Friends,
Happy Friday! We made it.
Welcome to the tenth (!) edition of Unpacking. If you’ve been enjoying this letter, please consider sharing it with a friend.
We hope on the national news front you’ve been feeling some relief or perhaps even moments of calm. I know we certainly have. Our mission with this newsletter is to unpack trends beneath the surface or a few steps away from what everyone else is covering, so in lieu of going deep on GameStock today, we’re going to talk about Zoom beauty.
Emily here. I re-watched Little Miss Sunshine last weekend and had forgotten how amazing it is. I had also forgotten how cringe-worthy the climactic scenes are when the main character, seven-year-old Olive, participates in a beauty pageant.
It made me wonder how our beauty standards will change in post-COVID times. And while beauty pageants and other in-person events are all (hopefully) paused for now, our society has other ways of reinforcing and transforming expectations around how to look good virtually — on screen. By the way, I want to acknowledge that not everyone has the luxury of working from home.
In March 2020, Zoom rolled out a touch up feature for a smoother, blemish-free appearance. This past fall, Zoom launched their studio effects feature, allowing users to artificially fill in eyebrows, apply a lip color or even facial hair. Or if changing your lip color IRL is more your style, see the Best Bold Lipsticks for Zoom calls. Some write-ups about how to appear on Zoom feel benign, focusing on lighting and posture. But others are not-so-disguised product placements, pushing $50 eye creams and $200 beard trimmers.
What should we be making of all this? On one hand, it is unsettling to feel like the market is applying pressure on us to continue on with beauty standards or pivot to new ones during an ongoing global tragedy.
And on the other hand, we know there’s a real connection between individuals taking care of their physical appearance and feeling confident and empowered. Or, that time spent on appearance is intricately linked with one’s expression of identity and self.
Here’s our hope: working over Zoom and living our pandemic lives can help us explore new ideas of beauty. For some, that could mean letting go of some things. For others, it could mean experiments in newfound small luxuries that otherwise wouldn’t happen.
Our thoughts on Zoom beauty
Emily: Some days, I totally feel the “let’s get dressed up to feel put together” thing. Putting on a pair of earrings is something I find especially helpful. And other days, I’m still in my pajamas when a Zoom call comes around and I just want to keep my video off. Bring back conference calls!
Carrie: I am a glutton for all kinds of beauty! In the dark thickness of covid-winter, we all need some razzmatazz, and I hope everyone feels free to indulge whatever feels beautiful to them. Also, does everyone know that on Zoom you can do “hide self view” while keeping your camera on? The double entendre is rough, but still … useful!
Water Cooler Conversation
Emily: Pivoting to home beauty here — I recently invested in some houseplants. Previously, I’ve only had this one big palm plant (pictured below). Now that I’m the keeper of several different plants with different water and sun needs, I am intimidated!
Carrie: I have THE book for you! The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith links the way our brains work with the way gardening works. It may sound like a snooze, but it’s so brilliant! I can’t put it down.
Emily: Here’s a COVID-during-winter tip for you, Carrie. Drive through, after-dinner dessert. Last night, Greg and I drove to a Krispy Kreme at 8 p.m. and it was a blast.
Carrie: Relatedly, we’ve been into curbside pick-up at Graeter’s for ice-cream sundaes. Their delivery and nationwide shipping game is also improving pandemic-month by pandemic-month.
Emily: Remember when you shipped me six pints of Graeter's? I do.
Thoughts on Zoom beauty? Feedback? You can respond directly to this email and we’ll feature some responses in our next edition.
Your newslettering pals,
Carrie & Emily