Eyeshadow Wisdom By Linda Stowe
Remember blue eye shadow? It was all the rage in the ’60s. One source said the pioneer of blue eye shadow was the Barbie doll, which debuted in 1959. Barbie has blue eyes, so likely the purpose of the shadow was to make her eyes seem larger. Shortly afterward Andy Warhol used acid blue to accentuate the eyelids in his Pop Art portrait of Elizabeth Taylor. Soon, cosmetics manufacturers were offering palettes of blue eyeshadow to people who wanted to emulate this look.
I was one of those people and over the years I had a wide range of blue eyeshadows in both matte and metallic finishes. There for a time I was quite drawn to the glossy look of metallic shadow and lipstick until a friend convinced me that metallic makeup contained actual metal. I don’t know if this is true, but I can still hear her say, “If you don’t believe me, get a magnet and see.” I didn’t have a magnet, but just to be safe I gave up my shiny makeup.
Now, years later, I have access to the Internet and can learn more about this matter. I would not have to rely on what my friends happen to read in a magazine. Theoretically people today should not be making mistakes like this because they have access to more information but that does not seem to be the case. It turns out that there are still misinformed people ready to lead us down the wrong path, only now we have access to more of them.
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Polly here. I have so many thoughts on this. I’ve never been much of a makeup wearer. But there was a time when I’d put on a little eye shadow. Mostly during my early 20s.
Anyway, when Linda mentioned that blue eyeshadow, my thought went directly to the woman I always think of when I hear “blue eyeshadow.” They go to none other than Mimi Bobeck, the character on The Drew Carey Show. Mimi was Drew’s outrageous co-worker and nemesis at Winfred-Louder. She was played by actress Kathy Kinney.
Kathy Kinney’s real self looks nothing like Mimi. But many people believe Kinney appears this way in real life. And that brings me to misinformation.
It starts with a suggestion. An impression. Or a misguided appearance. All of that leads to a belief. And then people want others to believe what they believe. For whatever reason, this process gains steam and moves ahead, fully out of control. Misinformation. A false appearance. Kind of like makeup.
Blue eyeshadow can, in fact, teach us a lesson. Stay informed. Stay honest. Stay true blue.
