THE HOUSE OF BEAUTY

A feminist’s perspective on beauty.

In eight probing essays, Sicardi, a former beauty editor at BuzzFeed—she says she quit after a critical post she wrote was deleted by an editor—takes a hard look at an industry that “accommodates both the idea of agency regarding our bodies and the politics and expectations that bring us harm.” Drawing on sources that include interviews, NGO reports, court documents, drone footage, government publications, and WhatsApp group messages, Sicardi ranges widely to examine the connection of beauty to queer desire, social power, racism, transphobia, and exploitation. In India, for example, workers—including 20,000 children—toil in caves to excavate mica, a product that is ubiquitous in cosmetics. They earn 5 cents a kilo, starvation wages. Similarly, the cultivation of palm kernel oil, used to produce emulsifiers and surfactants in 70% of beauty products, has caused the decimation of land and communities by rapacious companies. Sicardi portrays the designer and perfumer Coco Chanel as a virulent antisemite with Nazi connections and exposes nail salon owners who exploit the Vietnamese women, mainly immigrants, who work for them. Of biracial (white-Asian) heritage, Sicardi reflects on how beauty standards affected her sense of identity: Growing up, she hoped her long, silky brunette hair would “racialize” her “into safety.” But when she came to school one day with a bowl cut, she found herself the butt of racial slurs. Because the beauty industry uses the climate crisis as a marketing opportunity, Sicardi cautions about a spate of “hot ticket PR terms” invented to convince consumers that companies are acting responsibly. For readers hoping to make informed decisions, Sicardi appends a list of organizations working to remedy systemic problems, build community, support marginalized groups, and educate consumers.

A biting critique.