The man with the tan

Even though we know that women in politics get more scrutiny of their looks, men are not exempt either. The man of the moment whose looks are being examined is House minority leader John Boehner. Even when the remarks are relatively positive, people just cannot stop talking about his tan. Often speculation about his skin color and its source are even more blatant.

Check out this montage of MSNBC coverage assembled by Politico:


His political opponents have even gone so far as to produce a widely-seen ad that sends the "founding fathers" to a tanning salon to look for him:


With all this discussion, I thought we should look at Boehner directly, in a CSPAN video of a recent speech in Ohio:

In this case, he doesn't look orange, which is the most frequent point of mockery. But his tan does bring his skin color really close to his hair color, and that low contrast is only emphasized by the high contrast between his black suit and white shirt and light tie.

Whenever you're doing makeup for television, you should remember that camera-ready products have a yellow base, because the camera reads skin tone in shades of red and blue. Self tanner, like some foundations, has a red base, so the camera reads the skin tone even redder, or essentially as orange. Self tanner works by creating a chemical reaction with the dead skin cells in the top layer of your skin. This is why you're warned to exfoliate first and avoid heels and elbows, which have thicker layers of dead cells - they would have more interaction with the tanning chemicals and come out darker. So self tanner is acting like makeup, creating a layer of color on top of the skin.

Tanning: Just don't do it.

Blanche Lincoln returns to the field

Senator Blanche Lincoln released another television ad shot in an Arkansas field, with a critical difference from the last one:

This time, we can't see her bra. Maybe she wore a nude color bra, as we suggested. Maybe this shirt is more opaque.  Maybe there was just more cloud cover the day they were shooting. Whatever the reason, we're no longer distracted by her underpinnings.

This ad isn't perfect either. The Senator would have benefited from a last minute check before the cameras started rolling, to smooth out her shirt in the front. I would have also recommended a makeup artist to apply some natural looking color to her lips and cheeks, and to do some additional grooming on her brows.

But at least this time we're listening to her words and not her wardrobe!

Too much of a good thing

Robin Carnahan released a new video last week in her run for Senate in Missouri. She wore purple:

Unfortunately, we see more of her shirt than we do of her face - the color is too saturated and a bit too dark for her, even in bright sunlight. It also somehow doesn't relate to her surroundings. Do you wear purple on a farm or a ranch usually? I would have recommended tan or light blue or even a warm green instead.

As she has a lot of color in her shirt, she doesn't have quite enough in her brows. Like many blondes, Ms. Carnahan would benefit from the strategic use of some brow powder in a shade selected specifically for blondes.

Outside, hairspray is your friend

Natural light makes us all look great, doesn't it? But when we venture outside for a chance at the sunlight, we also have some risks to contend with. One of those risks is wind. Michele Bachmann learned that the hard way in her National Day of Prayer message:

Rep. Bachmann's usual flip hairstyle certainly already involves some styling products to create. But this is one of those times when she should have made sure she had a last minute check on her look. A little hairspray applied at the part would have done the trick.

Nora Volkow discusses the Monitoring the Future Survey on drug abuse

Dr. Nora Volkow, who heads up the National Institute on Drug Abuse, went on camera to discuss the results of the Monitoring the Future Survey in 2009. She wore a taupe jacket:

We could talk about how Dr. Volkow would look better in some color, like a warm grass green. Or we could talk about how she has the opposite problem from Lisa P. Jackson - her brows are a bit under-groomed. But I would instead like to talk about a crucial step in dressing to go on camera: the last second check.

Presumably it goes without saying that when you know you're going on camera, you should take great care in getting dressed. But no matter how carefully you dressed in your bedroom or your office or the green room, you're not done until you take one more look in a mirror right before you go in front of the lens. If Dr. Volkow had done that, she would have noticed that her necklace is crooked and caught under her lapel, and that her hair is a little bit tangled on her forehead. It's also your chance to see lipstick on your teeth, bra straps peeking out and any other bits that can shift in the journey to the camera. It's not vain. It's absolutely necessary. These are small details that need to be fixed, but they're so distracting.

Loretta Sanchez on flu prevention

Representative Loretta Sanchez filmed a public service announcement on flu prevention for the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. She wore cream:

Shades of white are not usually recommended for television, and this clip show us why. Her jacket seems to glow a bit, appearing much brighter than her skin or her face. It also pops out the highlight color of her eyeshadow in a way that isn't intended. See how we end up looking above her eyes instead of at them? She would also benefit from some brow filler and less activity with the tweezers. A more even shape to her brows would bring our focus back to her eyes.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson on greenhouse gases

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson gave a press conference on greenhouse gases and climate change. She wore a silk blouse under her suit:

In general, I'm a great fan of pairing a silk blouse under a suit, even one with some sheen to it, like this one. But I think Ms. Jackson has a combination of wardrobe factors going on here that have conspired to create a look that is pretty, but perhaps not as professional as it could be. As I said, shiny silk is fine. A little bit of ruffle is fine. Together, probably still ok for the office, but not on the day you're giving a press conference.

There is a similar situation with her jewelry. Big hoop earrings (of good quality) are fine. A stylized cross is fine, on a rope instead of a chain, probably also acceptable at work, but not on camera.

Ms. Jackson has a great hairstyle. Very short looks can be work to maintain in terms of the frequency of the cut, especially when keeping your look consistent is important. In this video, I would guess that it was just cut, within a week or so, and probably looked even better a week or two after this. But short cuts can be great on women with straight hair and fuller faces. The very short bangs help keep this style looking current and youthful.

We know grooming is important, but there is such a thing as an over groomed eyebrow. Ms. Jackson might do well to back off the tweezers a little here and maybe even add some brow powder to her makeup bag.