Pinkwashing

This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift. Some content has been edited for flow and clarity, but the essence of the post is the same.

It is October, which means a lot of things – dark lips, darker eyes, fun crazy eye looks inspired by candy corn, Halloween-look YouTube tutorials…you know. Things that matter.

It also means that it is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Which means everything is coated in a pink so similar to Pepto Bismol that you’re half-surprised there isn’t a lawsuit afoot. This phenomenon has come to be known as Pinkwashing and the goal (supposedly) is to raise awareness. We find people clad in pink all month feeling awfully good about the difference they’re making…but spoilers, your pink tee isn’t funding mammograms for early detection. Treatment. Etc.

We need less, “awareness,” bullshit and more research for treatment and prevention.

If you wish to support research efforts, actually try to support the cause by researching who you are planning to donate to. Unfortunately, not all charities are as noble as they’d have you believe.

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Bi-Weekly WTF :: Vol 15 – Inclusivity

Inclusivity - or how YSL failed at it, anyway

Before I jump into this topic I want to make a critical acknowledgement: I am not a POC, so my perspective is just observation as someone who is ultimately not directly impacted by oversights of this nature. For those who are impacted, I am angry and disappointed that this ridiculous, unacceptable phenomena persists. I hope if enough of us band together, express outrage, and vote with our dollars, that things will change.

On Inclusivity

I read a good article last week from Fashionista regarding swatches and inclusivity; while I’ve known that inclusivity and product development for a diverse range of skin tones IS a problem, I can’t fathom why, in 2018 it is so damn hard. Fair-to-medium skin tones are far from the only consumers looking to purchase cosmetic products. Yet when new brands or products from existing brands are launched, they seem to have that same myopic focus. Fenty knocked it out of the park with their 40 shade foundation range at launch; other brands are scrambling to catch up to their example.

Swatch Scandals

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The Problem with Photoshop

This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift for clarity and readability. Opinions are the same. Enjoy!

There’s a lot of chatter in the beauty realm. Some positive, uplifting, and fantastic. Some catty, hateful, and rude. Others are debate-worthy, but fall on neither side of the spectrum. One hot debate topic in this realm is whether or not it using Photoshop or other image editing techniques on beauty photos is acceptable.

The way I see it, there are two sides to this coin.

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Flip Flop Fantasy – New is Not Always Improved

This legacy post has been given a facelift because it still hurts my heart. I loved this damn color! Content has been edited for clarity but opinion and, as far as I can tell, the status of the product in question are the same.

Raise your hand if you’ve been hurt by a reformulation! Maybe it was New Coke. Or the use of HFCS in place of cane sugar in everything in general. Your recently-repurchased signature fragrance not being so signature anymore. Pantene doing Pantene things. Innovation in general is a good thing. But we’ve all experienced product changes and came to discover that new is not always improved.

Take nail polish, for instance. Certain shades are so well-known that they have their own cult of personality. If you’re here, reading, you can probably name at least half a dozen OPI shades off the top of your head without Google’s help – and that’s saying nothing of other brands.

Flip Flop Fantasy

It’s a bright, rich neon coral creme from their 2010 Poolside collection. Or, well, it was. A friend wore the Gelaze version of Flip Flop Fantasy for her wedding last summer; it seemed peach then, but I chalked that up to the occasional difference in the gel versions of shades. Alas, it wasn’t because it is gel, it was because China Glaze changed the shade entirely.

It’s a completely different color, now, in both RNP and gel. Chit Chat Nails shared images of both bottles, complete with the same item codes…

China Glaze Flip Flop FantasyFlip Flop Fantasy – Chit Chat Nails (now defunct)

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Melanoma Monday 2018

Melanoma Awareness Ribbon - Melanoma Monday

As long as Beauty Skeptic is an active website, I am going to post, and repost, about the dangers of not observing sun-safe behaviors. May is Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness month, and the first Monday in May (today!) is Melanoma Monday.

Last year, I was blown away by this beach that has sunscreen dispensers for public use.

You can learn more about my family’s experience with skin cancer in my 2015 post. So far, I’ve dodged a bullet but my dumbass did use tanning beds for a few different periods of my life prior to my mom’s discovery.

Keep yourself safe by:

  • Limiting exposure during peak hours.
    • It doesn’t take long! A half hour outside around noon caused my feet to develop tan lines in the shape of my flats. As an office worker, I typically do not apply sunscreen to the tops of my feet buuuut maybe I should.
  • Wear a hat if you can swing it. Target has some inexpensive, cute ones; here’s a simple one.
  • Use a good sunscreen. I’m far from the only one who touts Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence as the best.
    • I did recently learn, though, that some folks with very sensitive skin tend to have issue with it due to the alcohols in it.
  • Cover up if you can stand it.

Near Coral, Use Physical

Hawaii is on the cusp of banning sunscreens that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate. These chemicals are effective sunscreens, but have been found to contribute poor shape of the world’s coral. After application, it is washed away from skin in seawater, and later, washed away in a shower which results in waste water. If you live in or plan to visit regions closer to coral reefs, consider a physical, rather than chemical, sunscreen instead.

The Bottom Line

Stay sun safe, friends.

PSA: Palette

This is a legacy post that has been given a facelift. Content remains the same with a little added flavor. ;)

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears:

There’s an epidemic, you see. I’ve kept my response contained as best I can, but I’m fighting the urge to go all Katie Holmes-in-The Giver, being a shrieking harpy about

precisionoflanguagePRECISION. OF. LANGUAGE.

But I’m not Jonah’s mom, and we aren’t in some dystopian, baby-murdering (spoilers, not sorry, the book is old) society, and I prefer to teach than scold.

This:

This is a pallet.

is a pallet.

For the sake of argument, here’s a definition.

a portable platform on which goods can be moved, stacked, and stored, especially with the aid of a forklift.

You’ve probably seen one, right? Maybe you’ve (ever) been in a Lowes. Maybe you were at Wal-Mart late at night. Perhaps you, yourself, have worked in a retail outfit and had to stock stuff. The only time this has anything to do with cosmetics is perhaps when Sephora receives a shipment; when there is a pallet of palettes.

Moving on,

This

Naked2 Basics Palette - More than one of these would be palettes, not pallets.

is a palette.

When people say things like, “that’s a really nice pallet,” when talking about, say, Lorac PRO or a Viseart palette, the image that fills my mind silly: it is an expertly crafted, robust shipping platform. Maybe it’s even sanded, stained, and lacquered in gold. I deeply regret being a crappy artist because I would love to illustrate the image that fills my mind like Hyperbole and a Half brought us the Alot…but alas.

Extra Credit (2018)

These items are also not to be confused with palate which refers to the roof of your mouth or to the discerning appreciation of flavors.

Anyway, I digress. This has been a Public Service Announcement. You now have the vocabulary tools to stop being that guy.