Thanks for this post! I always appreciate your posts about the sneak attacks of beauty culture masquerading as "wellness," yuck. Will def pick up that book, too. I'd just throw in that gardening is not only a cheaper way of getting C, but digging in dirt supercharges your microbiome and has been shown to have antidepressant effects. I grew dandelion greens (huge C in those!) in my community garden box for a while - Whole Foods sells bunches of them for $8, wshew! Just the process of growing dandelions (and okra and herbs and tomatoes and cucumbers) and cooking them in my kitchen ... it's the C, but it's also the experience of being outside with other people, and developing a relationship with the plants, the weather, etc. I find it helps a lot, and not just on the vitamin front. I still have plenty of days where the posts or ads about hair, skin, "apron belly" etc. are flowing on Instagram and I get that crawly sensation that I've failed as a human with a body. Getting my ass out in the yard and pulling weeds or planting stuff is a great antidote, a reminder that the world is SO MUCH BIGGER AND MORE MAGICAL than Vanessa Hudgens and her topicals would have us believe.
And it stinks, right? Every vitamin C product I've been near smells like someone just ground a vitamin pill into a paste. Now I'm saying that, a lot of "skincare" products smell bad and it just goes quietly unacknowledged.
Having just reported on the science of the microbiome — and needing to do faaarrr less to stop disrupting it — for The Quality Edit, I am loving this post. And so appreciate the book suggestion. I’m headed to pick it up now.
Thank you Jessica! When I saw Vanessa Hudgens doing the rounds promoting her skincare brand (yet another one…) I wondered if you’d be writing about it. I think this is even an overhauled line? 😬
It is! I wish she - and other celebs with lackluster brands, many of whom are not making it past the multi year mark in business - would just stop. Enough already.
Take that BACK!! Anybody as taut as Hudgens is looking for street cred with the hot new beauty line so that she can live off the royalties when she turns 22 and is past it all.
I confess: I recently fell for a small bottle of Vitamin C Serum from an ,,all pure, all natural" local skincare brand. It tingled - my cheeks glowed - great - although I did feel strangely uncomfortable. After about a week, it felt like the stuff was actually burning my cheeks. Stopped immediately! Back to oranges.
This is the exact type of writing I love getting in my inbox: a science-backed, anti-consumerist takedown <3 <3 <3
Finally I can stop dithering about whether I should spring for the various vitamin C serums being aggressively marketed to me and just forget about it.
Thanks for this post! I always appreciate your posts about the sneak attacks of beauty culture masquerading as "wellness," yuck. Will def pick up that book, too. I'd just throw in that gardening is not only a cheaper way of getting C, but digging in dirt supercharges your microbiome and has been shown to have antidepressant effects. I grew dandelion greens (huge C in those!) in my community garden box for a while - Whole Foods sells bunches of them for $8, wshew! Just the process of growing dandelions (and okra and herbs and tomatoes and cucumbers) and cooking them in my kitchen ... it's the C, but it's also the experience of being outside with other people, and developing a relationship with the plants, the weather, etc. I find it helps a lot, and not just on the vitamin front. I still have plenty of days where the posts or ads about hair, skin, "apron belly" etc. are flowing on Instagram and I get that crawly sensation that I've failed as a human with a body. Getting my ass out in the yard and pulling weeds or planting stuff is a great antidote, a reminder that the world is SO MUCH BIGGER AND MORE MAGICAL than Vanessa Hudgens and her topicals would have us believe.
: )
Does continuing to use a 3 year old lipstick count as working on my microbiome? Please say yes.
Bah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Hahahhahaha
Thank you for this. The hype over topical Vitamin C is astonishing.
And it stinks, right? Every vitamin C product I've been near smells like someone just ground a vitamin pill into a paste. Now I'm saying that, a lot of "skincare" products smell bad and it just goes quietly unacknowledged.
Always been a fan of eating and drinking my Vitamin C. Thank you for confirming the wisdom behind that action. Will pick up the book too!
Skinceuticals has the social media darling vitamin C serum out there for £160
😮😮😮😮
😬🤯
Having just reported on the science of the microbiome — and needing to do faaarrr less to stop disrupting it — for The Quality Edit, I am loving this post. And so appreciate the book suggestion. I’m headed to pick it up now.
I am partway through it now - having trouble putting it down. It’s really good!!
That is great to hear!!
Drop the link! I wanna read your microbiome piece 👏
Thank you!! It is slated to run end of week — I’ll post it here when it does.
Hi! Here’s the microbiome article: https://www.thequalityedit.com/articles/editrix-microbiome-skincare
Thank you Jessica! When I saw Vanessa Hudgens doing the rounds promoting her skincare brand (yet another one…) I wondered if you’d be writing about it. I think this is even an overhauled line? 😬
It is! I wish she - and other celebs with lackluster brands, many of whom are not making it past the multi year mark in business - would just stop. Enough already.
Take that BACK!! Anybody as taut as Hudgens is looking for street cred with the hot new beauty line so that she can live off the royalties when she turns 22 and is past it all.
I confess: I recently fell for a small bottle of Vitamin C Serum from an ,,all pure, all natural" local skincare brand. It tingled - my cheeks glowed - great - although I did feel strangely uncomfortable. After about a week, it felt like the stuff was actually burning my cheeks. Stopped immediately! Back to oranges.
This is the exact type of writing I love getting in my inbox: a science-backed, anti-consumerist takedown <3 <3 <3
Finally I can stop dithering about whether I should spring for the various vitamin C serums being aggressively marketed to me and just forget about it.
We 👏 love 👏 to 👏 see 👏 it