“Daughter Does My Makeup” series questions beauty standards

Photographer Elly Heise is questioning the idealized beauty standards of modern society using the “Daughter Does My Makeup” photo project that consists of portraits of mothers whose make-up has been done by their daughters.

In today’s society there are some very hard to achieve beauty standards when it comes to both women and men. Regardless of where you are, at your job, shopping, or meeting with your friends, you always have to look your best, even though some things may make you feel uncomfortable.

Canadian photographer Elly Heise is aiming to question the society’s beauty standards for women, who are being pushed to meet ideal beauty standards or have been doing so since their teenage years.

The photo series is called “Daughter Does My Makeup” and it consists of portraits of mothers with make-up applied by their daughters.

Elly Heise questions beauty standards through “Daughter Does My Makeup” photo project

Looking at these photos and learning more about the story behind it, will turn into a thought-provoking task. As you can imagine, young girls cannot apply make-up professionally, so today’s society would define that make-up as a mess. However, this is exactly the point.

The daughters have been asked to make their moms pretty and to apply any make-up that they want. According to photographer Elly Heise, the girls have had the best opinion about “the messiest elements” of the make-up.

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, but adults may be to blame for teaching young girls what beauty is and to always meet these ideal standards. If the kids define messy make-up as beauty, then maybe we have been wrong the whole time.

The photographer says that women are “pressured” into presenting themselves in public “in a certain way”, but that way is impossible to be met at all times.

“#DaughterDoesMyMakeup” aiming to appeal to the “hashtag culture”

The name of the project is pretty straightforward – daughters do the make-up of their mothers. However, the photographer has added a twist. In fact, the name of the photo series is actually #DaughterDoesMyMakeup.

The hashtag is there to make the photo project more appealing to the younger generation, which is defined as the “hashtag culture”. Our youth are our future, so maybe they will be able to question the beauty standards and to think more about how they will raise their own children in regards to beauty.

Check out more details and photos at the artist’s official website.