As someone with a come-as-you-are attitude to a lot of things in life, I am the last person to come to for any sort of beauty advice. Need ideas for a zinger of a comeback, a funny quip, or a truly creative and off-the-wall name for something? I am your gal. Want a cheerleader who encourages you to be your truly wacky self? This babe. But my daily beauty routine is non-existent.
List of Lady Things that Suck: Heels, Makeup, Bras
I’ve always hated makeup. The way it feels on my face, the way wearing it gets me compliments but just makes me feel worse about my face without it. Don’t get me started on my total lack of ability with beauty products and hair, despite having worked for two personal care companies and being raised in a household of women. I mean, I was raised in the frosted tips era, ok? I learned how to use hot rollers in my youth, and how to tease hair.
My Beauty Inheritance
I inherited my mom and grandmother’s deep purple eye bags, droopy eyelids, and fair, almost translucent skin leading to both age spots and rosacea. My mother had her eyes done in her 40’s and wished she had done it years earlier. I can’t manage to muster up the bravery.
Yes, this all seems a bit dramatic – having a slightly asymmetrical face with normal signs of aging is not the worst thing. But once I started working remotely with cameras on, being forced to stare at my own face all day long really got to me. Some experts refer to this as Zoom dysmorphia.
Too Much Self-Awareness
When COVID hit and forced everyone else to start reckoning with their own faces, SnapCamera came to the rescue with not only gorgeous makeup filters, but also some really funny ones. These were my savior, allowing my to present as fabulous, but also at times as perhaps a potato or a lumberjack. So what if my eyelashes occasionally moved around my face? I was happy. See my cynical and snappy guides to remote video conferencing expertise (part 1 and part 2).
For those who are neurodivergent, or simply introverts, filters also allowed them to appear more engaged with cameras on – without feeling so exposed. For me, they helped me feel more confident and less focused on myself, when the real “fun” of meetings comes from engaging with others, and making them secretly smile because of your silly chat comment.
Virtual Makeup Unprofessional, but Injections? Totally Fine
I’m not sure why blurred backgrounds and picture backgrounds are normalized but filters are seen as unprofessional. Perhaps because women are the ones asking for them? I don’t want to pull the gender card here but we are the ones who are discriminated against for aging. We judge each other most harshly of all, of course, in a grand gesture of dis-empowerment. As a branding expert and amateur studier of humans, I am always evaluating the desktop setups and the backgrounds that colleagues have selected. NGL, I judge people more on their meeting-running skills than their faces or office setups.
My Digital Makeover Tools
I am happy to have discovered a replacement for SnapCamera since Snap discontinued it and took away my joy. FilterOnMe is not as full-featured by any means, but it does what I need it to do for less than the cost of a face serum. I can no longer cosplay as a potato, but I can improve my RBF with an improved baseline smile curvature, and minimize my age spots.
And for headshots, I am a huge fan of Dreamwave.ai. I had some great photos already thanks for my photographer Elena Lewis, but I was also able to get a variety of AI generated ones like the one at the top, perfect for LinkedIn.
Share Your Beauty Secrets
I hope my fellow virtual beauty mavens can point me to your best tech, since most collaboration software companies refuse to implement retouching inside the app. Zoom does it at a basic level but at least it evens out my face tone.
Be Known for Something Aside from the Perfect Pout
What is it that you wish to be known for? Your spectacular strategies? Effective leadership? Creative problem solving? Whatever it is, we can work together to craft your best branding strategy and help you head authentically towards your next big goal. Learn more how I can be your conspire with you as your partner in success at mandysteinhardt.com, and download your free Personal Branding Guide.
