Monthly Archives: March 2010

March 31, 2010

Feminist Blog Carnival No. 16: Beauty Edition!

Hooray!

It’s Feminist Blog Carnival day!

I know, you could hardly sleep last night with excitement. (I too could hardly sleep because I was busy reading through the many, many awesome submissions. And also excited.)

Thanks so much to everyone who sent in work. We’ve got a lot of amazing-ness here, so I’m just going to dive right in. Start clicking!

On working in the beauty business:

Karen Greco of BeautyOlogy says dismissing the work of beauty professionals wouldn’t be so easy to do if the industry employed mainly men in Sexism on the Front Lines: A Beautician Bites Back.

Jamie Silberberger of The AFA Blog talks about how to get a more socially responsible mani-pedi in Why We Must Protect Nail Salon Workers From the Toxic Trio.

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March 30, 2010

[Fun With Press Releases] Brooklyn Beauty School (And Beyonce, too!)

Fun With Press Releases: Because sometimes, the beauty industry just goofs.

You know how Beauty U is always talking about how recession-proof the beauty industry is, and how we’re going to have such great post-graduation job prospects? (All the while encouraging students to take out loans, go into credit card debt, or qualify for financial aid to pay their tuition?)

Well, I don’t want you to think that I’m attending some kind of beauty school anomaly. Check out the press release below (from one of the biggest beauty school chains in the country) to see how this kind of sales pitch has become the industry’s party line.

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March 26, 2010

Pretty Price Check (03.26.10)

The Pretty Price Check: Your Friday round-up of how much we paid for beauty this week.

Oceans of Bras Photo from Beijing

First! A quick reminder to all you feministly-inclined bloggers about next week’s Feminist Carnival. I want anything and everything you’ve written on beauty, body image, products, or the like. (Preference will be given to posts fitting the theme, but if you’ve written anything just amazingly kick-ass and feminist, feel free to submit that too — I’ve gotten a couple of great ones so far, and might include a “not beauty but awesome” section.)

Submit links here or email me on beautyschooledproject [at] gmail [dot] com. Deadline is 10:00 PM Monday (March 29). (So go on, do it now!)

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March 25, 2010

[Beauty Overheard] Nell Irvin Painter on Race and Beauty.

Beauty Overheard: What folks are saying — good, bad, and ugly — about being pretty.

Skin lightening has been a recurring theme over at Beauty U lately, as I’m finding that almost every woman of color who comes in for a facial asks what we can do to even out her darker spots, and will a glycolic peel help? (My answers: Not much and only if you like the idea of acid being poured on your face.)

So I’m intrigued by this bit from an interview (by Thomas Rogers over on Salon) with Princeton history professor Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People:

It’s conspicuous that many of the scientists who were trying to determine the “most superior” white race were obsessed with figuring out which race was best-looking.

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March 24, 2010

[Tip Jar] Just Saying No to Peels with Client Four

Tip Jar: Where you get the back story on every tip I make at Beauty U.

five dollars photo

Now that there’s only one senior student left in Beauty U’s night program, all bets are officially off on that whole “juniors can’t work on clients until they finish book work” business. Per this helpful commenter, I ask Miss Stacy if the spa will just book less clients until we’re done with Milady’s (about four more weeks, people!) and she rolls her eyes. “You would think, but don’t count on it,” she says.

Cut to tonight: We’re supposed to be reading the chapter on waxing, but Sue is rushed off her feet with facials and waxing appointments. To make it fair, Miss Stacy sets up a rotation of us four juniors (Stephanie, Blanche, me, Meg) so we step out of the classroom in order and nobody ends up feeling like they’re missing the most. Our names are written up on the white board, and whenever we take a client, we’re supposed to erase ourselves from the top of the list and rewrite our names at the bottom.

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March 23, 2010

Graduation Day (No, Not Mine.)

Entenmann's Cake Photo

In case you still need proof that for-profit trade schools aren’t real schools — at least, not in any traditional, academic sense of the word — I give you this:

Tonight, two of our senior students, Becky and Leslie are both scheduled to hit their 600 hour mark. We watched them take their state board practical exam last week, which is the big final exam you have to do to graduate. It’s run exactly like the actual state board exam, on the theory that if you can pass it here at Beauty U, you’ll do fine on the real thing. All the other students watch and there is absolute silence. Leslie’s hands were shaking as she simulated an arm wax using honey and Becky kept chattering to me as she did the makeup application and went totally wide of the mark with the lip liner, giving me that plastic pageant queen kind of smile. But they both passed. And at 10 PM tonight, they will be done with Beauty U.

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March 22, 2010

[Fun with Press Releases] Forget Stupak. It’s All About Boob Jobs.

Fun With Press Releases: Because sometimes, the beauty industry just goofs.

From: XXXXX
Sent: Mon, March 22, 2010 12:46:02 PM
Subject: DEAR EDITOR: WILL BREAST ENHANCEMENT AND OTHER COSMETIC SURGERY HAVE  AN IMPACT ON THE HISTORIC HEALTH CARE BILL PASSAGE

WILL BREAST ENHANCEMENT AND  OTHER COSMETIC SURGERY HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE  HISTORIC HEALTH CARE BILLPASSAGE

Dear Editor,
We represent a roster of doctors in Manhattan and Long Island  who are available to provide commentary or debate on the historic health care bill passing House of Representatives in Congress. They can speak on its possible effects on patients and the medical profession. They can go on set, via telephone or from there offices.

Our client roster of local doctors range from cosmetic surgeons to hospital reps and private practitioners.

For more information, interviews, and a list of medical clients please contact XXX Communications XXX-XXX-XXXX
–

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March 19, 2010

Pretty Price Check: Jessica Simpson Special Edition (03.19.10)

The Pretty Price Check: Your Friday roundup of how much we paid for beauty this week.

Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty logo photo

Okay, not to sound like a martyr, but I think we can all agree: I’m already doing a lot for this whole “investigate the price we pay for pretty” quest. But forget no Klean Kanteens. Forget gaining ten pounds and constantly running short on sleep. That was nothing. That was cake.

So let me tell you about the biggest sacrifice I’ve made for this project thus far: Sitting through all twenty minutes of VH1′s season premiere of Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty.

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March 19, 2010

Beauty Schooled on Crazy Sexy Life!

 

Screen grab photo of Beauty Schooled on Crazy Sexy Life

Don’t fret, it IS Friday — and so the Pretty Price Check (and a special edition, mind you, so get excited) is coming up a little later on today.

But first, I just wanted to say a quick hello and welcome to new readers coming on over from Crazy Sexy Life, where I am guest blogging today. Hello! Welcome! And here are a couple of tips for navigating Beauty Schooled:

  • Check out About to get the back story on what the heck I’m doing here.
  • Go to In Class to catch up on all the Beauty U adventures thus far.

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March 18, 2010

Join Beauty Schooled for the Next Feminist Carnival: Beauty Edition! [Deadline March 29]

Carnival Action Photo by Shannon Taylor (catching up again)

I’m so excited to announce that Beauty Schooled will be hosting Feminist Carnival No. 16: Beauty Edition on Wednesday, March 31.

As you might recall, I participated in Feminist Carnival No. 11 over at Gender Across Borders back in January. It was so much fun that I decided to get in on the hosting action myself. In case you’re new to the whole concept: A blog carnival is kind of like a link roundup on steroids. It’s a chance to feature some of the best (and often otherwise undiscovered) feminist thinking and writing going on right now in the blogosphere, all in one place. (And then we all link, Twitter, and comment like crazy so chaos and merriment ensues! Sequined masks and fried dough consumption optional.)

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