Srinagar, Aug. 19 -- By Mohammad Ilyas Bhat

A few days ago, at a friend's house, I counted more than thirty empty makeup boxes piled near the gate.

Different brands and shades were discarded within what must have been a matter of weeks.

I stood there longer than I meant to, doing the math on what those boxes must have cost, and a question settled in that I have not been able to shake since: has beauty itself become just another consumer product, manufactured and sold the way soap or shampoo is sold?

Kashmir did not always look like this.

Before the 1990s, elaborate makeup was generally frowned upon here. Lipstick, worn on an ordinary day, invited disapproval rather than admiration.

Even brides, on the most significant day of their l...