Tribulations of the Job

Think modeling is all fun, games and free clothes? Take a look at these backstage makeup and hair pictures from this past season and you might change your mind. They are simultaneously hilarious and horrifying. Hilarious in the way they can capture certain comical moments, expressions and situations.

Horrifying in the violation of personal space and feeling of irritation they can evoke.

Ok, maybe it's just horrifying to me (I'm sure many people would revel in this kind of "pampering" and attention) since I value my personal space a lot, so seeing some of these pictures makes me cringe. I doubt those hair stylist are super gentle when they've only got 15 minutes to get the job done. Not to mention that people coming at my face with pointed objects would most definitely freak me out.

But it's all just part of the job, right? As a model you learn to deal with it in different ways. Maybe you listen to music.

Or you talk to the person next to you.

Or maybe you just try to relax and zone out.

Sometimes you begrudgingly concede and accept the situation at hand.

And then again, sometimes it's all just too much and you simply want to curl up and protect yourself from the onslaught.

Even though they really do make me cringe sometimes, I love seeing these types of pics precisely because they're illustrative and evoke so much feeling.

You can really imagine the frenzy surrounding a girl the second she arrives to a show, especially if she's coming from another one. You can visualize the small army of people waiting to tackle her and wipe her completely clean of her previous look, only to do her back up again. It's a panoply of hands pulling on that, tugging on this, taking that off, putting that on. And many girls go through the process multiple times a day. That's layers of makeup being put on and rubbed off. Pounds of hair product being applied and washed away.

This is probably one of the few times when I'll say that models aren't like the rest of us. Yes, they're human, but the majority of them also have wonderful genes giving them abnormally great skin and hair. And that explains why they look so radiant off-duty despite the constant wear and tear their faces and hair go through during show season. That explains why they can still have flawless, zit-free skin and light, flowy hair at the end of the day. Well, that and moisturizer...lots and lots of moisturizer.

Image Credits: chloe, corbis, dazeddigital, eastnews, elle, elle,fr, elle.it, elle.ru, style.it. zimbio