Links…late as usual.
I'm questioning this study that says the average woman will supposedly spend nearly a quarter million dollars on beauty maintenance during her lifetime. I don't think my spending will ever come close to that and I invest way more in beauty products and services than the average woman.
– Still, as pretty privilege is a very real thing, maybe it's true women funnel as much cash as the study claims into trying to look good in order to reap the rewards that being attractive brings. I'm glad this article was written because it always seemed to me that the "beautiful people" have a much easier time in life – turns out it's not my imagination.
– Unless you've been living under a rock you know that NARS (or rather its parent company Shiseido) has decided it will be sold in China, which means it loses its cruelty-free status as China mandates animal testing. It would be hypocritical of me to boycott NARS and get rid of all their products I have in the collection/my personal stash, but I will say just from a business perspective I don't think this is a wise decision. The industry is moving away from animal testing, not towards it – any cosmetics company that wants to remain competitive should be cruelty-free and/or vegan. What's almost as bad is NARS' response (or lack thereof) to the backlash.
– Here's a much happier confluence of animals and makeup to cleanse the palate.
– Macabre though it is, I enjoyed the Smithsonian's history of poisonous makeup. More fun, recent makeup history includes this round-up of the original home pages for online beauty stores.
– Oh, social media, what trends will you come up with next? The past couple weeks have given us sushi salmon hair (not sure how this is different than pink champagne or rose gold hair) and ocean hair. Meanwhile, the 100-layer craze is still making the rounds. We also have a manicure that goes nicely with the Museum's summer exhibition theme.
– Yet another item to add to the growing list of things not to insert into your lady parts. Seriously, WTF??
– I think this new perfume might be even weirder than the cat belly fragrance we saw in the last installment of Curator's Corner.
– Christmas in July: we got the scoop on Shu's holiday collection! I didn't play video games much as a kid, but Super Mario was one I definitely remember.
The random:
– In '90s nostalgia, Lilith Fair celebrated its 20th anniversary and Radiohead's OK Computer also turned 20. Plus, the triumphant return of '90s beverages continues with Zima.
– Loved this Vice piece highlighting a new documentary on professional mermaids. In related news, I was watching this recent episode of Viceland's States of Undress where I learned that Thailand is home to the world's highest rate of gender confirmation surgeries. This fact jogged my memory of reading about a mermaid cafe that had opened there a few weeks ago. Given the significance of mermaids for trans women, I'm not sure it's a coincidence. Pretty interesting, yes?
– I'm embarrassed to admit I still don't fully understand the concept of a podcast, but this new one sounds awesome.
– Play with your food: This pizza bikini is not a good idea for me, since I'd eat it and end up naked (although seriously, who the hell is going to pay $10k for that?!) More my speed are these adorable plushie cakes.
What's going on with you?