Not Another Beauty Gift Guide Please
Not Another Beauty Gift Guide Please
Buy Less, Give More Is The Motto
I really love insane gift guides. Goop’s “Ridiculous but Awesome Gift Guide” filled with obscenely wealthy gift options like island rentals and $400 cheese wheels (which have sold out btw) are my absolute favorite. This year I decided to create a “kind of” gift guide of my own. Unlike some of my faves, this gift guide features books, newsletters, and other media, you can purchase for someone in lieu of a physical gift.
I gathered my favorite newsletters and books that you can share with anyone who is interested in beauty and pop culture. Each section is organized by the type of person you might gift these items to. In the case of the newsletters, you might consider buying someone a subscription or making a one time donation in their name. This holiday season support female writers, artists, and creators by sharing their genius with your favorite people.
She is interested in ethical and sustainable fashion and wants to better understand the link between consumerism and influencer culture:
A Sunday Journal by Jesica Elise
Offers sharp critiques of classist approaches to fashion, style, & the classism that undergirds much of its foundation.
De-Influenced by Heidi Kaluza
Delivers thoughtful approaches to de-influencing and breaking up with hyperconsumption.
Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber
Explores how the over production and consumption of things is destroying the factory workers who make them and our planet, which is faltering under the weight of it all.
Tip: Consider purchasing your books from any of these independent Black owned bookstores.
She is obsessed with pop culture, movies, TV, and the celebrities who are part of it:
Hung Up by Hunter Harris
The ultimate gathering space for those of us who are “hung up” on the movies, shows, and celebs we’re all obsessed with.
Kitsch! Camp! Schmaltz! Schlock! by Candice Wuehle
An interesting project that looks at the camp in everyday experiences and products, like 00s perfume bottles, in an attempt to upset the good/bad taste binary.
Black Icons in Herstory by Darian Symonè Harvin
Portraits and biographies of 50 of the most iconic Black women in music, literature, politics, and more.
Tip: Put her on to new media channels like Channel Nine, which features original and independent stories, shows, and documentaries by and about women.
She wants to rebuild her ideas about beauty and challenge what she’s been taught to believe about things like aging and the beauty industry’s commitment to profit:
The Unpublishable by Jessica DeFino
Thorough deep dives into the ways that beauty industry’s manipulate facts and consumers into buying more than we need for more than it should cost.
Burnt Toast by Virginia Sole-Smith
Your new favorite anti-diet culture newsletters that helps us explore our relationships to our own bodies.
Flawless: Lessons in Looks & Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu
A fascinating exploration of beauty, consumerism, and capital presented through the South Korea’s “K-Beauty” industry and culture.
Tip: Check out Thriftbooks for vintage beauty books like this copy of Fine Beauty: Beauty Basics and Beyond for African American Women (1998) that she can enjoy and put on display.