漢語中有一句老話：“女為悅己者容”。這“容”字，意味著主動性——畫眉點唇，即所謂化妝者是也（化妝需要化妝品，“化妝品” 譯成英語，乃"cosmetic(s)”，請看：
1. cosmetic... n usu . pl a preparation such as a face-cream, body powder, etc. intended to make the skin or hair more beautiful:. . .
                                                                           —LDCK
2. cosmetic (lit) : a preparation that is intended to beautify the skin, covering blemishes and giving a superficial appearance of beauty
                                            —The Study of Current English , July 1976, p. 51
除了名詞之外，還有形容詞：

3. cosmetic adj . 1 . of, related to. or causing increased beauty of the skin or hair
不論是名詞還是形容詞，cosmetic(s)都可用于轉義。以名詞而論，如“street cosmetics”就是“市容”的天然英譯：

4. We have to react to complaints, but it's only street cosmetics .
                                                        —The Atlantic , January 1977, p. 32

5. Frank is not worried about issues of public morality or street cosmetics, but he had hoped his plan would deal with legitimate nuisance complaints...
                                                        —The Atlantic , January 1977, p. 34
當然，如果還要“緊扣”，不妨把“市容”譯作“city cosmetics”。 據LDCE的注釋，用于轉義的形容詞“cosmetic”且含有貶義：

6. So far the“renovations” have been mostly cosmetic .
                                                                  —Newsweek, August 15, 1983
7. cosmetic ... adj . . . 2 derog dealing only with the noticeable part of a matter or difficulty; intended To hide something bad

8. …Reagan... told a White House press conference, "What we want to be on guard for is having a cosmetic change in which they replace martial law with equally onerous regulations."
                                                                  —Time, August 1, 1983, p. 8