Policy Press
This groundbreaking ethnographic study lifts the lid on the dark side of beauty – revealing why young people are willing to inflict self-harm in the pursuit of ‘perfection’ and exploring the motivations for using, buying and selling counterfeit beauty products and services.

The beauty industry thrives on creating a sense of dissatisfaction with appearance, with social media adding pressure to conform to idealized images of beauty. This has led to a growing use of products for bodily improvement such as facial injectables and weight loss drugs, which have arguably become increasingly normalized throughout society.

This groundbreaking ethnographic study lifts the lid on the dark side of beauty – revealing why young people are willing to inflict self-harm in the pursuit of ‘perfection’ and exploring the motivations for using, buying and selling counterfeit beauty products and services.

“The Harms of Beauty exposes the ugly side of the industries which charge our relentless yet futile pursuit of image perfection and delves deep into the everyday buyer and seller propping up the profits. Essential yet disturbing reading!” Daniel Briggs, Northumbria University

Sam Barnes is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Arden University.

1.Introduction

2.Contemporary Subjectivity and Hyper-Comparison

3.The Changing Nature of Beauty, Enhancement and Harm

4.The Contemporary Seller and the Myth of the ‘Organized Criminal’

5.Consuming (Counterfeit) Beauty; Consuming Aesthetic Pleasure

6.From Filters to Fillers: The Real-Life Instagram Face

7.Botox, Booze and ‘Bonding’

8.Conclusion