Thursday, August 25, 2011

Beauty Blogosphere 8.25.11

Hurricane Irene has mandated that this week's links are essentially blogless and totally image-less, as I'd been saving up my blog reading for the tail end of my vacation reading—and then I went and gone done evacuated! I'm looking forward to catching up on blog reading and will include this week's bloggy goods—which I'm certain will be as high-quality as ever—next week when I'm not FLEEING THE JERSEY SHORE IN A MAD PANIC. (Okay, more like a gentle flow, but still.)

What's going on in beauty this week, from head to toe and everything in between.

From Head... 

Beauty entrepreneurs: One of the things I love about the beauty industry is that it's long been an opportunity for women to develop independent businesses—from Madame CJ Walker to Avon, there's a lot of ladypower in the industry. Excited to see the UK's Nadia Gani join the list with her own line of halal cosmetics, which use neither alcohol nor animal extracts to comply with Muslim guidelines.

...To Toe...

The real conservative debate: Gwen Stefani's son got a mani-pedi. (Freakout!) But it was a red, white, and blue mani-pedi to match his adoration of Captain America. (Patriotism!) What to do, what to do?

...And Everything In Between:
 
Estee Lauder CFO to step down: Richard Kunes, who has been with the company since 1986, been CFO since 2000, and has guided the company through considerable growth, will step down in 2012 to work on special projects for a year before presumably retiring.

Manumission: Maybe it's easier for me to laugh at slogans for men's skin care lines because they're relatively new and so they haven't had a chance to become normalized. Manumission is battling FaceLube for the worst men's skin care line, but ultimately wins because of its slogan: "Skin Care for Men Who Get It Done." It? Like, exfoliation? In any case, Manumission developer Dan Ostrower tested products on Ultimate Fighters, wrestlers, commercial fishers, military members in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Larry the Cable Guy. 

I don't think it's the model who's uncivilized here, Nivea: Brava to the blogger who called attention to this horrifying Nivea ad that basically calls black men savages. Nivea pulled the ad quickly, but I honestly can't figure out how it got greenlit in the first place. 

No Lush for oil: The group Ethical Oil is pointing fingers at Lush for its campaign against Canadian and Texan oil practices while maintaining stores in Saudi Arabia, which has a questionable human rights record and happens to own hella oil. Last week both Nivea and Lush were accused of anti-Semitic practices. What's going on, peeps? 

Desire and aging: The wonderful Alison Garwood-Jones, a Canadian writer, has a nice piece about desire and aging in this issue of Homemakers magazine. It's worth a read even if you're not yet Of a Certain Age, and also worth a read if you're an American reader of American women's magazines, because honestly? You would never see this sentence in a mainstream American ladymag: "The medicalization of female desire by drug companies hasn't been good for women's confidence in the bedroom." 

Style story: Fantastic essay on why style choices matter, weaving in the dismissal of "feminine values" in matters of Serious Import, breaking rules, and telling your own story. I could care less about fashion, but essays like this remind me why I care about style. (via Decoding Dress) 

How Anthony Bourdain Will Kick Your Eating Disorder's Ass: Eden Eats Everything makes an unlikely case with utter success. 

Mirror-free weekend: I can picture Kjerstin Gruys and myself chanting "One of us! One of us!" to Virginia Sole-Smith, who went mirrorless for a weekend and wrote it up over at Never Say Diet.

5 comments:

  1. How Anthony Bourdain Will Kick Your Eating Disorder's Ass

    Unless you happen to internalize the fatphobic comments he's made at other times. My own eating patterns are probably borderline (i.e., the physical activities are basically healthy; the psychological baggage is often not), but I can say he's done neither my ass nor my psyche any favors this week. ;)

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  2. I want to add to your linkfest :) Did you know that apples are quintessentially autumn? It says so right here: http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2011/8/26/mollys-sketchbook-apple-coasters.html So you have to be an apple after all :P

    On a more serious note:
    Thank you for giving me lots and lots to think about. I enjoy this blog, and it's made me more aware about a lot of issues I have myself, or that are more on a society level. Also, links! So tempting, and so dangerously interesting to spend lots and lots of time on.

    I came here from "Before you were hot." (http://www.beforeyouwerehot.com/2011/05/autumn-fuzzy-triangle.html) by the way, and was completely intrigued by your month without mirrors.

    Oh, and since I'm already talking about myself: I'm 28, atheist with christian parents, married, have a 4 year old daughter. I'm a Norwegian living in Norway, I lived in Cameroon, Africa from age 9 to 15 and I'm interested in ... everything.

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  3. Tori, aiaiaiai! I hadn't known that. (Heh, I just referenced Dances With Fat with you but didn't read that post.) That's pretty gross, I gotta say. But really, who in this country could POSSIBLY be more dangerous than Paula Deen? Can't think of a single ladyhatin' elected official who is, or violent criminals, or...

    Martha Joy, I knew I was an apple somewhere! And I'm so glad to "meet" you--I remember corresponding with you about "mandals," and you were gracious in sharing your thoughts about sexism in the Norwegian language. I love your name, by the way--I don't know if it's a pseudonym or your real name, but together Martha and Joy just sound lovely!

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