The Day My Baby Came Home a Zombie

Who hasn't seen the thriller video? Wait I am getting ahead of myself. This entry is a lesson on Japanese beauty, or the ideas held within.

I have heard people say that Japan bangs the protruding nail back down. I guess this is some sort of actual saying in Japanese about how they form members of society. This also shapes an idea of what it is to be beautiful. You cannot stick out.

So, when my pretty girlfriend, to be mature I will leave it at pretty, went to a facial business promo, kind of like an Avon or Tupperware party, she was surprised by some comments from the Japanese participants. They wondered how she dealt with her rosey cheeks. Her cheeks, it seems, because of their natural coloration, made her an aberration in Japan. In the west, she is lucky and attractive, here an aberration?

Now the woman in charge had to explain this. She said that the ideal Japanese beauty does not have coloration but rather has a completely pale complexion. No color. I don't know how to explain the excessive use of blue eye-liner and artificial tanner I've seen here, but lets just say this expert was right. No color.

As a result, my girlfriend became the perfect model of how well this woman's makeup products can hide such unsightlyness. They took a "before" shot and promptly added coverup to her face until the only color showing was around her eyes. She had not slept and was sick, so they were a little purple. Then the "after" shot.

The Japanese were stunned and impressed. They were getting a huge gift bag, five thousand yen, and saw hideous rosey cheeks disappear into a drap greyish pale face all in one night! The ohhs and ahhs were deep and heartfelt. A transformation had taken place. The western woman my friend went with held another opinion.

"Let's just say I never thought anything wrong with your cheeks, and you are looking pretty scary now."

And I agreed! Baby came home with her purple eyes and lifeless face looking like some unerotic Zombie that was now out to eat flesh and walk stiffly around at night moaning monotonously. But hey, that is beauty and then there was the gift money for showing up.