Why subscribe?
I write about beauty as an act of devotion, an art form, and a means of control. I ask painful questions about beautiful things and tender questions about ugly experiences. As I’ve written before, beauty is my favorite mythology. It is a love of my life, and a familiar one. I am not ‘conned’ by the industry of beauty. I am entertained by it, preoccupied by its promises, and its lies are bedtime stories to me. I don’t need to believe in them to love them; they are the sheep I count at night. I don’t mind never reaching a final destination, a perfect beauty, as long as I’m having fun and making someone feel better on the ride. We can’t get off it. There is no opt-out or unsubscribe to the consequences of appearance in our daily lives.
Given that, let’s get everything we can out of the ride together, ok? We will learn everything together. All the rules, so we can break them, and make new pathways to better places. That is the point. To get free. Together. Isn’t it?
Here are some signposts that guide me on this journey - maybe they’ll help explain my agenda:
“The ability to ask beautiful questions, often in very unbeautiful moments, is one of the great disciplines of a human life. And a beautiful question starts to shape your identity as much by asking it as it does by having it answered. And you don’t have to do anything about it. You just have to keep asking. And before you know it, you will find yourself actually shaping a different life, meeting different people, finding conversations that are leading you in those directions that you wouldn’t even have seen before.”
— David Whyte, On Being interview “The Conversational Nature of Reality”
To me, contemplating beauty and how to use it to survive a collapsing, self-immolating world is my devotion. Sharing what I learn on that journey as writing to you is something I cherish every day.
Whether you have the means to support as a paid subscriber or hang out with me on the free plan - thanks for spending time with me!
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Subscribe to get exclusive essays, articles, and letters I haven’t published elsewhere, previews of work I’m currently doing, and a heads-up on upcoming events and projects I’d love your help on.
What I Cover Here
Written about anti-fascism and hairstyling, and the circle of trauma responses,
The history of gauze, grief textiles, and collective mourning,
Dissected makeup brands that claim innovation, but lack an expansive foundation range,
Thought about Amazon’s impact on the climate crisis and celebrity skincare brands,
Explained the connection between the military industrial complex and beauty brands,
Went in on the finance of corporate caring (and how Lauder money funds conservative thinktanks),
Celebrated signing up for beauty school - you were the first people I told! And you’ll be the people I’ll write about the journey to, when classes begin.
Love.
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Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Or just like, shrewdly investigate why on earth Lorde tweeted this at me once:
Or why someone was adorable and sweet and good enough to do this:
How Your Support Makes a Difference
Your paid subscriptions are my main source of financial support as a writer. Thank you for helping shape my life and offering me the rare opportunity to dedicate my life to the thing I care about the most: care, and how beauty care shapes the world.
