COVID-19 Pandemic Is Altering What I Take into account ‘Important’ in Magnificence — Essay

I’ve typed the phrase “important” a thousand occasions at the very least. I’ve used it to explain moisturizers and face mists and make-up bag must-haves. In each occasion, I lied. Properly, perhaps lied is an overstatement, however I did not inform the reality. I did not know the reality. Not likely. This new, pandemic world has proven me that.

Right here, “important” is reserved for the employees who maintain our well being of their arms: medical doctors, nurses, grocery clerks, farmers, janitors. It is put aside for life-saving measures, like sheltering in place and manufacturing ventilators. “Important” applies handy sanitizer and hospital beds, not hyaluronic acid serums.

I do not imply to insult cosmetics. I am a magnificence editor — I take pleasure in crimson lipstick as a lot as the following red-blooded make-up fanatic. However the reality is, the wonder merchandise I’ve stockpiled over time like survival provides are non-essential. It feels empowering to acknowledge that. Liberating, even. It is pushing me to think about who I’m with out the face crèmes and basis; to ponder the distinction between the issues I need and the issues I would like. It is forcing me to determine what actually issues, each within the midst of the present coronavirus disaster and past.

“Traditionally, pandemics have pressured people to interrupt with the previous and picture their world anew,” explains novelist Arundhati Roy in a latest article for the Monetary Instances. I see it taking place already; there is a renewed curiosity in holistic well being, a reemergence of victory gardens and an appreciation for nature, a quiet realization that the earth is therapeutic. I can not assist however hope the wonder world will break with its previous and start once more, too, in all the identical methods.

Well being is important

Take well being, for example, and this not-so-fun reality: Magnificence merchandise have “poisoned [people] slowly” all through historical past, from the lead-based make-up well-liked within the 18th century to the mercury spot therapies of the 19th century. Not a lot has modified since then. In 2010, traces of lead had been present in 100 % of the 400 lipsticks examined by the Meals and Drug Administration. As each a magnificence editor and a human being residing by a worldwide well being disaster, how can I proceed to advertise merchandise that probably put our well being in danger? How can I contemplate “clear” magnificence a distinct segment market as an alternative of a crucial commonplace?

It is more and more exhausting to argue with a precautionary strategy to safer cosmetics, when safety from the novel coronavirus is completely predicated on precaution. COVID-19 reinforces the actual fact there may be a lot we do not know — and will by no means know — about well being and the human physique (there isn’t any endorsed “remedy,” remedy, or vaccine). It reminds us that science is not static, and requirements want to vary when science does (bear in mind after we weren’t alleged to put on masks?).

So, sure, whereas the present security information on magnificence substances like parabens and retinol is taken into account inconclusive… are the outcomes well worth the danger? Proper now, as somebody surviving on pure precaution, my reply is not any.

Nature is important

I’ll not return to conventional “merchandise” in any respect, truly. The latest inflow of DIY magnificence content material proves that all the pieces I would like has been hiding in my kitchen this complete time. By no means has my pores and skin felt as smooth as after a raw-honey-and-chamomile masks. By no means has my scalp felt as recent as after an apple cider vinegar rinse. I now swear by turmeric paste as a spot remedy, coconut oil as physique lotion, and yogurt as a topical probiotic. (All scrumptious, by the way in which.)