Unlike most social issues, homelessness reaches every corner of the Earth and forces you to consider your own life. Everyone knows about homelessness, the resources (or lack thereof) in certain areas, but little is known about homeless women’s everyday lives and how they are able to take care of themselves and maintain their beauty routines.
This first came to my attention after I was scrolling through the endless bouts of YouTube. I’m telling you, it’s a sinkhole no one can avoid. While I don’t usually watch those kinds of videos because they remind me of sad news stories, something made me click on them. And 10 minutes later, I knew I had to write my article about it. I saw these women’s faces light up as they got up from the chair, and knowing how it feels for me, I can only imagine how it would feel for them. Surveys have shown that half of all women feel more confident when they put on makeup.
For me, I almost always wear some kind of makeup or even jewelry to embellish my feminine side during my everyday life. Maybe I am girly, but it doesn’t matter—because it makes me happy and confident, and that’s the end of the story. However, after watching this video, I realized that this mundane routine was exponentially harder for homeless women. In an article, Lexy Lebsack phrases it perfectly: “It’s a missing piece to the puzzle of finding employment and housing, and avoiding discrimination when shopping or spending time in public places.” This appears to be even more pertinent when data suggests that between 40 to 60 percent of homeless people are employed. Makeup and basic self-care routines can help these individuals build their lives from the ground up again.
As one woman, Arien Williams, walks through a drug store for some makeup, she describes how she struggles to choose which kinds to get so she doesn’t waste her money on “anything.” In the span of two minutes, her face lights up with new eyeshadow on. For Arien, putting on makeup is a survival technique. Part of it is due to routine; she worked jobs where if you didn’t wear makeup, you stood out, so she jumped on the bandwagon. Now that she no longer works, she still believes that “a thin layer of eyeshadow keeps her connected to society.” Granted, Arien spoke about how she does not shop at Sephora but instead uses makeup dupes like college students might.
It can be insane how 15 short minutes can open your eyes up to issues you have never heard about. As housing prices continue to shoot up and wages remain dormant, homelessness is becoming a bigger problem each and every year. Luckily for the women on Skid Row and Los Angeles’s outskirts, Shirley Raines is aiding those women as they take back their power.
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