Faking Morality: The Next Big Beauty Trend?

This is most likely going to be a shout into the void, and you know what? I'm okay with that. The new year is approaching fast and it'd be nice to revive this blog as a way to vent about the crap that really pisses me off in the beauty community. So be prepared for angry rambling and memes, because that's pretty much how I roll these days.

So what do I mean when I say fake morality being the next big thing? To be honest it's something I've seen trending in comments on Instagram and posts on Reddit for a long time and by this point in time the only make up you can purchase without giving money to an absolute shitlord is to make your own at home from organic beetroot.

I very much used to pride myself on only buying cruelty free products, I then ventured into only buying products where I believe the company does good (the blood positive adverts for Bodyform converted me in this sense), and then the subject of influencer conduct came in. A few years ago I very nearly purchased from Jeffree Star cosmetics because all of my friends were raving about his products. Don't get me wrong, I had been around in the myspace days and seen how he treated people, and it didn't exactly motivate me to purchase.

Before I made this purchase mistake the big drama between him and Kat Von D erupted in which he did not pay B.J. Betts for his logo design, which we can all agree was a dick move. I won't bore everyone with the drama of it all as in this day and age we all have google now, but for those wondering he did get paid in the end which was enough for me to believe that Jeffy boi was guilty and oh so sad he got called out.

With this the internet flooded with his old videos of racism and disgusting behaviour which would usually result in any other white guy in America getting knocked the fuck out at best. As always, some fans will be stans and stood by him despite his true colours shining through, however it's none of my business how people choose to spend their money and I respected anyone who used up their products before not repurchasing, because the world doesn't need any more waste. However I will lose respect for anyone instantly that tries to come up with excuses for his racist behaviour as he has done multiple times in place of an apology.

Legend says if you keep reading this post you'll find the point.

So began a new trend where everyone pulled out their internet shovels and started looking into the pasts of everyone who has even held a lipstick in a youtube video. It wasn't long after this that I became instantly irritated by the words "shade", "tea" and "cancelled" being parroted back and forth and the drama channels suddenly had a surge in popularity. I can happily say that I have never subscribed to one of these channels, but despite that I became very tired of the attitudes within beauty community.

Fast forward and we have people jumping all over Kat Von D for proclaiming that she will not vaccinate her child, a dangerous and overall ridiculous statement which she later cleared up, that was never actually discussed by the beauty community as far as I'm aware. Of course the initial controversy was picked up and paraded as a thinly veiled discussion slamming her, but her second statement was never even noted. This is where I began to feel strange about being subscribed to certain Instagram pages and Beauty Guru subReddits and I began to see just how toxic they can be.

For example; how many of you still watched The Grinch this last Christmas? I know I did despite being aware that Jim Carrey is one of the most outspoken anti-vaxxing celebrities, along with Jenny McCarthy who both believe that vaccines cause autism. A dangerous view as not only are children not being protected from preventable diseases but it also fosters this okay attitude people have with treating those with autism as though they are something to be cleansed from the earth.

Even Robert DeNiro has sparked controversy with his views on vaccination, yet we'll all still watch Meet the Fockers for a good belly laugh. My point being that if people really did care about the whole vaccination controversy then it would cover all anti-vaxxers, not just the ones you have imaginary beef with. You especially wouldn't be trolling their accounts wishing death on their baby, personally one of the most disturbing moments during this whole issue as I was pregnant at the time.

It seems to me that people are optionally passionate when it comes to influencers and brands, and while we can't be expected to care about every issue at the same time ever, it really doesn't hold much weight when there's a lack of consistency.

Borrowed from a much better sub is the tweet above which does a fantastic job summarising the issue with the current beauty community. Racism is truly a insidious thing and with how divided we all are at the moment, this really should be one thing we can band together against and agree that it's truly awful and not just some way to try and destroy the career of someone who you've decided you don't like because the big scary bully told you how to feel.

I don't know about anyone else, but I got into the beauty community because I like to have fun with make up, and it's actually now my job. The fun has been drained from it because of the dramatisation and the school yard tactics which grown ass people (no matter how fucking vapid) should be over.

The conclusion I have come to is that every company has a human running it, and every human is capable of nasty shit. Watch whoever you want and purchase whatever you want if it makes you feel good. However if you know that person is trash then do not defend them, especially on hot issues such as vaccines and racism as while these issues may not effect you personally you do not speak for everyone and there is always someone who has felt hurt from these issues previously.

If you care about racism, stand up against it in all its ugly ass forms. If you care about sexism then shout with your fellow feminist for equality. If you care about public health then spread awareness whenever possible. But don't cherry pick what you don't like just to be a dick, because that is a petty ass way to get anyone to see your point.

As much as these toxic places such as r/BeautyGuruChatter and Guru Gossip believe they are the whole reason people get "cancelled" (ugh), what they don't seem to realise is that actually retail as a whole is changing and especially in the UK we are seeing a lot of bad news about stores closing or going into administration. Because of this even non-problematic brands are suffering which is very sad, but unfortunately consumer habits have changed and some stores have failed to keep up with the times. If Lime Crime can turn it around then anyone can survive in the beauty world.

What are your thoughts on the current situation? Do you stay out of the drama of beauty influencers and brands? Do you just purchase what you want no matter what anyone else says? Are you guilty of a big online shop?