” You are not ugly, you are poor » view dozens of memes, TikToks, and humor posts featuring before and after personalities from the Kardashian clan or other scalpel addicted celebrities, fillers, aesthetic medicine and accompanied by a myriad of beauty professionals wherever they go. Let’s forget the lies of the beauty fashion complex (concept of the researcher Sandra Barkty developed in the 90s, taken up in particular by Angela McRobbie then author Naomi Wolf in The myth of beauty in 1990 and Mona Chollet in Fatal beauty in 2012) unfolding in women’s magazines via ads showcasing every other page, beauty and (presumably) eternal youth are not found in a Jlo Beauty serum or the latest SKKN BY KIM skincare routine, but in your economic and social capital. To put it quickly, the ultimate beauty secret is being rich.
“Collective hallucination”
By suggesting through their marketing arguments that it would be enough to use their products to look like them, they ignore the beauty gap (the idea that conforming to standards of beauty depends on one’s wealth and that beauty as constructed reflects a class hierarchy) and they knowingly fail to mention the army of people who work to maintain their physical condition as well as the mountains of dollars disbursed. The sales promise of stars extending their offerings to various hydrating, firming and rejuvenating treatments has been misleading ever since using products sold by Jlo or Kim K will not give you Jlo or Kim K privileges.
The effects of age, beyond genetics, are above all related to living conditions and social and economic achievements (or inheritance). ” The cosmetics industry has always exploited the image of rich and privileged women paid dearly to cultivate a flawless appearance, this distortion seen with celebrities launching their own brands is not new. We find ourselves in an even stronger and more direct bond of “magical thinking”, reinforced by the illusion of permanent closeness created by social networks. “says the essayist Mona Chollet.
Kim Kardashian and her $165,000 monthly beauty budget
Let’s take the example of Kim Kardashian who, among her many activities, has developed a skin care line. Rest assured that it is not by slamming 80 or even 500 euros into its range that you will get its dermal quality. Kim’s skincare routine is estimated at $5,000 a month worth of serums, oils and creams. The star also visits Dr. Kanodia’s Medispa in Los Angeles several times a year for a firming laser facial treatment for a whopping $7,600 a session.
As for her overall beauty budget — sit back — it’s $165,000 a month, according to The sun. The latter notably benefits from the services of star sports coach Melissa Alcantara ($10,000 per month), multiple tanning sessions ($350 per session), laser hair removal ($500 per session), make-up and hairstyling sessions (the her hairstylist Chris Appleton charges $2,000 per hairstyling and her makeup artists Mario Dedivanovic and Ariel Tejada, $2,500 per makeup session). She also gets a $500 manicure/pedicure every 10 days and has her brows done by Anastasia Soare, who charges up to $1,200 for a home visit and many other beauty services.
All this without counting the many helpers: home cooks who prepare balanced meals for him, a team of nannies and domestic help which allows you to delegate domestic and maternal responsibilities – let’s not forget that lack of sleep and the burden of a full-time family and children is a factor of stress, tiredness and therefore ageing. Furthermore, the time we dedicate to it, we don’t spend it pampering ourselves.
Jlo and her sanctimonious “beauty from within” refrain
To sell her products, Jennifer Lopez sings us the nonsensical tune: ” beauty is in the head, a state of mind and truncheon nearby covetor what he says is the mantra of his brand: ” beauty has no expiration, it comes from within and we are young and timeless at any age “. But then, if true beauty comes from within, why buy your Jenny products? Because the beauty dictated by the media and brands does not reside in the nature of things and beings that age, change, but rather in the chimera that we could ( or should we) throughout their lives correspond to unattainable standards of beauty and youth.
Thus, beauty does not come from the depths of our interior, but from that of our wallet, which can allow us to slow down the passage of time. The impressive marketing campaign for the Jlo Beauty line emphasized the idea of democratizing the incandescence lopezien, with a Jennifer d’Arc who frees the people: “Jennifer Lopez offers it incandescence to the masses” also summarizes fashionista. Thanks Jenny, that’s just too good. I don’t care that her love costs nothing, but her beauty treatments, certainly a little more. Creams are not magic potions and elixirs of youth that will allow all women to look like superstars at 50. A tube of Jlo Beauty cream is nothing more than an illusory promise that will never close the gap between your lifestyle, your access to the best care, aesthetic operations, services and products, and your material realities.
” Under the so-called cult of beauty thrives a hatred of self and one’s body. A process of self-evaluation that feeds a constant anxiety about the body and at the same time condemns women to not knowing how to exist except through seduction, locking them in a state of permanent subordination. “, writes Mona Chollet, still inside Fatal beauty. And despite the marketing veneer of self-acceptance, these stars fuel the machine of our self-loathing.
Front page photo credit: JLO Beauty and SKKN BY KIM ad campaigns.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
