site stats
Wet Noodle Posse | Blog

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Beauty by Diane Perkins

Kiki’s blog about her scar got me thinking about beauty, our quest for it, our yearning for it. The amount women spend on beauty products of all sorts must be a brazillion dollars a year. I know I spend my fair share and more on skin care products, make-up, shampoos and conditioner, hair color. We diet endlessly for that elusive perfect figure (some of our Noodlers are depriving themselves of food at this very minute, so we can look ravishing at the RWA Awards ceremony in July). Some women even endure face lifts and tummy tucks and other cosmetic surgeries to reach some ideal.

My own face hasn’t fallen far enough yet for a lift, but a tummy tuck is a tempting idea...Naw. Too scary. Besides those things cost money. Not that I skimp on myself. I purchase the most expensive skin care products that Avon sells. I get my hair cut at Vidal Sassoon. I’ve been known to drop a bundle on make-up. I even ordered Bare Minerals from TV (it’s a good product!). When my husband shops at Best Buy, I go into Ulta and troll the aisles looking for that magic potion to give me-----Beauty.

I’ve passed this on to my daughter, too. She also worries about her weight, about how far short she might fall from that elusive idea of beauty. But when I went to the city where she lives and was to meet her in the hotel lobby, she took my breath away as she walked toward me. I’m not sure she believed me when I told her how stunningly beautiful she looked.

We really should not have this emphasis on beauty. We ought to be less superficial and judge ourselves and others by our character. Are we “good people” should be the most important question we ask ourselves.

But, dang. I still want to be 20 pounds lighter, smoother of skin, thicker of hair, whiter of teeth, firmer of abdomen, thicker of eyelashes, smaller feet, taller, thinner waist, longer fingernails, younger…..

I’m totally caught up in this vanity, even if the most important question I ask myself is if I’m “good people.” And when I look at my women friends, I never think of them as anything but beautiful, even though they come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages, because they are so totally dear to me.

Still, studies have shown that our attraction to certain body types and other characteristics of beauty is a deep-seated, instinctual, survival-of-the-fittest sort of thing. Maybe that is why in books I want my heroines to be beautiful and my heroes to be handsome. Not A-number one perfect, maybe. A little imperfection makes them more human and easier to identify with. Not for me are pudgy heroines or nerdy heroes, though. I want that deep instinctual fantasy of beauty, love, and happily ever after.

Shall I provide examples?


You knew that was coming. My current hero, Gerard Butler



Timeless beauty, Vivian Leigh



My very first bookcover, the Mills & Boon edition of The Mysterious Miss M, got the hero and heroine just right!

But you can see from my Diane Perkins covers and Diane Gaston covers that the artists did a spectacular job of depicting my heroes and heroines!!

Cheers to all things bright and beautiful!
Diane

5 Comments:

At 11:52 AM, Blogger Esri Rose said...

You raise a good point. I love to look at people, and there are very few I don't think are attractive in some interesting way. And those are the strangers. All my friends are truly beautiful.

 
At 8:36 PM, Blogger bridget said...

Oooh, Diane, the whole beauty thing...don't get me started! I honestly don't understand how people can be so obsessed. I see so many women walking around looking downright creepy with all the surgeries they've had. Even very young women. Beauty comes from inside...beauty comes from inside...

 
At 9:50 AM, Blogger Trish Milburn said...

Bridget's right. You can just tell when someone's had work done, especially if it wasn't done well. And tanning -- I just want to scream, "You're going to get skin cancer!"

Love the pictures. Gerry is his usual yummy self. I've always thought Vivian Leigh was one of the most beautiful women to ever come out of Hollywood.

 
At 1:04 PM, Blogger Diane Gaston said...

I doubt I'd have plastic surgery or botox injections or anything, but I'm still gung-ho on whatever modern chemistry can conjure up to stave off the ravages of old age. I've been obsessed about wrinkles around my eyes since high school and have used eye cream ever since. I think it works!

Trish,
In Atlanta there is a mansion / museum that has an exhibit about Gone With the Wind. Wish I could remember the name of it.... And Vivian Leigh was not really Hollywood. At least I don't think of her that way. She was British; Sir Lawrence Olivier's wife and tragically manic-depressive. But so beautiful!
Diane

 
At 2:19 AM, Blogger Mallory Pickerloy said...

Hello, Diane, I believe you have good points there..
I like different types of looks and see beauty in different things. But plastic surgery..for me nah, not to be cruel on anyone that's got it, but some do look too sunk in and too much plastic they can't have a beautiful smile any more..it comes out like an smirk ;)
If I was anyone I wouldn't go with what others think is beauty, but fallow your heart and what's right for you. I love makeup and natural beauty, I'm both ways on it. I believe all women strive for beauty, it's in our nature as well as men, men do the same so ladies shouldn't feel bad about it :)

By the way, I love Gone With The Wind.

Best wishes!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]