Why are we so susceptible to beauty marketing?

Photo illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images

This column first appeared in Valerie Monroe’s Newsletter. How not to mess up your faceavailable for subscription on Substack.

A friend recently emailed me and asked me how to tell which of the many products she uses are irritating her skin. This coincides with a question that still bothers me. “Why do extremely smart women continue to be fooled by beauty marketing?”

On a related note, do we believe in snail slime?

Like many intelligent women I know, my frustrated friend seems to have been seduced by some Korean beauty trends and purchased a collection of products, which led to her dissatisfaction with me. I think this is what caused the email.

Last week, another friend was promoting a Korean-made snail mucin product that claims to reduce redness, fine lines, and age spots. I suggested that all the effects my friend was hoping for, even if they were near miraculous, were unlikely to be due to the effects of snail mucin. Even more effective thanks to moisturization and continuous use. why? Although there have been several studies on the positive effects of snail mucin, one small study (involving 50 women) that appeared to show a positive effect was conducted in a laboratory that produces skin care ingredients. provided some of the funding. In other words, the investigators may have been interested in the results because it was not independent. (I should mention here that the title of this article is do not have (Refers to this friend and others in a euphemistic way!)

This kind of pseudoscience has long been a feature of beauty culture. (Jessica Defino has written about this eloquently and relentlessly.) And a doctor familiar with scientific research once told me, “If you get the research, you can show almost anything.” . I get irritated with friends who keep asking me questions over and over again. this [expensive cream/lotion/wrinkle diminisher] work? “This is ironic because as a 73-year-old woman with decades of experience in the beauty industry, I am also susceptible to marketing.

This reminds me of an anecdote I shared a few years ago. On the bright Jack Kornfield podcast, wisdom of the heart, Cornfield tells the story of how he reluctantly decided to reveal to his young daughter that there was no such thing as the Tooth Fairy. She had just lost her tooth and her friend encouraged him to tell her the truth about where the jewelry under her pillow came from. So Mr. Cornfield said to her: “Honey, there’s no such thing as a tooth fairy. I Tooth Fairy. “There was confusion, and then many tears, he says. They cuddled together. Finally, his daughter looked up at him. “But Daddy, what are you wearing?” she asked. .

This, my friends, is who we are. No matter how often we hear the truth, we find a way to stay hopeful. It would be nice — wouldn’t it be? — if we weren’t so consistently disappointed.

I’ve come to think of marketing as the cunning puppet behind nearly every cultural trend. Kale: Why is it suddenly on everyone’s plate? Iceland: Why is it a country I never thought of visiting until recently? It controls most decisions, from what to eat to where to vacation. Considering there’s marketing behind them gives you a different perspective on those choices. I don’t know about you, but I find that marketing often makes me feel competitive, stimulates my general dissatisfaction and abstract longing, confuses me, and exists in the gifts around me. I realized that it reduces my ability. In other words: Yechi. And beauty marketing? It takes cake.

Anyway, I told a friend who suffers from skin irritation (with permission from dermatologist Hadley King) that she might try quitting all products except one. If there is no stimulation, he should add one more product and so on. But I emphasized that the less products she uses, the healthier her skin is likely to be.

As for my snail slime friend, I encouraged her to take a look at this study. You can learn more about snail mucin in this video and learn more about Korean beauty culture here.

Marketing is also news.You might have seen that story in New York. times Facials cost about $1,800. I recently received a PR email about a medspa in New York City offering a cheaper menu of facials for just $1,000. My Monty Python friends wisely said:run away! run away!”

I know I’m a broken record (is there a more modern expression for this?), but unless you have a condition that requires medical intervention, there are only a few products needed for healthy skin . What are the most important products you can put on your skin? Sunscreen. Approximately 90% of skin aging is due to sun exposure. When it comes to treatment, vitamin A derivative retinoids have been shown to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and aid in the production of collagen and elastin when used consistently over a long period of time.

Of course, there’s always this practice (broken records), it’s just… do. that.

First published on January 16th.