Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 7 – Beauty Community Toxicity

Unless you’re truly a hermit, you’re probably a member of a handful of communities. Maybe it’s your neighborhood, your kid’s school, or a hobby you have. Unfortunately, as communities grow, the risk for toxic behavior increases. Either infighting starts or bad apples from the outside wriggle their way in and start causing discord. Some, like the gaming community or some political groups, are more apparent than others.

The Toxicity is Unbelievably Disheartening

In the beauty community, it is largely passive-aggressive, catty bullshit that, theoretically, most people in the community should be old enough to have moved beyond having time for. Then, occasionally, you have outsiders decide to bring their own baggage and horrible behavior along with them.

Now, Twitter is a microcosm all on its own – but I saw this account of such nastiness in January and was just flabbergasted:

toxicity

The thing of it is that I’ve seen toxic commentary like this in response to makeup looks or videos. It isn’t just one girl’s account; it is indicative of beauty community toxicity, and perhaps societal toxicity as a whole. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the hateful vitriol on Guru Gossip. Ladies, it is possible to be critical and skeptical of a content creator without being so nasty.

WTF

I don’t have a ton to say other than it is disappointing as hell that some people out there just have to be miserable over makeup. To me, makeup and beauty should be fun, expressive, and lighthearted. If you’ve spent any time in the beauty community in the past few years though, you know it is anything but. It seems to me that if a topic brings you so much angst that you need to threaten violence over fake freckles, you need to step back and reevaluate your life.

Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 6 – Beauty Gurus & Vitamins

I’ve followed Nikki over at Lipstick Latitude for a long time, now. Her recent post about gurus playing doctor really hit the nail on the head. I was inspired to expand upon the topic.

Credentials

I don’t follow Tati/GlamLifeGuru. Her content never appealed to me, but that is neither here nor there. The reality is that most beauty content creators are not qualified to dispense medical advice. I’ve talked about my use and discontinuation/reduction in use of Biotin before, but I make it abundantly clear that I am not a medical professional. I cannot educate you in health-related choices! So – all changes of the supplementary nature should be reviewed with a qualified medical professional even if your BFF or mom endorses the hell out of ’em.

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Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 5 – Simplehuman Wide-Angle Mirror

Tiny apartment life means no room for a vanity. It also means that the sink and bathroom counter are very small and that the mirror sucks. So I, like many other women, have a foldable lighted makeup mirror. I own the older version of this one from Jerdon that rotates to a magnifying mirror. It has an AC Adapter in the front so you plug in any powered skincare tools or hair tools you’d like to use in front of a mirror. Instagram fodder? Not really – but it gets the job done and that’s what I need.

 

A Little Chic, A Lot of Cash

Simplehuman, however, makes mirrors for folks who want their makeup mirror to double as a photo prop. This eight-inch lighted mirror of theirs costs $180 and is already enough to make my eyes bulge out of my head like a Looney Toons character. It’s prettier than what I use, for sure – but it is smaller, single-paned, etc. Similar models with a few other bells and whistles (including WiFi – WTF?) run up to $250. A mirror does not need to be network connected!

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Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 4 – Racist Nail Polish Names

Racist Nail Polish Names - Wycon

You know, there’s a first time for everything. Even, apparently, slurs being used in racist nail polish names.

Pioneering Ignorance and Stupidity

Italian cosmetics company Wycon thought it would be smart to name some products based on songs. That would have been fine if just one person in their entire organization recognized that, “Thick as a Ni**a,” is not an appropriate or acceptable name for a nail polish color.

Or, you know, anything.

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Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 3 – Shoe Fashion Strikes Again

Every now and then I encounter a piece of fashion-related minutiae that makes my head spin. That spinning then inspires an off-usual-topic post here at Beauty Skeptic.

I’ve professed before that I am not a fashionable individual. So when I see things like what I’m going to share in this post – yeah, I know I don’t, “get,” it. I’m fine with that.

Socks with Sandals

It all started with these ridiculously offensive Gucci heeled sandals…

Shoe Fashion Strikes Again

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Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 2 – Zoe Ayla Fish Style Brush

Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 2 - Zoe Ayla Fish Style Brush

Last time I released a Bi-Weekly WTF, I erred; I just kinda tossed it in the title without sharing my intention. A lot of what I end up writing about is spawned by a head-scratching moment of wondering, “Did they really?” Some really catches me off guard and deserves to be called out as its own WTF-inducing moment. Last time, it was asbestos in kiddy and tween cosmetics.


Zoe Ayla Fish Style Brush

When some people want to turn their brain off, they veg out and watch reality TV. I, however, window shop products I’d never buy – for a laugh, for a post, for whatever. This led me to the subject of this Bi-Weekly WTF: the Zoe Ayla Fish Style Brush.

Yeah, you read that right. Fish style brush.

Because, you know, I’ve got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty but I need a fish-shaped foundation brush.

 

Zoe Ayla prices this brush at $25 but I saw it at TJ Maxx for $6. I checked out their set and found they also peddle unicorn-themed brushes. Let’s face it, though – the target demographic for these whimsical-and-not-very-functional brushes is not going to be in a position to spend $25 for a single brush!

Their page on the Fish Style Brush reads:

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