Beauty Blogosphere 5.24.13

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Procter & Gamble goes back to its Satanic roots, the real-life Barbie Dream House, Sharpie eyeliner, and more.
What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... Lashing out: Finally, the beauty industry has listened to what the common woman has been saying for ages: Why are we forced to use those hulking mascara wands made for our upper lashes on our delicate, Thumbelina-like bottom lashes? Never fear! Bottom lash mascara wands are here! (Thanks for the link/absurdity, Lindsay.) ...To Toe... You ask, Yahoo answers: "Could I ask her to make the pedicure tickle as much as possible?"...And Everything In Between: As of press time, P&G was up .666 percent on the NYSE.   The devil wears Pantene: Procter & Gamble renews its allegiance to Beezlebub. New board members include Lucifer, Angel of Light, King of Babylon, Son of Perdition, Satan, Great Dragon, Author of All Sin, Enemy of Righteousness, and some dude named Rick. Wait wait wait: Ted Nugent's… Read More...

Do Lipstick Feminists Actually Exist?

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Yes, yes, you're a feminist who wears lipstick. But would you call yourself a lipstick feminist, or is she made of straw?
  FEMINISM.     I’ve written five beginnings to what I intended to be a mini treatise on “lipstick feminism,” but I keep running into the same problem: It doesn't seem to actually exist. Sure, there’s a handful of Twitter accounts with “lipstick feminist” in the handle or description (some of which seem fab); there’s the odd blog with the same, or the stray essay about Why Lipstick Feminism Is Fine. But we’re talking about single-digit numbers in each medium here, folks. And as for offline lipstick feminists? I have yet to meet a single one.   Now, don’t get me wrong: I’ve met plenty of feminists who wear lipstick. (It will probably not shock you to learn that this blogger indeed is one of them, both literally—lipstick corollary, yo!—and figuratively, as in, duh, look at this blog.) In fact, when I… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 5.17.13

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Cleopatra's lipstick tips, Bro-sie the Riveter, how to shoplift from Sephora, and Amanda Bynes, Selfie Heroine. And fine, kittens.
Congratulations to commenter #2, Cynthia, winner of last week's giveaway of Kjerstin Gruys' Mirror Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body by Not Looking at It for a Year! Thanks to all who entered. What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. Photos by Stephanie Chunoo and Tabitha Poeze From Head... Getting lippy: Love this roundup of lipstick trivia, culled from our race's 5,000 years with the stuff. My personal favorite: Cleopatra followed the "lipstick corollary." (Which, btw, hasn't failed me yet.)   ...To Toe... Strays: The best essay about socks you'll ever read.     ...And Everything In Between: Boxed in: "Beauty box" services like Birchbox are proving to be in it for the long-term in North America and Europe. Is it sustainable in markets with developing internet infrastructure and a lower per capita income?   Oh, the irony: What does the toxicity-conscious makeup… Read More...

Guest Post: Mother's Day

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"While it wasn't only the teens who were questioning authority in the '60s, we teens were in the fashion and styling vanguard—or so we thought."
What, y'all don't put your mother to work on Mother's Day by asking her for 1,000 words on beauty, stat? Enjoy today's guest post from Deborah Whitefield, my mother. "When my hair finally turns gray, my first inclination will be to color it some color unknown to my 16-year-old self." Or: How my mother will wind up with kelly green hair circa 2023. Remember those quizzes in magazines which will reveal something about yourself when you tally your answers? Some were about your personality type, some about what type of boys will like you (or vice versa), and so on. I wonder if a quiz couldn’t be created for how we modify our looks. For instance, “What Does Your Head Tell the World?” Questions would ask readers about where they apply makeup (outlining eyes and lips? lips only? foundation?), what they apply… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 5.9.13

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Hair color history—and the end of gray hair—underwear week 2013, and perfume to "shatter traditional notions of gender."
What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between.   Gentlemen didn't always prefer blondes. From Head... "Let me live it as a blonde": Loved this podcast looking at the origins of hair-color stereotyping—including a question I've had for some time about why "gingers" are harassed in some regions. ...To Toe... Fishy business: Live in California? No fish pedicures for you! ...And Everything In Between: "Faded significantly": Lancome is being sued for false advertising, given that its "24-hour" foundation doesn't actually last 24 hours. (And talk about what, for me, is a buried lede: Applying makeup is considered "creative work" and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath.) Avon's Eire: Avon pulled out of Ireland a couple of weeks ago in a cost-cutting measure—much to the surprise of the hundreds of representatives in the country. P&G rundown: Five things to be learned from Procter & Gamble's annual… Read More...

Mirror Binge

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"Mirror fasting" led me to believe that what we see in the mirror isn't how we look, but how we feel. Mirror binging showed me it wasn't quite so easy.
I'm terrifically excited for Kjerstin Gruys' literary debut, Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body After Not Looking at It for a Year—which, for the record, is fantastic (and which you have a chance to win; scroll down)—so when she did a shoutout for bloggers to follow in her footsteps and go a day without looking in the mirror, of course I wanted to participate. But as longtime readers of this blog may remember, I've already taken a month-long break from mirrors—twice—and honestly, I didn't think I'd get much more out of abstaining from my reflection for a day.   So instead, I took a different route: Instead of refusing my reflection, I'd take it in mindfully. Every time I looked in the mirror on the chosen day, I took note of my first reaction to what I saw, and… Read More...

Dove "Real Beauty" Redux

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The Dove Real Beauty campaign exploits women's self-esteem for its own purposes. That is: It's doing exactly the same thing as the ads it claims to be so different from.
  I call retouching on dove. I’m fascinated by the continued coverage of the most recent video in the Dove Real Beauty Campaign arsenal. Though much of the coverage has been critical, its very discussion shows how effective the campaign has been—and how ready women are for a new conversation about beauty, one that doesn’t rest on the belief that we don’t like the way we look. I’ve heard from several readers who have pointed out that whatever quibblings I might have with the Dove campaign, the fact is that it’s better for women than traditional advertising, specifically the type that relies on sexist tropes. I agree: At the end of the day, if I had to choose between Dove’s “BFF marketing” style and the rest of ’em, I’d choose Dove. (And I’ll readily point out that the sketch artist ad “worked” on… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 4.26.13

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The United States Senate's greatest hair threat, roadside pedicures, the gray cosmetics market, and Mitt Romney-colored nail polish.
What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between.   From Head... Hair sculpture: I knew about Hair Wars, but I didn't know how extreme they'd become. Actually, these are so fantastic that they qualify as X-Treme, oui?     ...To Toe... Curbed: The roadside pedicures that appear to be the norm in Lagos, Nigeria.     ...And Everything In Between: Left: Procter & Gamble promotes My Black Is Beautiful. Right: Procter & Gamble sells skin-whitening cream. Surprise! Two-faced: Jenna Sauers at Jezebel puts a fine point on the problem with the Procter & Gamble-sponsored documentary My Black Is Beautiful, "a celebration of African American beauty" directed by two rising black directors and featuring interviews with the wonderful Melissa Harris-Perry: It questions the standards placed upon black women, including the idea that lighter skin is preferable, while selling skin-whitening creams. Sorta puts the… Read More...

Guest Post: Gone Swimmin'—African American Women and Hair

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Combine the stereotype about how black folks don't swim with the stereotype of women being obsessed with their hair, and we've got a problem.
One of the best things about blogging is "meeting" readers via comments, particularly those who can illuminate aspects of beauty that I haven't dealt with firsthand. So when Mary Elizabeth left a lengthy comment on my post about neck hair and joked about how she was now basically guest contributing, I happily took her up on it! Mary is a portrait artist and maybe a little bit of a wannabe writer currently residing in Cleveland, Ohio. Check out her art blog at Mary-Elizabeth.net.  Olympic bronze medalist Lia Neal might be surprised to learn that African Americans don't swim. I grew up on an island in Florida but I didn't learn to swim until I was 12. According to USA Swimming this isn't unusual for African Americans. I first learned this tidbit while working as a summer camp counselor; it was part of our training, which… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 4.19.13

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Barbie sans makeup, the cosmetics kit for curing eye chlamydia, Gaza hair rebels, and nipple tattoos.
What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. Barbies: They're just like us! From Head... Life is plastic: The newest celebrity to be spotted without makeup: Barbie. (Thanks to Circe for the link!)     ...To Toe... Sweet feet: Here's your head start for next Valentine's Day: Chocolate high heels. (Thanks for the link, Kari!)     ...And Everything In Between: Let's get regular: With all the talk in various states of deregulating the beauty industry—but with 94% of voters supporting the licensing of beauty professionals (according to an industry poll, but still)—it's worth a moment to look at this state-by-state "heat map" of deregulation threats.   Big business: The growing middle class in developing economies has various implications for beauty companies: Here's a Q&A with the founder of one of Kenya's first domestic cosmetics companies—and a news piece that shows what local business is up against,… Read More...

One Narrative Fits All

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In the branded content from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, we find a template for women's relationship with beauty that's just as rigid as the standard it's challenging.
A few years ago, the Mad Men marketing team came up with the ingenious idea of building a tool that allowed you to create your own personalized Mad Men–style avatar. And once we found out about it, a good friend and I came up with the ingenious idea of making avatars of each other, along with avatars of ourselves, and then comparing the results. Here are—re-created from loose memory—the avatars of my friend. On the left, the one she designed of herself. On the right, the one I designed of her.   ^^How my friend "drew" herself // How I "drew" my friend ^^   Notice anything different? I thought of our avatar exchange when I first heard about the most recent arm of Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, i.e. the campaign that brought us those billboards several years ago of “real women” modeling for Dove, and… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 4.12.13

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The world's most beauty-based art collection, Barbie shrines, Lizzie Wurtzel's beauty tips, and more.
What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. From Head... What did the blonde say in 1775?: Meet Rosalie Duthe, the original "dumb blonde." ...To Toe... Beware the pedicurist: After seven weeks of trial, a pedicurist at a salon in Guam was found guilty of criminal sexual conduct after inappropriately touching a client who'd fallen asleep during her pedicure. ...And Everything In Between: Fruit Dish and Glass, George Braque, 1912—the very first Cubist paper collage ever created. Leonard A. Lauder collection. Beauty in art: Leonard Lauder, son of Estee and former CEO of the company that bears his mother's name, pledged 78 works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scribblings from folks like Picasso, Léger, Braque, and more constitute one of the most valuable gifts ever made to the Met—and comprise about 13% of Lauder's personal fortune.   Public… Read More...

Bookin' It

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 A piece of news that I'm excited about, personally and professionally: I'll be spending the next year writing a book on beauty, to be published…
 A piece of news that I'm excited about, personally and professionally: I'll be spending the next year writing a book on beauty, to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2015. Writing a book has been a longtime goal of mine, and writing this book—a comprehensive "where are we now?" survey of women (and men!) and beauty culture today, and the ways we use appearance to navigate the world—is a challenge I'm eager to take on. If you're reading this blog, you have my gratitude. Without the comments, feedback, and idea exchanges that have come my way through The Beheld, I wouldn't have had the faith that there was an audience for a book. Because readers have been so gracious in sharing their own stories with me—in comments, e-mails, and various social media outlets—I've learned so much about one of the major… Read More...

On POTUS's Benign Sexism

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The act of observation changes that which is being observed. Which, when you're the attorney general of California, is problematic.
I wasn't going to comment on President Obama's "best-looking attorney general" comment directed toward Kamala Harris, figuring that everyone else on the internet would do so (and heaven forbid there be redundancy on the internet!), but at the gym a debate about it came onto the little TV screen and something caught my eye: The defenses of the comment were along the lines of, It was a joke, or it was a compliment, or they've worked together for years, they're friends, for chrissakes, or But Obama is an advocate for women. The specifics varied, but the essence was: Obama is on women's side, particularly this woman's side, so why is anyone up in arms about this?   What that line of questioning ignores is what actually happens in the anatomy of a compliment. It takes for granted that if you're saying something nice, it can't be sexist, or at… Read More...

Beauty Blogosphere 4.5.13

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Beard braids, Blue Screen of Death nail polish, the neo-Nazi Estee Lauder boycott, and more.
Since I'm only now beginning to acknowledge the reality that Google Reader is disappearing—it took me six years to deal with Prescriptives discontinuing their concealer pencil, so this is swift for me—I've also taken a good look at my blog feed and have realized it could use a renewal. I love being able to direct you to so many blogs I adore, and I'll keep doing so, but let's reverse the information flow for a bit. What blogs or news sources do you turn to for sharp, insightful takes on beauty, fashion, femininity, feminism, social criticism, or anything else that might be relevant to The Beheld?  What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between. Spotted on Princess Beatrice. From Head... Kale humor: Kale fascinator! I don't care if this was an April Fool's joke, I'm in.… Read More...

Wearing Stigma

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Playing by the fashion rules means you've won the game of stigma management.
Yes, there's actually a board game called Fashion Rules.   I’ve been thinking a lot about this Sociological Images post on managing stigma in the weeks since I first read it. I was struck by an anecdote it relates from journalist Brent Staples, a 6’2” black man, on why he started whistling classical tunes when walking down the street at night: “Virtually everybody seems to sense that a mugger wouldn’t be warbling bright, sunny selections from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.” It provoked an instant sympathy—I sometimes find myself whistling without realizing I’ve started doing so, a habit I picked up from my father (who, like me, looks white), and the thought of using it as a tool of “I’m OK, you’re OK” sent a small stab through me. But sympathy wasn’t necessarily the idea Lisa Wade was pursuing here; instead, she was writing of… Read More...