Throughout the novel The Flight of Gemma Hardy, we see Gemma make references to the make-up that other women around her wear. She pays careful attention to these smaller details and often remarks on them, especially when she’s young. When she is saying good-bye to her aunt, she describes her aunt as having “dark crumbs of make-up dott[ing] the creases around her eyes. Perhaps Veronica had lectured her too about her eyelashes” (Livesey 46). We get other hints about Gemma’s feelings around the commercial use of make-up through Gemma’s careful and critical look at the women around her. We see it especially as she remarks how it, along with their developing bodies and fashion, makes her cousins appear older than they are. It’s almost like Gemma is sad that with the power of make-up, her cousins are able to appear more mature, whereas she looks “plain” and young. 

However, once at Blackbird Hall, she is seen using mascara that she purchased from the Kirkwall department store. She applies mascara after she is called to speak to Mr. Sinclair, in preparation for looking put together for her employer. She remarks how she looks by saying, “I was surprised by how serious I looked, and how grown-up. I could easily be nineteen, I thought. Even older” (Livesey 178). The first commercial and widely available mascara to be invented came out in 1872 and was invented by Eugene Rimmel (Lachance Shandrow para 4). However, mascara and other make-up did not become more “mainstream” until the 1920s, when make-up “became a mark of wealth and status, and emphasizing physical features…”; make-up turned into more of a “necessity” that the everyday woman could indulge in (Matthias para 8). 

Knowing this, Gemma’s relationship and her use of make-up makes sense. Her aunt and cousins used make-up as a way to mark their maturity and wealth, the latter something Gemma didn’t have. However, now that she has been employed and must act older than her age, she indulges in mascara in order to enhance her appearance. We see Gemma go from someone who is critical of her aunt and cousins’ use of cosmetics, to someone who falls to the developing pressures of society and make-up becoming a necessity. Gemma applies mascara before meeting Mr. Sinclair in order to be respected and appear older and more serious to her employer. We see the values of society reflected in Gemma’s character as she moves between different classes and situations and adapts accordingly. 

Works Cited

Lachance Shandrow, Kim. “The Greasy, Glamorous Rise of Mascara.” Entrepreneur, 19 Nov. 2015, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/251978. Accessed 18 Feb. 2022.

Livesey, Margot. The Flight of Gemma Hardy. HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.

Matthias, Meg. "Why Did We Start Wearing Makeup?". Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/story/why-did-we-start-wearing-makeup. Accessed 18 February 2022.

Image Citation

“Rimmel French Volume Mascara.” The Maybelline Story, 16 July 2018, https://www.maybellinebook.com/2018/07/maybelline-was-first-mascara-in-a....