SUSANNA REID:
Sorry but I won’t be browbeaten
THanK goodness big, bushy eyebrows are fashionable. Mine are thick and dark, and the trend for a fuller brow meant that, as salons closed, I didn’t need to panic.
I need only a pair of tweezers for strays, a magnifying mirror and a firm pluck.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not plucking furious that eyebrow-threading, waxing and all the methods other women rely on for taming the caterpillars are still banned.
Kirstie allsopp joked she wouldn’t go back to work until her brows were sorted — but I suspect she doesn’t really find the situation all that funny.
not just that, but any other form of facial gardening, as one friend calls it, is off-limits. for people who’d like a facial — no chance. those who want upper-lip hair removal — still banned. no treatments that involve touching the face are allowed. unless, of course, you are a man, in which case you can nip to the barbers for a beard clip and — astonishingly — eyebrow trim.
talk about double standards. the Beauty guild, which represents 16,000 professionals, is up in arms about this ‘absurd’ situation, and so it should be.
while the government rightly throws its weight behind initiatives to get the economy moving again, why is it not supporting a massive, profitable industry — with impeccable hygiene standards, by the way — that just happens to be run, staffed and patronised mostly by women?
the answer, I’m convinced, is they just haven’t thought it through. why not? well, that’s a reflection of a broader problem — that women have mostly been shut out of Boris Johnson’s key decision-making bodies.
How would the predominantly male cabinet know that eyebrow threading takes place with the therapist standing safely behind the client’s head? that it’s patently no more risky than trimming a beard or eyebrow?
It’s sheer sexism. when tory
Mp william wragg asked in the commons when lush, a beauty salon in his constituency, could get back to business, he attracted schoolboy scoffs and giggles. the prime Minister made a joke about it. what other industry would get this reaction?
Mocking businesses which contribute nearly £30 billion to the uK economy each year — more than the car industry — is a very ugly look.
and this sexist attitude makes me question if other discriminatory decisions are made when there are only blokes around the top table.
perhaps this devaluing of the beauty industry is partly because we keep our treatments secret.
while men, particularly the prime Minister, make a virtue of looking unkempt, it is a different story for women. treatments are rarely mentioned. we like to look our best, but don’t like to make a fuss about having to spend ages in salons getting things done.
yet they are a huge part of our lives. I come in an hour earlier than piers each morning to ensure I look tv ready.
In a recent documentary, Hillary clinton admitted she spent a total of 25 days having her hair and make-up done for the 2016 presidential campaign. that’s 25 days the men didn’t have to set aside (though I can’t be sure president trump’s elaborate coiffure doesn’t take time).
there’s the glam we are happy to admit to — make-up and styling. and then there’s the behind the scenes stuff only our most trusted beauticians know about.
now those are the very people whose livelihoods are on the line, unless we speak up for them. I wouldn’t normally want to publicise having the unwanted hair on my legs lasered at great cost. But let me tell you it’s made getting ready for work, and for nights out, a lot easier.
But all this is important. when Kate garraway burst back on to good Morning Britain this week, she said: ‘If ever there’s a professional crisis, apply fake tan, put very long eyelashes on and go blonder.’
It’s our armour. she looked gorgeous and, once you look great, it goes a long way to helping you face the world.
the hair and make-up team at good Morning Britain is an allfemale gang. while I’ve tried my best to copy their professional efforts, dabbing dark eyeshadow on my sleepy lids at 4.30am will never match the expertise of Heather, Mel or teri.
It’s not shallow vanity. It’s a part of who I am, what I do – and how confident I feel.
It also represents thousands of livelihoods, businesses and taxes paid. that’s not to be scoffed at.