The morbid lifelessness of modern beauty

There’s a new beauty trend in town: why are women trying to look…lifeless?

Today’s guest, Jessica DeFino – beauty reporter, critic, and author of the FLESH WORLD Substack – says contemporary glamorization of anti-aging products and long dead icons like Caroline Bessette Kennedy all fall within a macabre beauty trend, what she calls ‘the morgue gaze.’ Ageless, poreless, lifeless beauty inspiration keeps consumers coming back for more numb, frozen aesthetics – forever. Jessica joins host Brittany Luse to break down what the morgue gaze is and why we’re so fascinated with the beauty of lifelessness.

(0:00) The Resurgence of Carolyn Bessette and the ‘Morgue Gaze’
(2:03) Aesthetic Immortality: Unpacking the Morgue Gaze’s Appeal
(5:49) From Mannequin Skin to Cadaver Fat: The Rise of Lifeless Beauty
(9:41) Billionaire Longevity: Transhumanism, AI, and the Undead Future
(12:59) The Dissociative Pout
(17:58) The Inescapable Grip of Beauty Culture

Want more about beauty? Check out these IBAM episodes: 
The beauty industry has an Epstein problem
Looksmaxxing is teaching men that pretty hurts.
Peptides & the pursuit of the “perfect” body

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