Selling Beauty
Book description
Morag Martin's history of the cosmetic industry in France examines the evolution of popular tastes and standards of beauty during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As the French citizenry rebelled against the excesses of the aristocracy, there was a parallel shift in consumer beauty practices. Powdered wigs, alabaster…
Why read it?
1 author picked Selling Beauty as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Women have long used face paint, hair dyes, and perfumes, despite the health risks associated with them. Martin skillfully analyzes the ambivalence women feel towards cosmetics, pushed by marketers who play on their desire to be beautiful, while moral philosophers attack the vanity and corrupting effects of artifice. The Age of Enlightenment introduced the paradox that still exists today: women are supposed to be “naturally” beautiful, but marketers convince us that beauty requires cosmetics to enhance our “natural” beauty. Like fashion, beauty is a commodity with political overtones.
From Christine's list on the beauty and the politics of fashion.
If you love Selling Beauty...
Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS
When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…
Want books like Selling Beauty?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Selling Beauty.
Share your top 3 reads of 2024!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,593
readers submitted
so far, will you?
