Colour me beautiful

EVERY woman is beautiful and each has every right to feel and look that way.

But it is difficult to feel beautiful when you are working under the hot sun or doing house chores all day.

It takes a little nudge from budding make-up artist Zhou Wenjuan to turn women in a remote village in central China’s Hunan province into stunning goddesses, simply by applying make-up on them.

Zhou, from the rural Chaoyang village in Yongzhou city, left her birthplace for the Chinese capital to learn make-up techniques about a decade ago.

After brushing up her skills, she opened a beauty salon in Yongzhou.

In February, while she was stuck at the village due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Zhou noticed that the female villagers showed interest in her beautiful clothes and were curious about her colourful cosmetics.

“They talked about the cosmetics but were embarrassed to try, ” she said.

Zhou then decided to do a makeover for her grandmother, in a move to encourage other villagers to try on the make-up.

She discovered most of the women had dry and rough skin.

“I felt bad and realised that many women in the countryside hardly have time for themselves.

“They are busy with house chores or working under the hot sun on the farm all day long.

“Make-up is something they had never thought of so I decided to do something for them, ” she told local media.

When the women witnessed the transformation of Zhou’s grandmother, they got all excited to try on some make-up, too.

Zhou noticed the villagers would clean their faces thoroughly for fear they might dirty her cosmetics.

They also wore clothes they would normally wear only during festive occasions.

“I was very touched by this little gesture, ” she said, adding that she would take photos or videos for the villagers.

Zhou remembered that there was a middle aged woman who could not find a nice dress after searching through her cupboards and cabinets.

“She told me that all these years, she had only focused on her family and forgotten about herself.

“She said from now on, she has to start loving herself more and buy some nice clothes, ” added Zhou.

Among the dozens of bottles, tubes and boxes, there is one important item that Zhou will keep in her make-up bag – a mirror.

“There are very few mirrors in the village so I must bring one for them to see how beautiful they are after the transformation process, ” she said.

Over the past months, Zhou has done makeovers for more than 20 villagers.

One of them is Jiang Guohua.

Jiang said she had more confidence when she wore make-up.

“We live in the countryside and can’t compare with city folk but now I feel like I am not much different from them, ” she said with a smile.

Jiang was also inspired to replace a tooth she lost eight years ago.

“She did not bother about it before but after she saw her beautiful face now, she became more confident and wanted to look better, ” Zhou said on her behalf.

located about 20km from the nearest town, Chaoyang is a poor village with its inhabitants growing watermelons and ginger as well as farming pigs

Most of the men work in towns or cities to earn more income for their families.

Zhou said although the women were keen to try on the make-up, it was quite difficult for them to find the time to put it on.

“They go to the farm early in the day, return in the afternoon to cook for the family and get back to the farm after a short rest.

“Upon finishing the farm work, they still have to cook dinner and carry on with the house chores, ” she said.

Zhou has called on the people to care more for these “left-behind wives”, a term used to describe women who stayed back in the villages while their husbands worked in the cities and only returned occasionally or, worse, once a year.

“They have to take care of everything and go through hardships on their own.

“Years of hard work have caused them to lose confidence in their looks and appearance as well as the courage to take care of themselves.

“I hope these women will regain confidence, have the courage to show off their charms and live a beautiful life, ” she added.

Zhou’s work went viral on social media with netizens giving their thumbs-up when comparing the difference between the women.

“Every woman can be beautiful, too, ” said one of them.

“I’m happy for them, ” another added.

Zhou said the make-up process took about one-and-a-half hour for each woman.

“Tiring, but when I see the smile on their faces and the laughter that fills the air, it is all worthwhile.

“This is the most meaningful thing I have ever done in my life so far, ” she added.