September 2024

Welcome to Beauty School, the corner of Dazed Beauty dedicated to learning. From guides to histories, that is where we make clear past subcultural movements and educate our readers on current trends and various goings-on. We’ve come a great distance since those sexist toothpaste ads from the 1950s. Or have we? While the blatant sexism may need gone, you’ll still see ads with impossibly unattainable beauty standards. Picture a model with chiselled movie star looks and a set of blindingly white teeth as symmetrical as a butterfly. Ah, that Colgate smile! The dominant image of perfect pearly whites hasn’t modified all that much in 70 years. Yet while you peer behind that façade you’ll observe an entire recent beauty landscape. Dental...