Makeup is truly not for me

Ladies of the world, I finally understand your perils.

When I agreed to participate in a makeup challenge with editor-in-chief Amy Lin, I had no idea what to expect. But as I watched Amy and the Life editors, Nupur Maheshwari and Melissa Magner arrange the dozens of wands and brushes, lipsticks and foundations, I knew the result was going to be a disaster. The challenge had two parts. The first involved me applying makeup on Amy (without a blindfold) and seeing how it turned out. Being a male, I know nothing about applying makeup. After I finished, it was Amy’s turn to put makeup on me — while blindfolded.

As I sat down and opened the mascara, Amy immediately winced, foreseeing the butchering of her face that was about to take place. Needless to say, I didn’t know how to apply the mascara (I swiped it downwards on her eyelashes with the tip of the mascara wand, which apparently is incorrect — who knew?), and it resulted in black dots and smudges on Amy’s  eyelids, as well as unnecessary and painful poking and prodding. Oops.

Next, I used some eyeliner and Amy’s eyes became even more black and ghastly. I gave a nervous chuckle to assure her that it didn’t look as bad as she thought and continued my masterpiece. I proceeded to apply lipstick and finally concluded my project with a heap of foundation all over Lin’s face. This was yet another mistake, I learned later, as foundation should have been applied first.

As soon as I finished, Amy took a mirror and expressed a shocked reaction as Nupur, Melissa and photographer and videographer Jade Bisht laughed uncontrollably. I didn’t think it was that bad. I mean, at least I knew where to apply everything!

Only after I finished did Amy kindly explain mascara was for eyelashes and to be applied from the bottom up, a tip that would have helped us both greatly.
All I have to say, is I’m glad I don’t have to use makeup. The complicated array of materials and methods of application made me dizzy and thankful I was not in frequent contact with it.

Next, it was my turn. As Amy blindfolded herself, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. She began to feel around the table for the various brushes, and as she began to apply eyeliner, her blindfold caused her to miss my eyes, going a bit higher than was needed and smearing the eyeliner just under my eyebrows. Although she used the mascara the correct way, she  sadly missed her target and produced the same dotted black pattern that I had conjured on her just minutes earlier. Take that, Amy.

Next, Amy found the foundation and generously applied it to my face. After this — and much laughter from our audience —Amy topped my face off with bright lipstick. Though she was able to locate the left half of my lips, she ended up getting more of my cheek than my lips.

After she finished, she took off her blindfold and let out a cackle at the sight of me. As I looked at myself, I, too, was shocked and pleasantly amused at my appearance. After taking some photos and displaying myself to everyone in the journalism room, I washed the makeup off and returned to my usual self.

I have to say, makeup is quite the experience.

Watch the full video with Arjun's experience here.