semi-professional face and hair toucher with a lot to say
Last year, I created a comprehensive, exhaustive list of all my favorite products of the decade. I know, sick and twisted. Well, clearly I have a lot of thoughts about things, and against my better judgement I'm doing it again this year.
We all know my thoughts on Lush. Suffice to say, I'm not a huge fan. But I'm well aware that boycotting a brand can be hard, especially a company like Lush which sorta fills the vegan self care niche. Let's be real though, we live in a time where there is just a boatload of cosmetic product being released almost daily. There's no excuse to shop Lush. Come on now.
2020 has been hellish to say the least. I don't think there's been a moment of time where I've sat down, read the news, and thought, "Oh. That's normal and fun!" And let me tell you, that amount of stress and exhaustion everyday for 12 months can really do a number on your body. Not just mask acne or hair thinning, but this year has done a number on our brains too.
Thanksgiving, pandemic fueled Internet-wide binge eating, and The Crown's portrayal of Princess Diana has brought up a lot of ~unrequited trauma~ in the past few months (big shocker there). I learned a lot this year about how people with healthy relationships with food function, which frankly is weird as hell, and I learned a lot about how they react to those of us without healthy relationships with food. I'm annoying and can't shut up about my opinions on my lived experiences so let's talk about how you can be a better advocate for your loved ones with disordered eating.
I swear to God, as soon as someone posted on TikTok that the EU bans 1,300 ingredients for cosmetic usage, it was all downhill from there. Let's get one thing straight before I really delve, though. I never took chemistry in high school. I'm an idiot, truly. But if nothing else, I'm dedicated to getting to the bottom of beauty drama so here we are.
I have a lot of dumb tattoos, I've made a lot of questionable makeup decisions, and I pierced my own nose in my high school bathroom at 17. So when we talk about "body art", I feel like I'm more of an abstract piece people see in the MoMA and wince at. Like, is it high quality? No. Can you compare it to the Mona Lisa? Probably not. I can get away with it, though, because art is subjective, and hey I'll drink to that.
Articles with titles like "How This Teen Made $18K Selling Her Pre-Loved Clothes!"seem to constantly float around the Internet lately. Almost every influencer has a side hustle selling the fits they wore once in an Instagram photoshoot. And on TikTok? Thousands of tutorial videos on how to turn XL clothes into cute little sets, or how to redesign Walmart jeans and then make them cute enough to sell for $45.
There's something almost too perfect about Glossier. The baby pink Instagram account, the dreamy aesthetics surrounding their pop-up and flagship stores, the sleek and often minimalist packaging...it's all so perfect for a brand who thrives on simply enhancing the natural beauty of their millennial clients.