Women wearing protective face masks walk past a closed shop of French luxury foods group Fauchon on the Place de La Madeleine in Paris, France, 4 September. Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters
Women wearing protective face masks walk past a closed shop of French luxury foods group Fauchon on the Place de La Madeleine in Paris, France, 4 September. Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters
Women wearing protective face masks walk past a closed shop of French luxury foods group Fauchon on the Place de La Madeleine in Paris, France, 4 September. Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters
In 2001, Leonard Lauder, then chairman of Estee Lauder, coined the term ‘lipstick index’. He was referring to what he saw as the resilience of makeup sales in times of economic hardship, an affordable indulgence for women who otherwise might be cutting back.
After all, when things are tough, women feel that a dash of lipstick can do wonders for their morale – and I am no exception.
But this time, women have bucked the lipstick index. Early in the pandemic amid the growing economic difficulties, sales of lipstick started to plummet. After all, if you're staying home, who needs lipstick and makeup?
As the new normal set in and face masks became the norm, there was talk of a 'mascara index’. With sales of eye makeup rising, women seemed to shift their beauty focus to the area of their face that was actually visible.
In the context of the pandemic, Estee Lauder’s current chief executive has said that the lipstick index has been substituted by "the moisturiser index".
The view is that while the current period may not reflect a huge interest in people's desire to stock up on lipstick, moisturisers still remain a reliable index of consumption trends.
Moisturisers, however, fill a very different need in women’s grooming routine. It is one of those cosmetic products that are not about the gaze of another. Moisturisers have nothing to do with how women present themselves to the outside world. It is more personal, it is about care for oneself.
In many ads for moisturisers though there is still the shameful message conveyed that using moisturiser can stop ageing, as though growing old is the great crime of our era.
Despite some of these ageist campaigns, during the pandemic, something radical started to happen with regard to women and beauty.
We are seeing the beginnings of an important shift – women are discarding unattainable beauty standards, to which they are constantly subjected and to which they would, in a pre-pandemic world, have had to strive to achieve at all costs.
This year has caused, however minor, a shift in perception – to not judge women based on their appearance. If this perception gained wider acceptance, it would free women from all the pressure and judgment that comes with adhering to these unattainable standards of beauty.
Trying to keep up and appearing constantly beautiful can be a second career for a lot of women, especially those who have more public-facing jobs. It costs money and time, and the payback is often poor self-esteem and constant, unwarranted judgment. Many of us women accept this and spend our lives too conscious, if not ashamed, of our faces and bodies, feeling as if our looks define who we are, our worth and the success we will achieve in life.
Makeup artist Huda Kattan
Critics of patriarchy describe this as commodifying women, ascribing value based on looks. Critics of capitalism say that the market benefits from women being kept in this state of anxiety; self-doubt as a way to keep up sales of cosmetics and makeup.
A facemask-wearing Meghan Markle during a visit to a school in Los Angeles, US, 31 August 31. Matt Sayles/ via Reuters
At the intersection of the capitalism and patriarchy, there is talk of how women being encouraged to enter the workplace provides companies with a stream of cheaper labour as men famously, in several if not most industries, are paid more than their equally-competent women colleagues.
Add to this the pressures women face to be well-dressed and well-groomed. This essentially means women, as compared to men, put disproportionate amounts of their income back into the consumer economy.
This is the opportunity for women to take control of their image and reject the pressures placed disproportionately on them
One can't help but think the system is rigged so that the majority of women do not rise to the same ranks of power as men, and many continue to be judged on their looks rather than on their work or talent.
Now, given the pandemic, there is no longer a physical workplace as we knew it. As a result, working women, broadly speaking, don't need to ‘put their face on’ or wear uncomfortable high heels to the office.
In these past few months, they have been freed of such constraints and have been able to, for the most part, do things for themselves, look beautiful and feel good for themselves rather than out of a societal expectation of how they should appear.
Going back to negative perceptions of ageing, hair is a great example. At least anecdotally, I know many women who this year decided to go grey rather than keep dyeing their hair, and they expressed this as a form of liberation.
For so many women, their chances of living a successful life are so utterly defined by their looks, that this shift – from presenting oneself in a certain way to the outside world to focusing more on self-care – is a significant moment.
This is an opportunity for women to take control of their image and reject the pressures placed disproportionately on them. It is a chance to think about the self rather than others, something that too many women are socialised out of from a young age. It is a chance for women to assert that it is who they are that matters, rather than what they look like.
Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf. Her latest book is The Extraordinary Life of Serena Williams
Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Moment of the day Sadeera Samarawickrama set pulses racing with his strokeplay on his introduction to Test cricket. It reached a feverish peak when he stepped down the wicket and launched Yasir Shah, who many regard as the world’s leading spinner, back over his head for six. No matter that he was out soon after: it felt as though the future had arrived.
Stat of the day - 5 The last time Sri Lanka played a Test in Dubai – they won here in 2013 – they had four players in their XI who were known as wicketkeepers. This time they have gone one better. Each of Dinesh Chandimal, Kaushal Silva, Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella – the nominated gloveman here – can keep wicket.
The verdict Sri Lanka want to make history by becoming the first team to beat Pakistan in a full Test series in the UAE. They could not have made a better start, first by winning the toss, then by scoring freely on an easy-paced pitch. The fact Yasir Shah found some turn on Day 1, too, will have interested their own spin bowlers.
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
