Mi Yeon Song

I read my fourth Better Lives assignment, peer reviews, among which I chose Sungkyung Park’s post, which was interesting to see the views of a friend who took the same lecture, because she was in the same class as me. She even majors like the same class and hair make-up for fashion. So I had a similar flow to my thoughts. In particular, the selection of cosmetic brands and the focus on eco-friendly and opposition to animal testing were similar and interesting.

The Body Shop was also pursuing the same goal as Rush. I found this very interesting when talking about sustainability. The reason is that if I put more emphasis on animal protection in eco-friendly and animal protection, she puts more emphasis on environmental aspects. An eco-friendly survey at her cosmetic brand made me feel a lot. Not only did she feel that her investigation was deep in this part, but she also excelled in the delivery.

In particular, I mentioned, “In particular, microplastics in cosmetics, which have become a big issue these days, are known to have a big problem polluting the ocean. Scientists say beauty products containing plastic microbeads pollute water supplies, harm sea creatures and leave tiny particles in human food. This means that the environment and humans are connected.” this part, the fact that microplastics are also related to marine pollution, I agree with what we need to be more careful about because they are harmful to marine animals as well as marine pollution. In this part of marine pollution, it came as a surprise because it was something I didn’t recognize even when I was investigating. There are many cases of waste thrown into the ocean as well as cosmetics, and more importantly, various creatures living on the coast often eat microplastics that exist in deposits or rise to the surface of the water at high tide, mistaking them for food. In addition, microplastics have been reported in the digestive organs of marine mammals and fish so far, and the number of species has been continuously increasing. Living things that consume microplastics can be physically influenced by small particles. It is said that chemicals added to plastic synthesis can also cause secondary toxicity in biological fire extinguishers, and we think we should use force for all of this.

“I think I can also participate in the sustainability they seek and empower their movement by using these brands’ products. In regards to sustainability, many makeup artists’ makeup kits contain a variety of chemicals and disposable products. This can be an environmental hazard enough. We cannot avoid this situation, but I think we can reduce the damage to the environment by using substitutes.” Through this sentence, I really agree with her 100 percent and think she has the same idea as me. In my third blog, I also mentioned the same idea as her had. People with jobs that use a lot of cosmetics need particular attention. With each of us paying attention and increasing use of eco-friendly and animal protection brands, we can also feel the change in our future toward a better life. Of course, we can’t reduce our use by 100 percent right now, but with this knowledge, I think that a steady little practice and effort can make a difference.

This article gave me more information. It could also be interesting, and I think it was well reflected in the Better Lives theme, and I agree with all of her arguments.

I had a lot of opportunities to encounter drawing especially in this Better Lives class. Not only am I not confident in drawing, but I also did not practice well, but I think it was the most advanced time for me to learn drawing skills one step at a time from the beginning of this class so that I could easily start drawing without hesitation. And instead of just drawing, at the end, he expressed it as a picture through the materials he had researched so far, which also seems to have been a time to develop in the way he expressed it. 

In this Better Lives class, we did a brand research and then expressed it as a drawing. As I majored in hair and make-up for fashion, I researched the Cosmetics brand Rush. The reason is that the brand Rush is especially environmentally friendly and active in the field of animal rights. In this regard, I thought that the themes of Better Lives classes, social responsibility, diversity and sustainability, were similar to what Rush sought. I especially liked the opposition to animal testing and environmental policy in Rush. Therefore, I painted rabbit which means opposite to animal experiments and painted again by painting leaf shape which is the existing design which means eco-friendly material. In the past, rabbit shapes are mostly used in images that oppose animal testing. Rush also uses a rabbit image, which I tried to combine the previous image with other images of opposition to animal testing presented on Rush’s website. While researching the data, I learned the word “Cruelty -Free,” which means there is no abuse called “Cruelty – Free,” which means “no animal experiment” and “no animal food.” Animal rights movements are said to be used as a trademark to indicate that animal materials are not tested and that animal materials are not used. There are many products related to cosmetics and household goods that oppose animal testing, and most of them are rabbits, which are biologically similar to people, because rabbits are most commonly used in cosmetic experiments. Rabbits, in particular, are said to have less tears, so many eye-stimulating experiments are used. For these reasons, the theme of the brand’s expression has been chosen to be drawn with rabbits. Another design focused on being an eco-friendly brand. This is also the same leaf shape as before, which is more colored and changed in design, to express the nature that comes to mind as soon as people float eco-friendly. Usually, when we see something designed with leaves, we think of nature-friendly, pure, clean, etc. I wanted to focus on these words and express them.

As mentioned in Blog 2, I usually work with a lot of cosmetics due to the nature of my major, but I have never thought about social responsibility or environmental issues. However, Better Lives classes have become a turning point in protecting the environment and changing perceptions of sustainable things. If they were to produce results without such a preliminary survey, they would have only cared about visible areas such as simple design, shape and color. However, through the data research, the brands may not have known what they wanted to pursue, the environment for the future or the efforts for animals.

The Better Lives class I took this semester is a fashion illustration. During class, I first practiced collage and drawing, and then I had time to investigate designers and brands in earnest. As I majored in ‘Hair and make up for fashion’, I focused on beauty brands. Among many brands, we examined the Rush of the UK’s leading cosmetic brand. The brand Rush is especially environmentally friendly and active in the field of animal rights. In this regard, I thought that the themes of Better Lives classes, social responsibility, diversity and sustainability, were similar to what Rush sought.

In Rush, there are many positive features in sustainability, for example, replacing it with more eco-friendly oils using almonds or olive oil, not mineral oils, first in the environment. The second example is packaging. You can also see parts of sustainability in the environment when packaging, and Rush removes packaging when designing a product. About half of the products can be taken home without packaging. Selling only shampoo bars saves about 6 million plastic bottles worldwide. It also aims to use recycled materials if packaging is unavoidable, and reuse or composting old packaging materials. Also, Rush does not experiment with animals, nor does it use substances containing animal derivatives that are not suitable for vegetarians. They argue that people’s safety is important, but that they are responsible for ensuring it without using animals as much. I think it is everyone’s responsibility to take care of the environment that we can easily pass by. Rather than brands that produce products with huge animal testing or no thought of the environment at all, I think that if I pay more attention to brands that don’t do animal testing or think about the environment, it will be able to make positive changes and increase sustainability.

By investigating Rush like this, I was able to find other ideas in what I could see on a regular basis. Even if it’s not just a cosmetic brand, protests against animal testing, which can be easily seen in front of various brands on the street, come to mind. Before this class, if you thought of protesters who would have passed by without feeling anything, we need to pay more attention and understand the seriousness of the situation.

Due to the nature of my major, I usually work with a lot of cosmetics, but I have never thought about social responsibility or environmental issues. However, Better Lives classes have become a turning point in protecting the environment and changing perceptions of sustainable things. The changing perception itself will provide a wider range of perspectives on my work style in the future. Previously, if I only focused on pretty and good things or the results of your work, from now on, I will be able to think wider and deeper. I can make the results I want when I work in the future, but I can learn how to use and purchase products in a more sustainable and eco-friendly way. Also, I will be able to recognize the positive impact of the brand without simply thinking of it as a product.

As for fashion, I usually vaguely thought that fashion is just expressing myself, showing my personality. But through this lecture about Better Lives, I was able to think more deeply about fashion. Especially, I could think about Lorraine Gamman’s Empathy. In art or fashion, I usually start with ‘I’ when I’m inspired or working, and I realized it also has something to do with Empathy. The reason is that it is possible to be interested in something and inspired by something, and the act itself, only when it is “Empathy.” In general, people all have different diversity. But we recognize each other’s diversity and empathize with various things. Then we can balance out without being limited to a few. As a result, more consensus can help people work together to solve problems. For example, Hans Jorgen Wiberg is the inventor of the free app “Be My Eyes” (2015) that connects sighted people and blind people. There are roughly around 99,000 sighted people signed up willing to help and 8,000 blind people signed up seeking help. In the case of “Be My Eyes,” a free app that connects the visually impaired and the blind, it can also be seen as being created by empathy and involvement. The app allows them to find their way or get help in their daily lives. We can’t live without empathy in our lives. Through these Empathy things, one can empathize and understand one another more among people who have a lot of diversity in society. There are also so many things developed by empathy in fashion, and one of them is Hijab. Nike launched a hijab for Muslim women to wear wheel extract. Dolce & Gabbana and LMFW (London Modest Fashion Week) also launched collection. They empathized with women who had to wear hijab all the time because of religious influence and digested them into sportswear and fashion.  Also, Bezgraniz Couture hosted their show with people with various types of disabilities, and rather than promoting their products in Primark, they can understand each other and digest them in fashion, including selling products so that they can sympathize with each other by selecting people with disabilities as models. 

Focusing on these things, I think that society can develop more from mutual empathy, understanding experience, and empathy, and not only can the view of fashion be wider, but also help to become a better life that is balanced, not limited to a few such as religion or disability. Through this part, when I think or work on something, I think I will be able to get into things or the writer enough to see the work and better empathize with them. To empathize is to think that by understanding each other’s experiences, regardless of simple empathy, we can continue to create more and more diverse things through new ideas through it.