and consciously take note of the direction we are heading in, we are doomed to failure. For in its non-ironic form, the phrase represents pure egotism and self-centeredness.
It is the war cry of a species that has evolved to the point where we have complete and utter control over almost every aspect of our destiny…and yet we choose to waste that opportunity by focusing on attaining an impossible goal.
For you see, what frustrated me most about this advertisement (and every single other one like it) is not merely the words or the egotistical message behind them. No, the worst thing is that the image that accompanies them is not even a depiction of reality! The celebrity adorning this wonderful advertisement had been subjected to hours of hair and makeup, hours more of lighting and photography, and then finally a few more dozen hours of digital manipulation and illusion before being presented to you in all of her ‘natural’ glory.
The goal that you are being presented with is not even one that is possible for the person in the photo, let alone anybody else. But we continue to worship at the altar of beauty; of the cosmetics companies and the fitness supplements; of women in floss-bikinis and men in tighter-than-healthy briefs. It’s a lie, and deep down we all know it to be a lie.
The shocking part is just how much of a successful lie it is. The cosmetics industry alone is worth billions of pounds a year just in the UK. This isn’t even counting those forms of ‘cosmetics’, such as sun-screen, that actually have a health benefit to using them. Nor does it include the money spent on cosmetic surgery…which is itself an exponentially growing and worrying trend that is helping to redefine just what it means to be ‘naturally’ beautiful. With the advent of less obvious forms of cosmetic surgery, and more technologically advanced ways of doing so, this trend in literally altering the very structure of our appearance will only become more and more pronounced. But we have to ask why we are doing this – and, more importantly, what image are we chasing by doing so?
What we’re chasing is an image that has been completely manufactured, and these days mostly via the hands of a talented graphic designer working alongside a kitted up photographer. Ever wondered why those super-models and celebrity photo-shoots always look so symmetrical? Why the only mole you’ll ever see is a little ‘beauty spot’ on the upper lip?
And the most shocking thing…why in ads selling cosmetic products there is a little disclaimer along the lines of ‘imagery may have been digitally enhanced’? The absurdity of such a disclaimer should be obvious. Don’t be taken for a fool.
Now that the rant is over, let’s draw things back a bit out of the idealised clouds that I often am found to be living in. I’m not saying that make-up is a tool of the Devil, designed to tempt young adults into a life of decadence and sin. I’m not attacking women, in general, for being the main audience of this con (which, now that it’s been mentioned, can often impact the body image of men just as much as women…David Beckham, point in case). I’m definitely not saying that you can’t enjoy looking a bit ‘dolled’ up by applying some makeup and maybe some confidence in the process. As with everything I tend to talk about here on Future Conscience, it is the need to be aware of what you are doing that concerns me the most.
Examine the ads you see before you – and they are literally everywhere – and take note of the hypocrisy involved in their creation. Think about just how prevalent these images are, and then consider the long-term impact that they will have on the direction of our future society. Don’t forget, such idealised and fake images of beauty are incredibly new to the human experience. Yes, we’ve had make-up for a very long time. Yes, we’ve always attempted to alter our appearance to be more attractive to others. But it is only now that we are able to do so with such convincing processes that we are actually becoming blind to the change. Now, what we see isn’t somebody that has been manipulated or altered to look beautiful – it’s just somebody beautiful.
The impact that this has on our own personal psyches is damaging enough. But it is the impact that it is having on the collective consciousness of society that is most worrying, for it is that which will help dictate the very direction that we as a species move towards as we forge headlong into an unknown future. Millionise Your Lashes – a cosmetic dream of absurdity.
Millionise your lashes. These were the words staring me in the face late one Friday evening. I literally started crying, sobbing like a little baby. Admittedly, I may have been more than a little bit intoxicated; but still, those words affected me. Millionise your lashes.
What, exactly can this phrase mean? It is relatively easy to surmise what the advertisers want us to understand – that through the use of their product your lashes won’t merely look like they have bulked up a little…no, it will look like you have millions of them. Your lashes will be so volumised they will have become millionised. Apparently the pin-cushion look is desirable these days.
Not only that, the use of the word – along with the ‘beautiful’ celebrity to go with it – brings more than a subtle connotation of wealth and celebrity. Not only will your lashes have more volume, but you as a person will be more popular; more desirable; more successful. It is such a sorry state of affairs that such an ad need exist, and let me now remind you again of the pitiful sight that the late-night revelers feasted their eyes upon…
For here I was, drunk enough to no longer care about public perception, yelling obscenities at a cosmetics ad whilst crying enough tears to turn the world around me into a salty blur. What a sight it must have been, I wonder if my ramblings were even coherent enough at the time for anybody to hear them. Thankfully, my wife was there to drag me away from my ideological tantrum – to provide me with the soothing ‘I know, it’s awful’ that gave just enough of a respite to put me on a bus home.
Despite being in such a state, I still have not forgotten; and now ‘millionise your lashes’ has become a catch-phrase that represents so much. It is a call towards recognising the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in. A perfect reminder that, unless we specifically and consciously take note of the direction we are heading in, we are doomed to failure. For in its non-ironic form, the phrase represents pure egotism and self-centeredness. It is the war cry of a species that has evolved to the point where we have complete and utter control over almost every aspect of our destiny…and yet we choose to waste that opportunity by focusing on attaining an impossible goal.
For you see, what frustrated me most about this advertisement (and every single other one like it) is not merely the words or the egotistical message behind them. No, the worst thing is that the image that accompanies them is not even a depiction of reality! The celebrity adorning this wonderful advertisement had been subjected to hours of hair and makeup, hours more of lighting and photography, and then finally a few more dozen hours of digital manipulation and illusion before being presented to you in all of her ‘natural’ glory.
The goal that you are being presented with is not even one that is possible for the person in the photo, let alone anybody else. But we continue to worship at the altar of beauty; of the cosmetics companies and the fitness supplements; of women in floss-bikinis and men in tighter-than-healthy briefs. It’s a lie, and deep down we all know it to be a lie.
The shocking part is just how much of a successful lie it is. The cosmetics industry alone is worth billions of pounds a year just in the UK. This isn’t even counting those forms of ‘cosmetics’, such as sun-screen, that actually have a health benefit to using them. Nor does it include the money spent on cosmetic surgery…which is itself an exponentially growing and worrying trend that is helping to redefine just what it means to be ‘naturally’ beautiful. With the advent of less obvious forms of cosmetic surgery, and more technologically advanced ways of doing so, this trend in literally altering the very structure of our appearance will only become more and more pronounced. But we have to ask why we are doing this – and, more importantly, what image are we chasing by doing so?
What we’re chasing is an image that has been completely manufactured, and these days mostly via the hands of a talented graphic designer. Ever wondered why those super-models and celebrity photo-shoots always look so symmetrical? Why the only mole you’ll ever see is a little ‘beauty spot’ on the upper lip? And the most shocking thing…why in ads selling cosmetic products there is a little disclaimer along the lines of ‘imagery may have been digitally enhanced’? The absurdity of such a disclaimer should be obvious. Don’t be taken for a fool.
Now that the rant is over, let’s draw things back a bit out of the idealised clouds that I often am found to be living in. I’m not saying that make-up is a tool of the Devil, designed to tempt young adults into a life of decadence and sin. I’m not attacking women, in general, for being the main audience of this con (which, now that it’s been mentioned, can often impact the body image of men just as much as women…David Beckham, point in case). I’m definitely not saying that you can’t enjoy looking a bit ‘dolled’ up by applying some makeup and maybe some confidence in the process. As with everything I tend to talk about here on Future Conscience, it is the need to be aware of what you are doing that concerns me the most.
Examine the ads you see before you – and they are literally everywhere – and take note of the hypocrisy involved in their creation. Think about just how prevalent these images are, and then consider the long-term impact that they will have on the direction of our future society. Don’t forget, such idealised and fake images of beauty are incredibly new to the human experience. Yes, we’ve had make-up for a very long time. Yes, we’ve always attempted to alter our appearance to be more attractive to others. But it is only now that we are able to do so with such convincing processes that we are actually becoming blind to the change. Now, what we see isn’t somebody that has been manipulated or altered to look beautiful – it’s just somebody beautiful.
The impact that this has on our own personal psyches is damaging enough. But it is the impact that it is having on the collective consciousness of society that is most worrying, for it is that which will help dictate the very direction that we as a species move towards as we forge headlong into an unknown future.
The whole purpose of it was to feel like you had joined a mysterious and secret organisation, an organisation which instructed you to perform various operations and report back to them. It was a fascinating concept, and it certainly proved popular (if you do a Google search for ‘Neurocam’ you will find the remnants of debate about just what, exactly, this whole thing was). There was even an article written up in a 
It’s a real cliché these days – ethics. Ever since the financial crisis, businesses and top-level management have been throwing around the word (and others such as values, integrity, sustainability) like rice at a wedding. As part of my ‘real’ job, I often attend lectures and symposiums discussing these ideas and how they can relate to multi-national corporations; banks and hedge funds; start-ups and small businesses. ‘Corporate Ethics’ is the catchphrase on everyone’s lips at the moment.
It sounds obvious, and indeed it is, but the global economy is made up of individual people. Each transaction has a reality behind it that exists well beyond the numbers on paper, well beyond the bottom line for an amorphous group of ‘shareholders’. Corporate ethics means individual ethics – or at least that’s what we should be talking about.
