Caveman Skin, DIY Injectables, and the Demedicalization of Medical Care
I am begging you to take your face seriously.
The most talked-about beauty video on TikTok this week is, unfortunately, the woman who decided to try the “caveman skin” routine, which consists of…nothing. Not just the no lotion, no serum, no SPF routine of every boy I knew in middle school, but also no cleansing and, initially, not even rinsing with water though she has since decided H2O is actually probably fine. (Makes sense: They did have water in the Paleolithic Era.) Seven weeks in, her skin is covered in something that the medical professionals stitching her videos and reacting in her comments sections are pretty sure is some type of fungal infection.
I’m not going to link to her videos because I find them deeply upsetting and suspect they are ragebait, but they’re easy to find if you must. But I am mentioning her because I think what she is doing is related—perhaps obliquely—to the rising trend of people giving themselves filler and neuromodulator injections at home, which Allure deputy beauty director Elizabeth Siegel wrote about this week. Setting up a personal medspa in your own home tends to lead to disastrous results—the story describes some injections-gone-wrong in detail—not least of all because if you don’t have a medical license, you legally cannot buy the prescription-only, FDA-approved products like Botox and Juvéderm, which means the syringes you order online are likely filled with something else entirely.
This is not a “your body is a temple” thing. I have many tattoos and piercings and think people should be allowed to mess with their appearance if they want to. But I am uneasy with the fact that, as Siegel puts it, “we’re living in a time where medical procedures have, arguably, been demedicalized.” Things like filler and neuromodulator and, to a point, plastic surgery have become so commonplace that we forget they are actual medical procedures with plenty of associated risks. (To further drive that point home, let me direct you to another story we published this week, a first person piece from a woman who got jawline injections and ended up with a crooked smile. Certainly not a life-threatening side effect, but also not the results one would hope for after dropping a ton of cash on a procedure.) People like the caveman skin woman ignore the advice of experts because movements like MAHA have empowered them to believe they somehow know better than professionals who have studied and trained in a specific field for years.
It may feel like this is a unique period of scientific backsliding, but we have been here before. The medical history podcast Sawbones recently released a great episode about the Medical Freedom Movement, which started back in the 1950s with the radical-right John Birch Society. The JBS remained a fringe group because the general public recognized that their conspiracy theories were just that. At the time, the group was taken so unseriously that artists like Bob Dylan and John Denver performed songs making fun of it. Now, some of their guiding principles (they really hated fluoridated water and civil rights) are back in the conversation.
It gives me some comfort to know that humanity has survived previous periods of extreme medical distrust and dangerous propaganda. Hopefully we get past this one without too many people permanently screwing up their faces.
Around the World
If you are itching to try some new beauty approaches, perhaps you could take inspiration from makeup artist Nam Vo, who just got back from an aesthetics tour of South Korea. She shared her eight day diary with Allure, which outlines all the procedures she got while in Seoul (she ran the treatments and clinics by her dermatologist friend in the States before she went) and includes this very wise sentiment:
“A lot of beauty tourists want to go budget friendly. But the idea of going to a ‘factory clinic’ made for a TikTok clientele, to a doctor whose qualifications you don’t know, who will herd you in and out like you’re on a conveyor belt, was not a path that made me feel safe,” she says. “I'm not saying that you can't get good results that way, but I’d personally cut costs by staying at a cheaper hotel, or skipping Michelin-starred restaurants. Anytime there's a needle or laser involved, I want to know that the people who are working on me are highly qualified.”
Reporting Live
Here’s something that doesn’t require a passport: Allure creative director Amber Venerable had a grand old time at Ulta Beauty World in San Antonio this past weekend, so I asked her for a recap of the event (which was getting tons of buzz on social media). “For me, the most impressive thing was the number of activations at the event—I believe there were 200,” she says. “There was a line around the building before it opened up so I thought it was gonna be bonkers [inside] but you were actually able to chat with people at each brand’s activation without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.”
Some of the booths she enjoyed most were Clarins (“like a science lab”), Supergoop! (“a summer movie theater surrounded by our favorite sunscreens”), Pattern (“they were testing your hair follicles to match to what products would work for you”), and Estée Lauder (“a cafe…where you could pick up coffee). And, of course, Lolavie: “There was a charm making station,” she says. “I chatted it up with their team about our legendary Allure cover with [Lolavie founder] Jen Aniston.”
Just a Poke
I know summer is actually the worst time to get a tattoo (new ink has to be kept out of the sun and can’t get wet) but swapping pants and sweaters for shorts and tank tops just makes the pull of the needle that much stronger. If you are also feeling the urge for some fresh body art, a teeny tiny tattoo like the ones in this roundup might be the way to go since their small size makes them easier to protect from the elements while they heal. (I will not be taking my own advice—I’m getting two big ones in about three weeks—so, you know, do whatever you want.)
Tariff Talk
If you’re a SpaceNK shopper, you got an email this week saying the company would be placing a temporary pause on e-commerce orders and shipping to the U.S. “as we adapt to the latest U.S. tariff regulations.” I’ve seen companies raise product prices or add tariff-related surcharges at checkout, but this is the first beauty company I’m aware of that has totally stopped U.S. shipments. Have you seen any others?
Gamer Girls
I am…intrigued? baffled? cautiously delighted? by the news that Chloë Grace Moretz and Rina Sawayama are launching a beauty brand at the end of May. The brand is called Godmode and is “inspired by the gaming world” (both Moretz and Sawayama are “longtime female gamers,” according to the press release I received). The collection will feature “metallic eyeshadow palettes, gel pencils, glosses, lip liners, and a multi-use highlighter in the shape of an egg” and is “a new type of celebrity cohort brand, [that brings] their expertise from their various disciplines as creative collaborators.” OK…we’ll see.
This week, I can’t stop talking about…
Half Magic Sparklestik Eye Crayon
If I’m going to wear an eye shadow these days, it needs to 1) be easy to apply and blend and 2) sparkly in a way that catches the eye but doesn’t suck all of the focus. These shadow sticks from Half Magic are my ideal.
The brand launched four new shades in March, bringing the options up to 10 colors that range from neutral beiges to etherial shades of blue. They’re creamy as heck and blend out with your fingers. And, perhaps most importantly, last all day without even a sliver of creasing.
