mybodyintakeismusic:

The Brown Eyed Girls are back with their new single, Cleansing Cream, the title song for their latest repackaged album. Our very own Subi recently wrote a fantastic article discussing her interpretation of the music video, as well as the idea that makeup is used as a symbol of transition into womanhood:

“From the outstanding outfit, the magnificent make up, and the absolutely appealing appearance, every female goes through a point in her life where she picks the clothes, the hair, the make up that draws a mask over who you are and presents you the way you wish, the way you desire.”

Like Subi, I also believe that the girl and the woman in the music video are one and the same. However, after reading through the translated lyrics, it occurred to me that the song is actually about the aftermath of a break-up, and how a woman struggles to move on with her life without her lover. Instead of the two main characters being coexisting older and younger versions herself, my interpretation is that the two split personas actually have the same physical age, but are at varying levels of maturity in relation to love.

The woman in makeup puts on a strong exterior image after the break-up. If you notice, she’s actively trying to ignore the ‘memory’ of the man in the room. She sleeps while turned away from him on the bed, puts on makeup in her room while ignoring his presence behind her (although she can see him in her mirror), and doesn’t talk to him at the table. Meanwhile, the girl is actually the woman on the inside (or underneath all the makeup), emotionally confused, and groping blindly around for any feeling from the past to anchor herself to the only world she knows: a world with the man still in her life. She reaches out to touch his face while he sleeps, reaches out to touch him as he sits in the room reading the newspaper, and if she isn’t able to locate him, she sits in the closet smelling his clothes.

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(via rinettepetite-deactivated201201)