NYT OPINION: Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and … Lip Gloss?
By Jessica Bennett
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 24, 2023 at 02:00AM
About the sickeningly sweet smell of Vanilla Birthday Cake that defined my late teenage years, slathered on so thick you had to be prepared to a) cover your mouth when you walked outdoors, lest the wind blow debris onto your sticky lips and b) constantly pick your own hair out of it.
About how we would pass this stuff around among girlfriends, each of us applying our germy lips to it, not a Covid care in the world: in the bathroom, in the back of the school bus, during first period, in the cafeteria, at school dances, driving to the mall or just standing by our lockers paging through YM.
About how, unlike lipstick, lip gloss didn’t require a mirror to put on, which made it a practical instrument for this communal act. You could smear it on while swapping chem notes or dishing about last night’s episode of “Dawson’s Creek” — in other words, while bonding. Even if your aim was slightly off and you ended up with a glossy cheek or chin, you could rely on your friend to let you know.
I’ve been thinking about lip gloss, and its subtle role in the complicated relationships of teenage girls, in light of the recent revelation of the Great Royal Lip Gloss Snub: Meghan Markle asking Kate Middleton to borrow some, and Kate recoiling.
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By Jessica Bennett
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: January 24, 2023 at 02:00AM
Hygienic? No. But a way teenage girls built connections during a tumultuous life stage? Yes.
I’ve been thinking, lately, about lip gloss.About the sickeningly sweet smell of Vanilla Birthday Cake that defined my late teenage years, slathered on so thick you had to be prepared to a) cover your mouth when you walked outdoors, lest the wind blow debris onto your sticky lips and b) constantly pick your own hair out of it.
About how we would pass this stuff around among girlfriends, each of us applying our germy lips to it, not a Covid care in the world: in the bathroom, in the back of the school bus, during first period, in the cafeteria, at school dances, driving to the mall or just standing by our lockers paging through YM.
About how, unlike lipstick, lip gloss didn’t require a mirror to put on, which made it a practical instrument for this communal act. You could smear it on while swapping chem notes or dishing about last night’s episode of “Dawson’s Creek” — in other words, while bonding. Even if your aim was slightly off and you ended up with a glossy cheek or chin, you could rely on your friend to let you know.
I’ve been thinking about lip gloss, and its subtle role in the complicated relationships of teenage girls, in light of the recent revelation of the Great Royal Lip Gloss Snub: Meghan Markle asking Kate Middleton to borrow some, and Kate recoiling.
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/opinion/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-lip-gloss.html
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