This Week in Beauty: Keep Your Spirituals in Check
Snoop Dogg, Adele, and beauty brand news
BEAUTY IRL is a newsletter run by @darian that covers beauty at the intersection of politics and pop culture. If you’re passionate about this world, consider a yearly or monthly subscription to support the everyday operation of this newsletter 🧠⚡️💄
My favorite photo, currently:
For Los Angeles Times’ Image magazine, I talk about my sideburns, and maybe yours too. In its latest installment, “Reverence,” the magazine explores how the city does beauty.
NEWS THIS WEEK
Breaking 🚨 The labor union IATSE, which includes hairstylists, makeup artists, and customers, just announced that it would begin a nationwide strike on Monday if talks with the trade association AMPTP continued to be stalled. Here’s an interview with Spring Super, a New York-based makeup artist and member of IATSE Local 798:
* IATSE = International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
* AMPTP = Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers
It definitely feels like a new moment. The conversations on set and over social media are so different. That Instagram account @IA_stories has been huge because it helped tie us together. In our departments we’re in different roles, with different rates of pay and different contracts, so there are all kinds of divisions among us in a way that keeps us blind to the other departments’ exploitation. Sometimes our departments are pitted against each other: hair and makeup tend to be the ones thrown under the bus when things are running late.
M.A.C. has announced its makeup line with Whitney Houston’s estate. I might have to open up a Clubhouse room because I have all the feels about this one.
"The idea that is coming to fruition now is something Whitney always wanted to do," Whitney's sister-in-law and former manager, Pat Houston, tells PEOPLE. "I'm pleased we can do something that I know she would have loved. We are just starting on this collaboration but exciting things are coming!”
KNC Beauty Founder Kristen Noel Crawley will co-host this year’s ComplexCon with J Balvin. She recently launched new sessions for her virtual School of Beauty.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley has joined the reintroduction of the Wigs as Durable Medical Equipment Act, a bill to get wigs covered by Medicare.
Los Angeles will require proof of COVID vaccination for indoor venues, including salons starting November 4th.
More news out of California: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Thursday that significantly cuts the required number of training hours for barbers and cosmetologists from 1,600 to 1,000 hours. Read more about this bill here. Cosmetology deregulation is probably one of the biggest yet underreported stories in the beauty industry — and I am looking at myself when I say this. It’s a contentious topic that is also about class, and therefore, race.
Covid and hair dye: In September the BBC issued a report on allergic reactions to hair dye among clients who had Covid-19. Here’s what we know so far and a really helpful breakdown of questions from Refinery29 UK.
The Anti-Defamation League is partnering with L’Oréal USA to promote awareness and education of the Holocaust.
Relevant context: Founded in 1909, L’Oréal's founders have been tied to Nazi sympathizers, and actually, I just read a piece on the company’s origins and connection to the far-right.
More L’Oréal news: The company is supporting the exhibit "Kállos. The Ultimate Beauty" at the Museum of Cycladic Art, in Athens. (A beautiful museum in the heart of Athens if you ever get the chance to go.)
+++ L’Oréal USA has achieved carbon neutrality for scopes 1 and 2 emissions across all U.S. sites: Here’s how they did it.
Coppertone has recalled five sunscreen sprays due to the presence of benzene. The levels detected are "very low" and Coppertone says daily exposure likely would not cause health consequences. Lot information and refund requests here: https://www.sunscreenrecall2021.com.
So… ☠️. You may remember this story from my newsletter back in February. In 2016, Citigroup gave Revlon an extra $500 million by mistake. The company lost the court battle to retrieve it in February. This month, Citigroup launched its appeal. This situation is pretty wild, here’s a breakdown. How do you send someone an extra $500 million?
Choreographer and dance icon Laurieann Gibson has launched BOP, a dance streaming network, with Cinedigm. It's wild to think about how influential Gibson's work has been to my life growing up, even when I didn't realize it. Her fingerprints are all over music; across genres, award shows, and music videos.
I really wanted to include Gibson in this newsletter because dance is a language of self-expression and her mission has always been centered on the power of dance to unearth your true identity. I listen to the After Class podcast, hosted by three choreographers, where they talk with Gibson about this.
Livestream shopping platform NTWRK just raised $50 million.
Smashbox just saved Becca’s most iconic products: Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Champagne Pop and Under Eye Brightening Corrector. Plus, Smashbox is expanding the eye-brightening color range.
The second season of ‘Sex, Love & goop’ is coming to Netflix on October 21st.
YouTube star and makeup artist Mel Thompson has died at the age of 35. A tribute from her husband: “Everybody knows how talented she was as an artist and with her helpful knowledge, but those closest to her know how truly wonderful she was. She would have done anything to help anyone without a second thought. I wish I had her back.”
Collabz & Celeb Newz
L.A.’s ‘Gangsta Gardener’ Ron Finley has collaborated with Fiele Fragrances on a perfume.
Wheelchair tennis athlete Kgothatso Montjane is Avon South Africa's newest ambassador.
Deepica Mutyala’s Live Tinted brand is the first South Asian-owned makeup brand to launch at Ulta Beauty.
French Montana will collaborate with Kilian Hennessy to redesign the scent bottle for Angels’ Share.
For the love of TINX (I love Tinx!): Kiehl’s has partnered with the TikTok star on its first partnership with a content creator from TikTok.
Doja Cat created a makeup collection with BH Cosmetics.
Selling Sunset's Christine Quinn created a collection with Caité London.
Claire's launched its first subscription service.
Patrick Starrr launched his collaboration with Fashion to Figure.
Cool opportunities & events:
Colgate-Palmolive has opened applications for its annual Latinx students for grants. Apply here.
It’s cuffing SZN, so Ceylon Skincare is turning its Instagram into a matchmaking/dating platform for the month of October. Right now, it’s tryouts season. DM them a photo, a short bio, and what you’re looking for some inter-community matchmaking. All genders and sexual orientations are welcome, and the brand hopes to share folkx on social like modern-day classifieds. At the end of the month, Ceylon will host a Cuffing Season event at Mandrake Bar in Los Angeles! DM the account for more details. (Some timely news on Ceylon: The brand is now officially sold at Bloomingdales.)
I recently did an interview with Black Girls in Media, you can re-watch it here:
SEEN ON TV
(A.K.A. the internet)
Kelis simultaneously reading this man for wanting to touch her hair while also promoting her new hair oil is a marketing moooooood, honey.
Oludara Adeeyo started a newsletter that covers “Black women’s wellness via the latest news, research, online trends ann personal stories.” She says she was inspired by BEAUTY IRL! Subscribe!
Skoopy snz gets a nail check.
No cure for cancer, but there is one for short man syndrome.
Kristina Rodulfo spotlighting Filipino-owned makeup brands for Filipino American History Month.
Hanahana Beauty founder Abena Boamah was a guest lecturer for the innovation and entrepreneurship course at Harvard:
MEDIA DROPS
Episode 188: The Elegance of a Formula with Darian Harvin — Forever35 Podcast featuring me!
Adele on the Other Side — Abby Aguirre [wow.]
Ilhan Omar Is Tackling Colorism. Here’s Why That Matters. — Ruchika Tulshyan
Amid The Pandemic, Seeing Myself — Jean Chen Ho
Kehlani Talks Spiritual Healing, Co-Parenting, New Music — Breakfast Club [Never thought I’d be putting a Breakfast Club interview into this newsletter, but Kehlani has never been on the show. So I guess there’s a first for everything.]
Snoop Dogg on Keeping His Mentals, Physicals, and Spirituals in Check — Josh Duboff
Amandla Stenberg Is on a Mission for Mental Health — Elizabeth Fazzare [Loved reading about her growth, and how her self-awareness has blossomed.]
I Wanted Ego Death. This Powerful Psychedelic Gave It To Me. — John Semley ["Biotechnology companies are now researching and developing psychedelic pharmaceuticals, with generous estimates speculating that the psychedelic drug market could be worth $10 billion by 2027."]
The Appeal and the Shortcomings of Women-Only Gyms — Chika Ekemezie
An Instagram Influencer Was Murdered. Now, Other Models Are Terrified. — EJ Dickson
Divorce Can Be an Act of Radical Self-Love — Lara Bazelon
“For Rosa” Director Talks Shining a Light on the Madrigal Ten, a Group of Mexican-American Women Who Underwent Forced Sterilization — Virginia Isaad
TED Talk: The Black History of Twerking — And How It Taught Me Self-Love— Lizzo