Book Review : No More Dirty Looks

I doubt my ability to succinctly review books. However, I've always wanted to be able to share what I think and feel about what I've read. I've long felt it's not my place to share what I think of a book because well, what do I know? But I am a reader, and I know a thing or two about something so my thoughts can't be that useless. Moreover, I am mostly conscious of my feelings after I read something (just ask any of my friends, I always recommend books based on how I feel after reading them, not particularly because of the ~literary value~ or ~themes~ or ~complexity~) so that kind of consciousness ought to mean something, right?

Anyways, I thought this blog would be an interesting platform for book reviews, especially beauty or skincare-related ones. 

Now, on to No More Dirty Looks. It was recommended by Mercedes in this video and based on online reviews, it has been recommended as the go-to for people who are interested to transition into green beauty.

Also guys, I discovered this yoghurt with aloe vera and it's life-changing.
At a whooping RM4 for 100g, it made me cry!

The authors, Siobhan O'Connor and Alexandra Spunt begin by explaining why they're going green: they realised their hair is only nice for a couple of hours after a trip to the salon. They were curious why, Googled here and there and what do you know, all these chemicals give you very temporary shine and prettiness, but long-lasting damage to the hair. The journalists that they are, they then investigated further into not just hair products and basically, this book is the product of that investigation. The book has sections dedicated to hair, face, make-up, body, nails and diet.

Each section has interesting and entertaining addendums; zapping stretch marks, detoxing highlights, interview with make-up artists. These are bits that reveal the "human" aspect of this book, something to gauge relevance for the readers. Then expectedly, you are told the bad things (chemicals), why they're bad, briefly the debates on whether they are actually bad and then the authors share green (better) alternatives.

I was skeptical before I read this book. I expected a holier-than-thou and a lot more fear-mongering, but to my pleasant surprise, there's minimum amount of both. I also expected snarky "Now you probably don't wanna put that in your body!"comments, which occurs, but not frequent enough to annoy me. However, I am frustrated by the fact that everything apparently causes cancer and I'm not sure if the authors are to blame for this. We are exposed to lot of chemicals that is associated to cancer. 

I enjoyed the discussion regarding the laws that regulate the use of chemicals in the beauty industry. The minimum control by the FDA, the monopoly of big beauty companies in the industry and the lobbying practices. It was eye-opening, although in my opinion, it is far from comprehensive. The authors would like readers to be aware of the private interests of conventional beauty giants and that critical consumption means you do your homework to research the safety of ingredients and credibility of advertising claims in products. 

But my biggest problem after reading this book boils down to how I feel after reading it. In spite of the minimum annoyance with regards to the fear-mongering of all the toxins that exist in everything we use, something bugs me. I simply can't relate to the context of beauty habits and consumptions and the suggested greener solutions. One would argue, if a book is based on facts, then my argument of relatibility has no value.

In my opinion, it does. I feel guilty boxing people into "audience this book is applicable to," and myself into "this ain't for me." It is understandable for writers to have an intended audience and I think the book is intended for modern women in the developed world, with access to Whole Foods and cares about feeling conventionally beautiful. I can't shake off the "valley girl" or the "ethical chic New Yorker" feel of this book. Essentially, I feel excluded by the witty addendum shared by the authors. I don't care for salons, I don't have access to most of the recommended products, I don't believe using food-stuff on my face is better (the Hirons school of thought: food stuff should be in the kitchen) and I am not a modern white woman. Let me be clear, I have no problem with salons, Whole Foods, avocados or anyone from any race. I am simply sharing the exclusion I felt from this book, and this fact alone reduces the utility of No More Dirty Looks for me.

Moreover, in spite of sharing facts about the chemicals present in products, I personally don't feel these are facts I don't already know or things I can't Google myself. My exposure to applied statistics has been mostly to empirical economics (context: I am an economist-in-training) and not the scientific use of statistics (e.g.: in medical statistics), but I live by "correlation =/= causation". Everything is associated to cancer, and referencing online articles that X "causes" cancer is not convincing enough. 

I think the book is a fun read in itself, but not something revolutionary if you're already exposed to the harms of fragrance and alcohol in skincare and cosmetics. I would recommend it if you can get a cheap copy. Otherwise, it's just like reading another beauty blog, which by the way No More Dirty Looks is a blog (I haven't read it prior to reading the book).

I would like to end on a positive note. While I don't feel I am the intended audience, it did spark some interest in me to be critical about the very economy of the conventional beauty industry and not as a consumer, but as an economist. It's an interesting industry as a case study, and I'm not just talking about the Lipstick effect. Like I mentioned, I enjoyed the discussion about regulations the most. Believe it or not, when Brexit happened, I was wondering if the UK will now have different versions of sunscreen than the Europeans. Will it be similar to American ones? Of course, I wonder this while I stock my skincare drawer with more Asian sunscreens.

I hope this review is not unnecessarily harsh, I only intend to be honest. More reviews to come, hopefully!