You Have Complete Control
A poem.
What is there to say about skincare at a time like this? My brain is empty, but my inbox is full. In lieu of a newsletter, I present: a poem comprised of copy-and-pasted subject lines and sentences, each pulled from a different email I received yesterday, March 2, 2022 — sent by news outlets, by beauty brands, by PR reps angling for press coverage. A snapshot of the times.
You Have Complete Control
Hi! Hope you’re doing well during this uncertain time.
The strategically important city of Kherson in southern Ukraine has fallen to Russian forces
and I wanted to reach out to see if you’re working on any spring makeup stories or product roundups.
From butters to serums to scrubs for your booty and boobs
it truly is the perfect time to support the women-founded businesses who are making a mark in the beauty space.
Don’t Miss This Sale!
The invasion has forced hundreds of thousands to flee while others are returning to fight—
fight skin eruptions with Lactic Acid,
combat ingrown hairs,
kick blah winter skin with an at-home peel.
Searches for Niacinamide are up 233% since just last year and
Ukraine has set off a dangerous struggle but
Beiersdorf Expects Skincare Market to Recover in 2022.
Just apply this
regimented suite of products
to reach your maximum glow,
the perfect glass-like glow,
the ultimate glow you need
for envy-worthy skin.
Backers say this would undermine President Vladimir Putin's power to coerce Europe and
offer facials for the people.
this Mask is charged with the potent sound frequency, 528 hertz, known as the frequency of love
Available for $82
(Of course, happy to send samples so you can try!)
In Women’s History Month
reports have surfaced with evidence linking the synthetic fragrance to infertility issues.
The site of a 1986 nuclear disaster has been taken over by Russian troops.
Slugging has taken over Tik Tok.
you have complete control over your wellness
OMG….nothing makes more more mad towards the “wellness” and “self-help” communities than this idea that you/we have complete control over our (mental and physical) wellness. That is such a privileged and nearsighted and damaging and victim-blaming and shaming idea it makes me want to scream. (And screaming is putting it mildly.) I am a meditation instructor, and I even have Masters in Applied Meditation, and I cannot tell you how many times in a day/week I have to push back against that privileged idea. That concept lets so many systems, structures, bad actors, and just plain luck of where and when you are born, off the hook. It feels like it actually serves really awful systems: marketing, capitalism, racism, diet culture, misogyny, homophobia, classism, child abuse (actual abuse, not Texas’ version) etc…because if we are blaming ourselves for our un-wellness then our eyes are diverted from the larger systems at play at best, actually serving those systems (and people) in their abuses at worst. Investing in a wellness practice like meditation CAN be a tool for more clearly seeing how little control we actually have and for clearly seeing the suffering around us and more clearly motivating us to create active change towards more equitable control for everyone. But only If we are able to allow the discomfort that comes with seeing those things. Maybe feeling “peace and bliss” right now is NOT an answer, maybe feeling the pain of our lack of control and the pain of oppressive systems operating in our world today, maybe feeling “unwell” with all this IS an appropriate empathetic human response. Maybe it’s what we need to feel right now because it reveals our humanity. I have been actively pushing back against this “we have control, it’s all about our own internal perception” trope all week, and I am tired. But, I’ll keep pushing.
And now you have become...the Allan Ginsberg of the beauty industry.