Beauty Industry Terms That Make Me Gag

Not "gagged."

I know that I don’t know what I don’t know. That’s why I like interviewing experts to learn more information that I wouldn’t have readily available through school or my job. It gives me insight to a variety of things in the beauty industry, from retail strategy to packaging decisions and so on.

People see me as an expert in some regard — if I appear on a show or podcast, the easiest way to label me is as an expert (god forbid they use my least-favorite term: “guru.”) But I have a hard time giving skincare advice the way I used to. Maybe it’s because I have learned so much since I first started and everything is more nuanced, that it’s overwhelming to hear “can you help me with my skincare routine?” And also, the space is oversaturated… do we really need another person explaining what niacinamide does? I’d rather spend my time explaining how people are becoming more and more media illiterate or the latest Bravo scandal.

Yet here I am: writing a newsletter about beauty, hosting a podcast about beauty, reporting on and making content about beauty. Hypocritical? Maybe. But everything I discuss publicly comes from the desire to help people wade through the bullshit in life, including the $500B beauty industry.

Despite the industry peddling lots of snake oil and misinformation, this newsletter is very much pro-beauty. Is big beauty taking hold of our biggest insecurities and commodifying them without true personal gains? In some cases, yeah. But there’s also many cases where brands, people, etc. are sharing legitimate helpful messaging, innovations or solutions to help you look and/or feel better. My personal stance is if mascara makes you happy, wear it. If a rhinoplasty is what you’ve been dreaming of, go for it. If it makes you happy because it gets you attention from others or because you personally like the way you look, the reason doesn’t really matter to me. It has to be something you’re okay living with regardless of the intention behind it.

I think it’s easier said than done to “stick it” to the male gaze. We’ve come a long way in terms of feminism, sure. But we still endure drama around beauty standards, and it typically comes from inside the house. What’s been most disappointing is when women attribute another woman’s choice about how she looks to the patriarchy, as if we can’t have our own agency to make our our decisions without retreating to what men want. I’m going to save this tangent for another newsletter, because this one is not about how we’ve lost the plot on feminism in regards to beauty.

It’s about the terms that turn me off when it comes to working in this industry, and how I use them as red flags — I don’t avoid them altogether, but they make me more critical than normal. Daily, I read emails from publicists about all the “revolutionary” products and brands on the market. I have to find a way to weed through what’s legit and what isn’t, and these terms will always give me pause. Maybe this will help you with your next beauty product purchase.

Medical-Grade Skincare