When Beauty Becomes Background Noise
A quick thought on "ambient influencing."
The other day an interviewer asked me about the future of beauty influencing. Where did I think it was going? And I thought of the many, many videos I’ve saved over the past year or so in which the subject is performing their skincare or makeup or haircare or nail care routine, but speaking about something else. They’re taking about therapy, or dates they went on, or their daughter’s birth story. They’re giving an inspirational talk about self-care, or professional evolution, or — the hardest to watch — overcoming body image issues while concealing and contouring (as if Spanx and bronzer-carved cheekbones don’t serve the same illusory purpose). They’re moving beauty to the background.
Videos like these position the process of becoming physically beautiful as a part of, or a prerequisite to, whatever experience is being shared — love, success, wellness, happiness, growth, motherhood, etc. — without saying it out loud. They’re effective in terms of influencing because they 1) associate products with emotion in a seemingly “authentic” way and 2) make effortful physical transformations seem as normal as brushing your teeth, too boring to bother mentioning. This is bad for people overall (for all the usual reasons, I think) and incredible for the industry. What to call it: Background influencing? Passive influencing? Ambient influencing?
Some examples I’ve saved, below.
You are brilliant, and I’m so grateful I found your Substack. I wish for a million more honest observations like yours.
These are the most insufferable videos! Maybe next is talking while on the toilet or cutting their long toenails.