An impassioned argument in favor of natural skincare.
Tjam and Utsugi deliver an indictment of the skincare products industry.
The authors (Tjam, a PhD who has conducted pharmaceutical research, and Utsugi, an MD who has worked as an expert advisor to skincare companies) lobby for a different approach to skincare. Their claim that “skincare products will worsen your skin’s functionality and restorative abilities, despite their ability to temporarily make your skin appear to improve” is likely to cause consternation for many of those who use such products. The authors provide solid support for their position based on scientific research as well as anecdotal evidence. Tjam and Utsugi begin with a section that identifies what they believe to be baseless claims of skincare product companies wrapped in slick marketing. The sales numbers associated with such products are staggering, reaching $756 billion by 2026, according to a study cited by the authors. In addition, they assert that these companies operate with little meaningful oversight: “Skin and beauty companies are not only allowed to make their life-changing claims, but they are in charge of testing and providing proof of those claims. The conflict of interest here is blatantly clear.” The book is not merely a rant against the products these companies bring to market, however; it also offers a comprehensive, scientific overview of the skin’s structure, function, and health—and a method to revive it, which they call “skin sobering.” Co-author Tjam recounts her personal experience, reporting that this method helped her solve “20 out of 22” skin problems. Deceptively simple, the skin sobering method is thoroughly described in the book, and the authors advise it should be used in association with other good health practices, such as diet and exercise. The authors caution that skin sobering is neither magical nor miraculous as they continue to aggressively attack the claims made by purveyors of skincare products in their fight against “an ever-increasing epidemic of skin health and diseases.”
An impassioned argument in favor of natural skincare.Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781544538877
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Houndstooth Press
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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