On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus is joined by freelance beauty reporter, and author of The Unpublishable, Jessica DeFino to talk about why you probably don’t need all the lotions and potions in your cupboards. They start out by discussing Jessica’s recent Slate piece, “Why Your Skin Doesn’t Need Skin Care” and why other outlets turned the piece down. They then go behind the scenes of the beauty industry and talk about the toxicity of celebrity skin-care brands, what it’s like being fake Internet Khloe Kardashian, and why the industry keeps targeting women.

In Slate Plus, is the upcoming bar-soap trend feminist? 

Recommendations:

Shannon: Using the Peloton app for exercise (but not buying the equipment) 

Jessica: The Angela Caglia vibrating rose quartz facial roller

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus and June Thomas. 

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