We fell in love with @mexicanbutjapanese and @platinumpunk's beauty videos the moment we saw them. We sat down with this mother/daughter duo to hear more about their perspective towards beauty and aging.
IN CONVERSATION WITH
MARCELA & NORMA
Who I am and who I’ll beSHE IS JUST NOT PART OF THE CONVERSATION. MY MUM IS VERY EXPERIMENTAL WHEN IT COMES TO BOTH FASHION AND BEAUTY AND I REALLY WANT HER TO SHOW THAT.
19/99 Take us through your daily beauty routines, morning & night.
MA Two things that I definitely make sure I do everyday, morning and night are wash my face and use some moisturizer. In the morning I always use an SPF. I also use Biologique Recherche P50 Solution. My skin is a little bit more combination and it is congested, so I use the P50 to exfoliate everyday, otherwise I can’t keep up with my black heads, white heads, and breakout type of things. I notice a big difference if I don’t use it. So I definitely do that morning and night. I follow that with a moisturizer from the same brand - I don’t remember the name. And I use two of their serums. One of them is the Placenta serum. I swear by this woman at Rescue Spa named Ella. Before seeing her I went to a lot of different dermatologists. I was having breakouts along my hairline, forehead and jawline. Some of it was hormonal, but I couldn’t find anything that worked consistently. My skin would improve and then it would go back to the beginning. Someone said I should go talk to Ella at Rescue Spa; I went and she told me to use the P50, the Placenta serum and the gentle moisturizer. And it worked so I just stick to it. Sometimes I change the serum to one called VIP, I think, it is an oxygen one. It is more of a glowly, dewy skin one. I will sometimes mix it with the Placenta serum.
I am definitely not very loyal with any specific brand or product for make up. I will use some kind of tinted moisturizer that is a little sheer because I like skin to look like skin. Right now I am using the NARS Radiance Tinted moisturizer. I like blush in liquid or creamy formulas. Right now I am wearing the Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk. I love these really old Becca blushes that are called something like ‘Swirl Souffle’. They are not a soufflé anymore, so old and all dried out, but I still love them and I still use those so much, I think those are discontinued. In general I prefer creamy, gel, or liquid gel formulas because they look more natural, and they go on more transparent so the skin comes through. I am using Boy Brow for the brows – I like that feathery look, imperfect. Generally I don’t like makeup to look perfect. I find beauty in imperfections and I like makeup to feel very natural and pretty. I do enjoy a pop of colour every once and a while. For mascara anything that looks natural – I think right now I am using Revlon Fierce Mascara. With lips I am actually more particular about what I like. I love the Bite Agave Lip Mask in Smashed- it is a little redish. A friend introduced me to it – she was putting it on and I was like “What is that? It is so beautiful” and she was like “Doesn’t it look like you just made out?!” and I was like ‘It does! I need it’. It looks like you just made out with someone – I love that. It is my favorite lip product. With nail polish or lipsticks, I either like nudes or reds and deep reds, I’m not an in-between type person.
N For skincare right now, after washing my face, I use a toner, an ampule that is a 4-week treatment – it is StriVectin. I am in the third week - actually the product for one week is enough for two weeks. The first one was jelly stuff, the second was really oily, and the third is really creamy. I think it is good product for skin. I’m always trying different products. My favorite is Dr. Perricone. For make up I like Glossier Skin Tint – it is very natural. Eye shadows from Tarte, and a mascara from Eyeko is my favorite. I like the brush…
MA It has an irregular brush – some bristles are longer, some are shorter.
N I like NYX for eyeliner, and for my brows. I use a red colour for my brows because it softens my look. Normally I do a cat eye, because as you can see I have a bit of a hooded lid and it opens my eyes. Lipsticks Yves Saint Laurent or Givenchy… I like these brands. For make up I think it is very important to enhance your facial structure. More important than smoothing anything or evening out colour; playing with what you have, and enhancing your features.
19/99 How have your beauty routines changed over the years?
N I use product that is for lifting and wrinkles now whereas before I did not. When I was young I just moisturized and sunblock. Eventually I added serums.
19/99 What about with colour cosmetics? Have you always been very playful?
N Sometimes I use different colours if I go out, if I’m going to a party, try to change a little bit. I have no problem with any colours. Especially now that there are so many contrasting colours; like oranges and pinks.
MA She is very experimental with make up. Maybe the shape will be the same, the cat eye will be the same but it is different colours. She will play with the colours but might do the same looks. Take us through your daily beauty routine.
N This is an advantage of living in New York, because nobody cares. In the summer I went to Madrid and in the metro a small girl, about 5 years old, asked me, pointing to my red eyeliner, “Why are your eyes red? What’s happened to you?”, but in New York, nobody cares, it is encouraged.
MA I feel the same thing when I go back to Mexico. My nieces will ask why do I dress a certain way, and I am like “What do you mean? I look cool” and they are like, no you look weird. And I’m like okay, that is fine… I dress weird.
N You know when you get older, you feel the same way that young people feel, you want to still explore.
MA In my experience with beauty, I see that. Marketing and brands really speak to a younger demographic; which makes sense – you are investing in the younger consumers, they are going to grow with you. But they are not speaking to someone like my mum and she is equally as interested to explore, and try new things. But she may not consider a colour because when she is in the store, she questions if it is for her, or if it is too ‘young’. But it totally is for her. She is just not part of the conversation. My mum is very experimental when it comes to both fashion and beauty and I really want her to show that. Because I think that a lot of women are. I see a lot of women in New York that make me think ‘I hope I look like her and wear that same outfit, she looks fabulous’. But they are not highlighted, they are not in the conversation, but…they are beautiful. And people want to see you and talk to you – the little girl in Madrid…she wanted to know what liner was…
When I was younger, very early 20s or late teens, I was wearing much more makeup – medium to full coverage foundation, three or four eye shadows, contour, much heavier makeup then I do now. That is part of how the beauty industry is evolving – it started with the industry being the experts and telling the consumers what they want, now it is flipped and the consumer knows what they want themselves. Being free to be creative and different, and have your own look, it is much more open and encouraged now, it is much less prescribed and so people are more comfortable playing around and deciding things themselves for their own look.
Image via @mexicanbutjapanese
WE NOW LIVE LONGER, OUR LIVES ARE IMPROVED, THE QUALITY IS IMPROVED; NOW YOU ARE YOUTHFUL AND ABLE TO BE PRODUCTIVE MUCH LONGER.
Image via @mexicanbutjapanese
19/99 Do you feel pressure to look a certain way? Take us through your daily beauty routine.
N No, really no. In the past I think I felt some pressure, because maybe I was working on something and sometimes I needed to look presentable. If you decide that make up is not your thing, in certain situations it can come across that you aren’t put together or presentable. So maybe in a work environment it may not come off well. But these days, it is more relaxed, which is good because there is more freedom to be who you want to be.
19/99 Did you always feel free to express yourself via beauty, skincare, just yourself? Or is that more recent?
N Now I really feel freedom, maybe because of my age. Many artists, in music, in literature, they have special ways to express their arts in their late life. They compose things out of their ordinary style, more expressive, like crazy stuff, and it happens in many famous artist’s lives. It could be because you know your end is coming and you want to express everything, to do everything you want. It’s a part of it.
19/99 Does the term age appropriate mean anything to you?
N Well, I think we have some limits, there are some clothes that are not for everyone.
MA Like no more thong bikinis?
N You don’t want to insult….
19/99 What lip colours are you experimenting with now?
MA I don’t believe in the age appropriate term from a beauty standpoint because I mean, at the end of the day, the product is just the product. All the messaging around it, whether it is marketing, copy, whatever it is, is being constructed and tailored to a demographic. I don’t care for age appropriate. When I look at my mum I don’t think of whatever her ‘age appropriate’ is supposed to be. She is always very funky and stylish, and I aspire to be that.
N I’m not a very good example to follow…
MA You are though. I am thinking of other women in my family who are in the same age bracket and they look at my mum and say “Oh my god, you are so brave, I would never”. So maybe to them, it is a thing. And I think because you are YOU, and you do what you do, it comes naturally to me. Even back to those examples we were talking about earlier, I have a day cream, night cream at like 12, which wasn’t normal to other kids, but it was normal to me. You made it normal to me – you do whatever you want to do, be whatever you want to be. I don’t think it should matter. What does age appropriate even mean?
N As people become more educated in seeing all people as ‘normal’ people, who think, who have the same wishes, wants, needs, people won’t be dismissed like they can be now. It helps for people to see we are all the same.
MA Yes and maybe this will help with the preconceived notions, or thoughts of age appropriate – what you should be doing at what age in your life. Which is a ridiculous thing to think about. I would hope as you get older you can do whatever you want to do.
N It is part of this evolution of development, technology, and scientific improvements, achievements that help people’s lives. We now live longer, our lives are improved, the quality is improved; now you are youthful and able to be productive much longer.
19/99 If you could share advice with your younger selves, what would it be?
N In general, since our target in life is seeking happiness, you have to figure out what make you really happy and this will not always comes from money. I am referring to that, people nowadays live in this kind of anxiety and pressure, and it is not good for your health. We are naturally gregarious, people want to be near people, helping people. Doing something substantial with your life will make you feel better and be better. That is a concern in my life; because I haven’t done something valuable to help people…well I have time.
MA What would you want to do?
N I found this place in New York that invents simple tools for disabled people, individually designed for individual cases. And I think that I could volunteer there, and help. I think I could be creative in that scenario.
MA You would be good at this! This is the first time I am hearing this. She is very resourceful at home, always.
N It is part of the Mexican culture
MA Yes, Mexican people are very resourceful
N Mexicans can fix everything with nothing.
MA Work arounds!
19/99 What makes you feel beautiful?
N I feel beautiful mainly because of my personality. In my attitude, how I present myself. I think everybody can feel beautiful, because everybody is unique. I don’t feel really beautiful, I feel normal. And I find beauty in everyone, so you wear something or wear nothing; you are going to be OK.
MA I agree with you, taking care of myself, of my mental, physical health makes me feel beautiful. I love self-improvement books; my husband is always makes fun of it. I have so many of them, but I really enjoy all of them. As my mum was saying, we get so caught up in anxieties and expectations. Especially now because, I am just thinking of Facebook and other people who have become so successful so young and it is like ‘oh my god, I am so far from that’. It can be hard, and I love self-help books because they help me break down what I’m going through, trouble shoot and figure out different strategies of getting to where I want to be. Without feeling that I have to do these steps and that these steps are the only way to get from a to b and this is the only thing you can do, and success only means this. So I guess this makes me feel beautiful and that I am unique and that there is not one way to get somewhere. I have to create my own way and it is not better or less than anybody else. That type of reading is really good for me. But also just like, a beautiful pink coat makes me feel pretty, or some sparkly eye shadow. Even the very little things like having a fresh manicure, make me feel confident. And I feel most beautiful when I am confident and believing in myself.
