Coming Clean.

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. — Pablo Picasso

Beauty has hit rock bottom. And I along with it.

It’s more than the daily celebrity launches, the emphasis on food beauty adjectives (glazed donut aspirations have *naturally* expanded from skin to lips and hair), the increasing decline of our self-esteem in inverse proportion to rising beauty sales and a recent press pitch using the death of a beloved singer as a sunscreen hook. It’s the barrage of influencer links, frequent misinformation and regimens that just don’t make sense.

Slowing your scroll (a recommendation in my previous newsletter) is simply not enough sometimes.  I need to bow out.

Over the past decade, I have adored spending time with — and writing about — founders fighting for beauty funding, learning from experts in their field, and admiring my editors (you know who you are) who have allowed me to write exactly what I want, and from a perspective that puts the story — and the reader — first.  Before commerce. 

When shilling crept into a new writing project, I abruptly stopped. This is not my mission.  It’s fun to learn about new founders, brands and ways to play with beauty, but not at the expense of our souls.

The genesis of ‘writing in black and white’ was about exploring — and exposing — the grey areas that burden us all in fashion, beauty and wellness. Oft through the lens of aging.  Allowing us to remain “uninfluenced but informed.” This remains steadfast.

The beauty of aging is that we are nothing if not true to ourselves.  It took us so long to find out who we are; there is no turning back to be anything less than purely authentic now. So, while the $532 billion global beauty market grows, I look forward to watching from the sidelines. My focus will continue to be fashion, especially as it relates to our identity, and our well-being.  There is so much to learn, live and share, as evidenced by my recent foray into saunas.  While I have two outstanding beauty pieces to write (stay tuned at The Quality Edit for the innovative story of a microbiome “anti-beauty beauty brand” and a celebration of National Vegan Day touting my personal head-to-toe selects), they reflect the heavily researched, educational pieces of which I have been so proud of in the past.

And hold onto your facelift, beauty is not a foe.  I plan to cherish brands and their brave founders, just not in longform. I have joined The Board, a team of vetted consultants with expertise to guide brands; I am eager to see how being part of the development and creative direction can shape the category.  There are so many incredible founders, innovations and ways to feel beautiful without forgoing our standards.  As a bystander, I may even be able to critique the madness from time to time (here and on social media) without falling into an abyss of retinol.

Ultimately, I will likely find that I look older without all the product testing, but I will be able to face myself — and love who I see — in the mirror.  And that is real beauty.

In Other Words

I can’t recommend these two beauty writers — who are as authentic as they come —enough. Soak up their substacks:

• How Not To F*ck Up Your Face by Valerie Monroe

• The Unpublishable by Jessica DeFino

Given the negative impact the beauty world (among other influences) has had on young girls, I am forever inspired by The Letter Project, whose mission is to encourage and empower girls and women around the world through handwritten letters. No journalism degree required, only compassion. It’s a feel-good experience that takes less time than deciphering which sunscreen is safe to use. Learn how to become a letter writer today.