petty/ not petty. the women on msnbc.

[mopinko]

for the last several weeks i have been seeing a new trend in the make up on female guests and talent.
this is something i always watched on rachel, knowing that her style is nothing like her on air style. i was a fan of hers when she was on air america, so i couldnt miss her show from jump street.
i watched in the beginning as she tried out what i assumed were compromises w the powers that be on how she should look.
they didnt try to make her a fox blond news model, but they did their best liberal version of that. after a while the wardrobe settled on the black blazer and the make up was a little neutral eye shadow and shiny pink lipstick.
but there were a few crazy experiments along the way when i was embarrassed for her. like the night they laid on so much make up that it looked like she had to rush right out of the studio to make the curtain for her side job in the chorus of 'cats'.

i've seen joy reid go through similar experiments. not very long ago she had such a heavy coat that i barely recognized her. they completely highlighted her nose to the point that she looked chinese.
i have only seen a couple pics of her off air, but i get the feeling her on air look is not her usual, tho she does like fancy clothes and jewelry.

i just personally, do not wear make up, and havent in decades. i dont make assumptions about people who do. i just want to be honest w myself.

so, anyway, over that last few weeks i have noticed that the new style for all of them is a very subdued style. no heavy eye shadow, neutral tones, flat lipstick in muted colors.
many are now pretty much nude-look by teevee standards.

there are a few that have a little stronger look, but they strike me as the sort of women who wear a fair amount of make up in the rest of their lives.
but even those are still a much quieter palette.


who cares, right? petty.

not petty. the big thing i notice is that they dont stick out on panels like they used to. i didnt even really notice before how one woman and 3-4 men could stand out in not a good way.
but w/o, it is sorta shocking to me how right they look. how normal. how nothing to see here.
so refreshing.

kudos to whoever made this decision.

[madaboutharry]

1. It could also be due to new people working on their make-up.

I will add something also petty: I always thought that Katy Tur had awful taste in clothes. Which is surprising because she is very pretty and has a nice figure and would look great in clothes. Well, now that she is pregnant she had to go out and buy a new wardrobe and she is dressing so much better!

[mopinko]

8. doesnt seem to me to be the kind of decision that gets left up to

the make up person, but i could be wrong.

[nolabear]

2. The only thing I've kept track of is Barbara McQuade's freckles.

When she showed up I was impressed that she was covered with freckles, very unusual and certainly so on camera.I like them. They give her a kind of character that says she likes them and is also interested in other matters.

Then they disappeared. She was covered in concealer and I felt bad. Personally, I hate thick makeup and have never worn foundation unless I had to. And she'd lost some character.

Now they're sort of back. It varies. It probably is according to the makeup person to an extent, but I hope she's in there saying "It's MY flag and I want to let it fly."

[mopinko]

4. she is def one of the guests that made me notice.

i always thought that shiny pink lipstick looked so out of character for her. she looks much more comfortable now.

[hlthe2b]

3. Apparently, the fad for the past several years has been "cat eye" type false eyelashes.

I HATE THEM! They look even worse on somewhat hooded pronounced upper eyelids--whether it be Melania or Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Unfortunately, they are using them on Rachel too now.

I know that more makeup is somewhat necessary on camera, but IMO, less is more. Surely they can do enough with mascara, shadow and maybe a bit of subtle eyeliner to be able to leave the damned lashes aside.

[mopinko]

6. i've noticed joy battling the fake lashes.

i can remember more than one show where the corner came a little unstuck.
i will take a harder look at rachel tonight. she def has been stuck w them over time. i did notice her eyes are still a little juiced up, but they look pretty natural.

[mopinko]

13. watching rachel now. if she is wearing the falsies,

they are pretty tame ones.

[hlthe2b]

17. They've got Stephanie Ruhle wearing them now. She looks as though she's squinting all the time.

[jberryhill]

5. HDTV changed everything

A talking head, on my TV screen, is about three times the size of an actual head.

Think about that.

At that resolution and size, without considerable effort, you'd be staring into pores as if you were Neil Armstrong looking for a spot to set down the lunar lander. I don't care whose face we're talking about.

In addition to new makeup techniques for HDTV there is also new signal processing technology to try to electronically correct the ghoulish zombies you'd otherwise be seeing under studio lights at that level of magnification and resolution.

[CTyankee]

7. I like the subdued matte makeup look but I also like AOC's very red lipstick!

Women should feel free to look as they wish.

Since I am so old, I use a very natural shade of tinted base, perhaps adding a swish of powder rouge and that's it. For special occasions I might add a bit of shadow on my eyelids and a very muted lip gloss. I've noted that make up is so much more muted now.

[Raine]

9. I like AOC's red lipstick too!

[mopinko]

12. i love it too.

like i said, i dont begrudge anyone who does wear make up. some women it just fits them perfectly.

i just found it stunning how this blunts the loud gender imbalance, in a good way.

[cally]

10. I've noticed the makeup seems wrong on African Americans on MSNBC

In the last few months. The tone doesn’t match their skin color and their neck is a different color. It just looks wrong. I think they need a better makeup person for them.

[mopinko]

11. look now. this is just the last 2-3 weeks. i noticed it most on the aa women.

noticing that a little bit of purple in the lipstick, and the eyeshadow is mostly within the palette of their skin tones.
no bright or shiny lipsticks.

[fleur-de-lisa]

14. There has been an on-going discussion on Twitter

over the last few days regarding make up and hair for women of color on tv and in film. POC say the networks don’t have people who know how to style black and brown people.

Also, in the movie industry, stylists are required to join a union, which is hard to break into for anyone, but especially for people of color.

Many black and brown women stated they often resort to styling their own hair and applying make up themselves in order to not look ridiculous.

[UTUSN]

15. I got lost in this o.p. - *who* is wearing make--up?

[mopinko]

16. well, every woman on every teevee anywhere, but

yeah, i did meander a bit.
but there has been a big change in the sort of make up that they are using on msnbc, guests and talent alike.
a change for the better. a subtle shift to let women be themselves.