Editor’s Letter: A Look Again at 30 Years of Magnificence With Attract

This yr is Attract’s 30th Anniversary, and we’re celebrating by wanting again at iconic moments in magnificence from the previous three a long time. You’ll be able to learn extra articles like this one right here.

In 1991, I used to be an ungainly teenager, dabbling in Noxzema lotions and black kohl eyeliner, uncertain about my place on the planet, not to mention the place I match within the tradition of magnificence. 

Again then, magnificence was the sprig of parsley to vogue’s major entrée. Make-up artists and hairstylists have been a presence behind the scenes at runway reveals, however truly reporting on what they have been doing? It merely wasn’t a factor. Magazines highlighted make-up and hair, however as window dressing for the garments. The mega magnificence shops have been solely a twinkle of their creators’ eyes.

Then in March of that yr, Linda Wells launched Attract, which handled magnificence inventively, like a topic worthy of sharp, insightful writing, deep reporting, and a highlight all its personal. The premier situation (a steal at $2.50) featured a carefully cropped picture of a full-browed Stephanie Seymour on the duvet (earlier than the villainous skinny forehead pattern hypnotized us all). 

It was magnificence journalism with a spine. Attract would turn into the primary outlet to sort out the information of potential well being dangers related to sure sorts of silicone breast implants and one of many first to sound the alarm on the function of formaldehyde in some hair-straightening remedies. Years later, we’d ban the time period “anti-aging” from our lexicon and assist change the dialog about range in magnificence, together with our July 2017 “This Is American Magnificence” cowl with Halima Aden in hijab, our March 2018 Tradition of Hair situation, starring Lupita Nyong’o (that was a finalist within the Nationwide Journal Awards), and the latest digital cowl for our Great thing about Accessibility sequence with Ellie Goldstein, the unimaginable 19-year-old British mannequin with Down syndrome. 

With the reemergence of high-waisted denims, brown lipstick, Saved By the Bell, and sure, even flip telephones, it feels a bit like we have time-warped again to the ’90s. However, actually, we have come to this point. At present, magnificence is an important a part of our cultural dialog.