The House of Beauty: Arabelle Sicardi exposes the dark

14 Aug

Beauty is terror. The pursuit of beauty can be terrorising. Flesh pulled back and cut open, bodies constricted, poison injected, hair burnt, skin bleached. Our biggest insecurities magnified, our natural bodies sold back to us for profit. The history of the industry is just as horrifying; tales of exploitation, discrimination, fascism, deforestation, unpaid child labour. When they were first conceiving of their debut book, The House of Beauty, Arabelle Sicardi turned to horror stories and haunted houses as a lens through which to navigate the world of beauty. “Horror houses are always alive; they’re actively trying to harm you. And that is ultimately how I also see the beauty industry. It’s something that understands your greatest fears and is able to...

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12 Apr

Goop horror: The new wave of literature skewering the

by Beauty Tips

Beauty, Featured

Goop horror: The new wave of literature skewering the

Body horror in The SubstanceGallery / 19 images In Sarah Wang’s debut novel New Skin, a Chinese immigrant mother in Los Angeles spends her benefit payments on backstreet cosmetic procedures. When things go catastrophically awry, her daughter discovers that some of the substances being illegally injected into faces would be more at home on building sites. Wang, who researched the novel partly through immersion in the American reality show Botched, which documents cosmetic surgery disasters, found the truth required little embellishment. She describes women who woke from surgery to find procedures had been performed on them without consent. Meanwhile, a surgeon whose practice consisted almost entirely of debriding flesh rotted by Brazilian butt lifts told her that most get botched. The UK, too,...

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3 Mar

Contained in the toxic tattoo industry: from Nazi symbols

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Beauty, Featured

Contained in the toxic tattoo industry: from Nazi symbols

TW: Sexual assault and accounts of racism Not for the primary time, the tattoo industry is being forced to reflect on behaviours which have gone unchecked for a lot too long. While some artists have come together to design cover-ups for transgender Harry Potter fans or raise money for top surgery, 2020 has similarly seen accusations of sexual assault, racism, and misogyny levelled at artists within the industry. Back in 2018, the tattoo industry faced a #MeToo movement following dozens of accusations of sexual misconduct made against Detroit-based tattoo artist Alex Boyko. Jezebel make clear the shortage of regulation within the tattoo industry and the sexual assault and misogynistic behaviour that artists had been left to get away with. This 12 months, with...

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7 Feb

Black Beauty Trend Predictions For 2025—According To Industry Experts

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Makeup, Featured

Black Beauty Trend Predictions For 2025—According To Industry Experts

Anthony Barboza / Getty Images Throughout history, Black beauty has been ahead of the trends. Think: XXL acrylic nails (now seen on Marc Jacobs) to minimalist makeup appropriated as a “clean girl aesthetic.” Meanwhile, much credit is left overdue. This 12 months, nevertheless, beauty’s aesthetic landscape has more to do with the long run of our beauty, quite than the unfair past. “While makeup and skincare will remain vital, the aesthetic category will likely outpace other beauty segments,” founding father of The Black Beauty Club Tomi Talabi tells ESSENCE, and Black women (and men) are first in line. With wellness on an uptick, biohacking, regenerative treatments, and taboo health practices are behind this 12 months’s biggest trend: living longer. Below, industry experts...

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