This Week in Beauty: Girls Are Robbing Banks

Important: paid subscription back on!

Housing keeping (ugh, I hate this terms), but super important: Paid subscriptions are turned back on. I initially turned them off because I wasn’t posting as consistently, but am in a much better place and ready to add my voice to all the conversations that mean something to me. I am scaling back on my Virgo rising and moon perfectionist tendencies in order to get this thang published — even though I love this side of myself. So please excuse any typos as I grow into a new practice. Remember: you can unsubscribe or go back down to unpaid if you’d like.

My new email format is reflected in this email, and goes as follows:

For everyone:

• Culture essays will be free for all subscribers to read. Super important that creatives, fellow writers comrades, and artists — especially Black and Brown folks — continue to see how their work is influencing the greater zeitgeist. Since I’m not a big fan of the subscription model to begin with, my feelings don’t really negate the fact that I have to start somewhere, so this is the compromise I’ve made to keep myself sane.

For Subscibers:

• Beauty news; beauty industry news I find intriguing, and intersections as music, tech, women’s health, sports, “Hollywood” (when will the empire collapse?!) — all in my voice and through my POV.

• Media reads; beauty culture deep dives from writers across every corner of the web.

I have to express the immense gratitude I have for ALL subscribers. I receive a lot of positive feedback out in the IRL world, and it’s motivated me to keep doing. Thank you.

L-R: 1-3 BeatsByDeb, 4-6 UniquelyTyana, 7-8 Ava

Reporting LIVE from my TikTok algorithm: girls are robbing banks. Let’s take this makeup trend/moment, made viral and exciting by only a few MUA creators, and trace it back. This quick hit is as unserious as these creators, and honestly? Sometimes, I just love to laugh. I love people who are still having fun with beauty and not taking themselves too serious.

My entryway was BeatbyDeb. She appeared on my screen, pulled three stocking caps over her head, cut out the eyes, pursed her lips like “yup”, and got to work. She credited UniquelyTyana and Ava. Ava seems like the originator of the bank robbery GRWM, but she credits Berny for the inspo. “Apologies in advance. This is an abomination. Inspo: @berny.”

Berny created a more haunting look, adding an all-white pupil effect as part of a Halloween series titled DOLL FACE. “Doll face” is a term credited to Val Garland for makeup looks that start with a stocking cap. Garland is a veteran makeup artist, responsible for countless editorials and catwalk makeup concepts we’ve watched over the past two decades. Doll face is in reference to a Gareth Pugh Spring 2016 show she keyed. “Schizo disco, plastic pulp, Soho sex club with inspirations taking in Donna Summer juxtaposed with Lindsay Kemp and a bit of drag queen Divine,” Garland told WWD at the time. The hair team placed Nylon stockings over each model’s head; MAC’s acrylic paint was used for much of the stark colors.

Photo Credit: WWD

Ava meme-ified all of this: she cut out eyes—because, of course, you still need to see when robbing a bank—and applied it to the act itself. Holyghail, who has caught some visibility for her Roblox makeup recreations, noted how “roblox coded is it.” The robbery videos are paired with Finesse, a track by violinist Michael Prince, Koncept K, and @avonnosleep and @willnosleep. If you’ve heard the song, you’ll recognize the phrase “do you not get the Koncept?” It’s an ironic/iconic match for this GRWM videos where the goal is to be seen (virality), but to go unrecognized (to get the (stolen) bag).

Maybe more ironic is girls are robbing banks. Beauty supplies and beauty retailers are prime targets for robberies. Police are searching (allegedly) for two women suspected of stealing over $10,000 worth of beauty products at a Las Vegas beauty supply. Just like corner stores, gas station, and liquor stores, beauty supplies are vulnerable to robberies as they are more likely to have cash on hand and pose low security risk, but it’s not only beauty supplies. Thieves carried out smash-and-grab robberies at three Ulta Beauty stores in suburban Chicago, making off with expensive products during daylight hours. And this is just within the past week. I see beauty supply robbery stories and cash rewards to find offenders close to once a week, minimum. Beauty supplies serve a dual purpose.

Anyway, I think in loglines. So know that I’ve already got the Set It Off inspired film inspired by this trend mapped out. 

Check out the latest project I worked on with photographer Renell Medrano: The first edition of ICE Magazine. Visually, Renell’s inspiration for ICE comes from Players magazine, a 1970s softcore publication known for blending sensuality, Black culture, and intellect. Yet, while Players catered to the male gaze, Medrano wanted to create a space for women to see themselves.

In collaboration with WePresent, you can download the magazine visa WeTransfer (physical copies are sold out.) Not only did I write and interview majority of the pieces, I crafted copy for both Renell’s LAMBÓN exhibition and the magazine launch, which both took place at WSA in NYC. Renell’s work is all about flipping the script on beauty; she speaks volumes as photographer, and I was glad to be part of this ongoing moment. The images are insane.

This week’s beauty news [paid]

We’re talking about: Megan Thee Stallion’s upcoming documentary, Charlotte Palermino is on Subway Takes, and the professor who just developed the first algorithm to simulate Afro-textured hair… and other news sparked by women who think, relevant beauty updates, and today’s beauty icons. Plus, I talk a bit about my own journey over the past two years in relation to Simone Biles and how she is impacting women’s mental health.