The Filtered-Photos-To-Plastic-Surgery Pipeline

The Don't Buy List: Issue #52

Hello, dewy dust bunnies, and welcome to another edition of the The Don’t Buy List! People are very worked up about entrepreneur Bryan Johnson spending $2 million per year on his “longevity” routine — longevity being dude-friendly tech-speak for anti-aging — which involves injecting himself with the blood of his 18-year-old son. It’s ridiculous, sure. But like… Is it any more ridiculous than the kind of anti-aging routines normally endorsed by the media (injecting yourself with neurotoxins, fantasizing about eating feces), celebrities (penis facials, platelet-rich-plasma moisturizers), and everyday consumers (daily smoothies spiked with pulverized cow cartilage)? I’m just saying! Johnson is worth $400 million. Scale that down: Calculate your own net worth (this number is negative for a significant percentage of millennials). Compare it to how much you spend on youth-centric products and procedures (~$1,300 a year on average). Can you really roll your (taut, line-free) eyes at this man??

Anyway! Onto the links…

In this issue: Mermaid nails! Zombie facials! Oil slick hair! The problem with Byline, as told by its beauty content! Dua Lipa x Susan Sontag! Filters as a public health issue! When plastic surgery kills! Pregnancy beauty! “Life-changing” moisturizers! Life-diminishing plastics! And more!