I used to peruse the makeup section every time I entered a pharmacy. The rows of products would stare at me when I walked in, glinting and sparkling, until I would give in and buy an unneeded new mascara or my bajillionth bottle of nail polish. I didn’t even wear makeup most days! But I… Continue Reading →
Would you really want to keep up with Kylie Jenner?
Last week on Cosmopolitan.com, assistant fashion and beauty editor Brooke Shunatona published an article in which she chronicled living like Kylie Jenner for a week (because who else would a successful, apparently functional adult want to live like?). After a week dealing with extraordinarily long nails, walking in extraordinarily high heels, and wearing an extraordinarily painful waist trainer that resembles… Continue Reading →
Powerful Pantene commercial sheds light on sexist labels
“Don’t let labels hold you back.” This is the slogan of a new Pantene campaign that encourages women to disregard negative sexist stereotypes and live their lives with confidence — and, if you’d prefer, awesome hair. However, “Be Strong and Shine” is no longer just an ode to Pantene hair products. The message is powerfully… Continue Reading →
Is cosmetic surgery a solution to bullying?
Nadia Ilse, a 14-year-old girl in Georgia, is attracting attention for getting cosmetic surgery to get bullies off her back. In an interview with ABC News, Nadia described the torment that school bullies put her through, calling her names like “Dumbo” or “elephant ears.” Unable to afford surgery, Nadia got it covered by the Little… Continue Reading →
About Face doc: Want to hate yourself? Try modeling.
“I don’t think there’s any 15-year-old girl that will turn down the chance to be called beautiful. You don’t realize at that point that you’re also going to get called ugly,” says Paulina Porizkova, talking about being discovered as a model, about halfway through the new documentary film About Face (no relation to this blog… Continue Reading →
Yo magazines: It’s time YOU went on a diet!
Somebody needs to go on a diet and it’s not us. It’s the media. Their current regimen? High in digitally deceptive additives (ahem, photoshop), low in nutrient rich reality and diversity. The cure? We want real. Not retouched. That is why About-Face is honored to join the frontline of the three-day social media Keep It… Continue Reading →
The “Yaeba” trend in Japan is not so different from American cosmetic trends
Orthodontia and the pursuit of correcting crooked choppers is big business here in the US and Western cultures. While certainly used for reasons other than aesthetics, the primary purpose for seeing an orthodontist is to correct a misaligned mouth. Historically, a straight smile was a status symbol, implying that those bearing braces or corrective devices… Continue Reading →
Is a breast-implant voucher a good gift for a 7 year old?
Recently, there seems to have been a spate of moms encouraging their daughters to have cosmetic procedures. First, there was “Botox Mom” Kerry Campbell, who claimed to have injected her 8-year-old daughter Britney’s face with Botox. Then, “Human Barbie” Sarah Burge gave her 7-year-old daughter Poppy a voucher to get breast implants once she turns 16. The… Continue Reading →
E! stoops to a new low with “Bridalplasty”
In the words of a dear friend, “What. The. F%$#!?” Seriously, how else could anyone react to the upcoming train wreck/sign of the apocalypse that is Bridalplasty? Just as I was about to reluctantly praise the executives at E! for handling the subject matter of What’s Eating You? with some tact, they began running promos… Continue Reading →