To be pasty or not to be pasty.

[Writer]

So today I posted a pasty picture of me. I've been in a saucy mood lately, so it wasn't a big deal to yank a pic of me au naturale and post it. I thought it portrayed some confidence. "Hooray!" I thought to myself. "In my quest to bust out of my shell, I'll do so with GUSTO! I care not if my blemishes show and my cheekbones aren't highlighted!"

But in retrospect, I must say, I look pretty farkin' pasty.


As compared to another pic... this one showing a face smeared with paint. I've always thought that makeup is not a real presentation of oneself, but only a mirage. We ladies like to throw it on to attract you men (or women, for that matter.)


Posting a picture on the internet is one of those personal milestones... it's actually given me a swath of confidence, and I have noticed that my relationships on DU have gelled better. (Is this a sociological experiment for me?) Anyway, it's interesting to feel that, when I do post a picture, I want to put my best face forward. But shouldn't it be my real face? The pasty face in the first photo?

I'm puzzled. Want to philosophize with me?

[leftofthedial]

1. philosophically speaking

bofum are fine by me

[Writer]

2. Well, thank you, but are you trying to say...

that "paste makes waste?" or that I shouldn't be so hasty to call me pasty?

[leftofthedial]

6. I'm saying pasty

can be tasty

[Writer]

7. Now, don't be so hasty!

Mr. Writer's not too far away! :O

[billyskank]

3. You look fine and not pasty at all

You don't need to paint yourself to be beautiful. You are anyway.

[Writer]

5. I feel, many times, that when I don't paint myself...

I look much younger than my 31 years. I then feel exceedingly inadequate as a woman.

On edit: Thank you, btw :blush:

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. You DO look about five years younger WITHOUT the makeup.

Which is not a bad thing. (There are women who'd be thrilled if putting it ON made them look five years younger.)

[Writer]

10. Believe it or not, I actually prefer to look older.

I've had better luck in life when I appear older.

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. That sounds more like a self-confidence issue than anything else...

but it's hard to tell whether it's based more on your perception of yourself or other people's perceptions of you (or even what you perceive other people's perceptions of you to be)...

[Writer]

15. I'm a woman... given what we look at everyday as examples of

"femininity" it's always a confidence issue! I mean I don't hate myself, it's just a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy that I think many of us women deal with daily.

I'm a fairly cerebral woman. Growing up, I didn't pay attention to my outer appearance at all, and I must say, boys did not pay attention to me. Now I'm fascinated with how I decorate my outer appearance as a means to improve my overall self-confidence and attractiveness to others, even though I'm happily married and not looking for a mate. I do so quite consciously, but I think, in a methodical, almost experimental way. ("Hmmm... what if I used this eye shadow with this lip gloss. What would it do?") I guess it's my being low brow in a very high brow way... if that makes sense.

[madinmaryland]

9. I'm the one who should be embarassed..

:blush:

[Writer]

28. I know by now just how embarrassed you are, m'dear...

:P

[madinmaryland]

4. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Guava Jelly]

12. Oh pasty shmasty you look terrific!

Very sexy actually. You could sell sheets,lingerie or mattresses
Heck any straight man or gay woman with any taste would love to be staring into those eyes and sharing your covers.
You are a pretty lady and shouldn't be so self critical.

[Writer]

13. Well, alrighty then!

I'm current unemployed, so I'll sign a contract with a silk sheet company that sells online. I'll become the new face of wild one-night stands everywhere! :blush:

No, really, I'm not sure if I entirely agree, but I trust someone else's eyes more than my own. Thank you. :)

[Drum]

14. I think the pasties are kinda cool...can't even see 'em really.

:P

[Writer]

17. They're hidden underneath the blanket, Drum!

[Aristus]

16. You are gorgeous, Writer. Stunningly so.

What you call pasty, others would call radiantly pale.

Skin of every color is beautiful, but I prefer that white women be pale, rather than tanned to the consistency of leather. Keep your lovely looks exactly the way they are. :loveya:

[Writer]

18. Well that's awfully kind of you, but let me take a different approach.

Here is a lady many know as Britney Spears.

Back before her white trash days, here she is in her "sexy" fake-baked skin. If memory has it right, guys rather digged her then.


Now... here's Brit during her sloppy afterparty years... you can see a difference.


Now... Britney Spears: To be pasty or not to be pasty?

[Aristus]

19. Nice try, Writer, but irrelevant. First of all, one has to have inner beauty as well.

And you've got BAGS of that! :loveya: Inner and outer beauty are a fantastic combo, but Britney has lost the latter and never really had the former. Not a fan of white trash, however luminous the skin. Plus, I'm 38. Britney started out as jailbait in my mind, and still is, no matter how many marriages and children she has. My wife, on the other hand, is 46. Smart, beautiful, sexy, mature and pale-skinned. And inner beauty for daaaaaaaaaays! B-)

[AlCzervik]

20. you have really beautiful skin and i wouldn't call it pasty at all

more like porcelain.

[Writer]

21. Really? That interesting because...

I've certainly have had my struggle with blemishes over the years. Maybe that's why I have relied so much on the face paint.

[AlCzervik]

23. well if you do have blemishes they aren't showing up on those pictures

not so i can see them and i am wearing my glasses. I would love to have skin like that, my skin is a bit sallow, waaa. I avoid wearing anything green or yellow or else i look jaundiced.

[dropkickpa]

22. Honestly, I think you look lovely in the 1st pic!!

If I looked like that without make-up, I'd post more au natural pics!

[Writer]

29. Thank you.

:hi:

[mainegreen]

24. IMHO you should not be using makup. You look much better without it.

Your natural skin tone is very creamy (pasty is *wrong* word) which is a good thing. That blush just makes you look flushed. You lipstick choice is good in the bottom picture, but I think even that would look better when accentuated against your natural skin color as opposed to the way it kind of blends in the lower picture.

Top picture: damned DAMNED sexy!

[Writer]

30. Well, okay...

maybe I'd feel better about it if it hadn't been taken in the morning...

maybe the evening would have been better?

Thanks. :blush:

[BarenakedLady]

25. Embrace your pastiness!

I do. I don't wear makeup (except on special occasions or if I'm trying to pick up on my hot exterminator guy :evilgrin: ) Can get any paler than me.



That's what you get for being German/English/Irish. :shrug:

I think you look beautiful without the makeup. :loveya:

[Writer]

27. I love your hair...

and I love your eye color. You are quite beautiful!

I'm actually from fairly recent German/Sicilian stock (mixed in with old New Orleans French and Spanish). Hence the pasty face with dark hair.

[BarenakedLady]

38. Thank you

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

33. I'm German, Irish, And ?

you don't look "pasty" either BNL

and you have amazing eyes!

:hug:

[BarenakedLady]

39. Awww

Thanks for saying that. :hug:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

34. Very hot

exterminator :evilgrin:


And both of you lovely women look very un-pasty... (hint) could be construed as very attractive. :hi:

[BarenakedLady]

35. Well hello there again!

:hi:

Will we ever get to see your face? :)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

40. It could happen

but my personal photographer is neglect in capturing my face. :shrug:

and hello there again :hi:

[BarenakedLady]

44. Maybe

You should fire your personal photographer. :shrug:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

46. But...

I really like the guy... and it is the Holiday/Christmas season :dilemma:

[Guava Jelly]

36. I'm french Irish and german

One of my best friend calls me Frenchie McKraut :)
Many women would kill to have your figure,hair,eyes,and smile (when you bless us with one).:7
And so would many men :evilgrin:
It amazes me how so many beautiful women can be so self critical.
You and Writer are both very stunning lady's.
And should realize that there ain't a thing wrong with either of you :hug:
And I am being sincere. :)

[BarenakedLady]

37. Thank you

You have no idea how nice it is to hear that. :hug:

You are a sweet sweet man.:loveya:

Many women (and I'm sure men) have a distorted image of themselves. It is something I'm working on. But compliments are still hard for me to take without either making a sarcastic comment disparaging myself in some way or thinking in my head that whoever is giving me the compliment is just trying to be nice. :shrug:

[Guava Jelly]

42. I promise you with all my heart

That I am not bullshitting either of you or just trying to be nice.:)
:hug: hell you both are hotties so geesh whats all the drama about??? :shrug:

[BarenakedLady]

43. What drama?

:shrug:

[Guava Jelly]

45. drama was the wrong word

I guess i meant lack of self esteem and self appreciation for what you have.
Physically you are very attractive and should embrace it instead of criticize yourself like you do.
:)

[SPKrazy]

26. I Think You Look Fine- Not Pasty

enjoy the sociological experiment

You are a nice looking woman!

:evilgrin:

[Writer]

31. Well, thank you...

I hate to introduce this point, but I'm curious if the answers would be different if this were a conservative site? I've noticed different perceptions of beauty among various political stripes.

[SPKrazy]

32. Not Being A Conservative, But Knowing A Lot Of Them

I think that conservative "beauty" is more phony and less natural.

Your beauty seems to come from inside as well as outside- of course that's hard to tell from a pic, but the eyes tell more than one thinks, and me thinks your eyes radiate an inner beauty as well as outer, or maybe magnify the outer?

But, hey, I'm just glad this isn't a conservative site!

:pals:

[NewWaveChick1981]

41. Both pics are wonderful and show different sides of you.

:D :hi: You can be pasty or not pasty---you'll look just fine!

[Writer]

47. Hey... Mr. Writer saw this and he's bothered by it... can we lock this thread?

I don't want to upset him, so can we lock this thread please? Thank you! :hi:

[billyskank]

48. Alert on it

[Deja Q]

49. Your sauce, my meatballs... do you eat spaghetti?

:yoiks:



(BTW: Nobody is as pasty as I am)

[Call Me Wesley]

50. Locking.

At OP's request.

Call Me Wesley
DU Moderator