EWB 3.13 V1 nick: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Eyewitness Beauty, the podcast where we talk about the biggest stories in the beauty industry each week. I am Nick Axelrod. Welcome, joined as always by Diamond Creekbaum, who is slowly morphing into Jessica Rabbit with sweat stains as we Speak as we pause Annie: and it's hard to wear like a medium toned shirt these days, you know, I nick: mean speaking of botox i'm wearing my glasses again Because well both you didn't weren't you the one who was saying you want to get botox in your armpits? Annie: No. Baby: Oh, that must have been someone else. I know Annie: why people do it. It's a nick: It just feels like you have one body that has a system that is meant to be [00:01:00] doing the thing that it's doing, and if you stop it from doing it in one place, it's gonna pour out of another. Annie: Yeah. That's what I don't understand. I'm like, I don't think it's good to like, stop sweating altogether. I nick: don't think it is. And also, guess what? Apparently, like, if you get Botox in your armpits Your back, like your back, you know, like you're, you'll start sweating in your like lower back, like more like the sweat has to go somewhere. Annie: It's got to, nick: don't I know it? No, but I was like speaking of Botox, I got a little, let's just say, let's just call it a touch up a, at the body shop, so to speak. So my face, I mean, podcasting as a visual medium, this is. point, but my face I got a little tiny bit of filler in my lower lip because I read an article in New York post about 10 years ago that said that men's beauty comes from like a big lower lip or something like that. I'm paraphrasing. [00:02:00] So I make Casey give me just lower lip filler. And then I also got PRF, which is like PR, PR, but like gone psycho. So it's like platelet rich plasma. So they take your own blood and then they spin it in a centrifuge. And by that I mean my husband and then they separate it into the gold liquid, gold plasma. And then the other stuff, I don't know what they do with the other stuff, but with the gold plasma, somehow that turns into, uh, Something other than just plasma in this new version of it and it's called PRF and it is It's like natural Your body's own like filler. It's like it can Annie: like a BBL when you take your fat from [00:03:00] nick: Casey what does PRF stand for? Platelet rich fibrin. What? Platelet rich fibrin. Fibrin. So how is it different than plasma? It's more concentrated. It's more concentrated. And the process of, um, yielding it is much more complex. And the process of yielding it is much more complex. Annie: Which means it's better. nick: Which means it's better. Anyway, so that's what I got. I got it in my lower face. And, uh, How do you inject it? Annie: Just with a little, is it like a little botox? A cannula. No, no, nick: it's like, it's a cannula. It's a whole thing. It's just like, it's, it's, it's a much more subtle. version of filler. And it's natural. It's obviously of your own body. So you're like your body, it's not a foreign thing. Anyway, long story short, I am, I get really swollen after getting anything. So I look kind of like the human Ken doll right now. that's me. That's [00:04:00] my body. And that's all I got to say. Annie: Thank you. That's great. nick: Thank you. In fact, you know Annie: what? I was, I don't know, with a friend last night and he was like, Oh, I saw Nick on Alexis's stories and in Korea, he looks so thin. nick: Thank you. Annie: This is, this is a, this is a, an ally, which in our world means a straight guy that listens to the podcast. And I think he heard episodes of you like. Talking about gaining weight. So he was like, Nick's crazy. He was nick: expecting. Well, no, I mean, did you tell him it's been a year long weight loss journey? No, I told him I said Annie: I saw him in December and he looked like Gorgeous. Yeah. No, I wasn't concerned with his weight. nick: Oh meaning like he thought I looked too thin Annie: No, I just like I want to straddle the line nick: You know, if my Annie: mom's not worried [00:05:00] about me, then I'm not Yeah, no nick: I do I do know Yes, we hope we encourage everyone to have positive feelings about their bodies, but we don't. Annie: And for me, it's more of a practical thing. It's more like my, if my clothes don't fit, this is an issue. Cause I'm not ready. I always thought like when you turn 30, you get your hair cut in like a Vidal Sassoon little bob and you wear theory suits nick: every day. And, and had that not been the case for you? What do you think? nick: You have very long hair. I mean, do you believe that women should have to cut their hair short after 30? Annie: No, I just think it was a thing that everybody did in the 90s, right? Don't you think? nick: My mom definitely did. [00:06:00] There's like cute pictures of her, was pregnant with me, and she had very short hair. I hear the stomping of an angel. This is, you know what, this is real life. This is podcasting in Oh, my bush. Baby: I want to say bye bye to you. Okay, I love you. I love you. Baby: Abby. Who's this? That's Annie. Say hi, Annie. Say hi, Eyewitness Beauty. Hi. Say, um, say, this is Eyewitness Beauty. What's this? That's a microphone. Hi. Baby: Hi. Okay. Goodbye. Have a good day. I'll see you later. See Annie: you later. Hop nick: little bunny. Okay. Anyway, should we get into beauty news? Annie: So my mom would get her hair cut like once a month like to perfection, like a little like stacked [00:07:00] bob at like this really nice salon. And then, and she always took me and to get the exact same haircut. I'm like, why are you so obsessed with like, Making me into you like there's something you need to explore that, you know No nick: I didn't listen to you because I just got a little bit of Kate Middleton gossip and a text message Annie: We need to leave all this in the pod so people can hear how Nick is abusive to me nick: Are we not concerned about Kate Middleton? What? I didn't care. I really didn't care and think one thing of it. Until the Photoshop fail. The Mother's Day Photoshop picture where it's like composite of like seven different images. And then, Did you see this whole thing? Annie: No, I did, but my whole thing was like No, nick: but then did you see how they made her They made her release a statement saying that she had edited it herself? Annie: Yes, you didn't see my I [00:08:00] did a hilarious joke No, I did, I did, I did, yeah, you did. nick: You did do a hilarious joke. Annie: Topical it was like within hours. Yeah, she was like nick: as any amateur photographer knows like sometimes you take it too far with retouching I'm like to make Kate dead or alive Take responsibility for what was clearly the firm's bad editing Annie: Well, here's the thing people are freaking out because they think like it's so it's such extreme bad PR So egregious something really but I'm like when has the firm ever Done a good job with PR. Never, never. It's like, it's, it's, it's their arrogance. They think that like, they can just nick: say it Annie: or just like do shit and not like think critically about it. And I really think it's so insular and they have, there's, they're so out of touch that they just bungle things that shouldn't be that big of a deal.[00:09:00] nick: Yeah. But like, what do you, so what do you think, what's your conspiracy theory? Where's, where's Kate? I've heard with Shelly, with Shelly Miscavige. Annie: Well, from what I've seen, there's probably truth to them having like, marital issues. nick: Oh, okay, that's your angle. Annie: But I also think, like, why can't she actually be sick and recovering? It seems like a little, I don't know, this like, There's an entitlement that like everybody needs to know. But why does she need to? Yeah, but the nick: taxpayers pay her salary. That's the whole thing. It didn't, have you not watched any of the Harry and Meghan documentaries and podcasts and reenactments? Annie: I don't know. I feel like a little. nick: Okay. It's, you don't have to perform. It's literally, the monarchy is the most performative thing that we have. Like there's, it's, it's literally just performance. You're basically a paid performer. It's like doing, it's like Disney World Mickey Mouse, but [00:10:00] like, people don't think it's funny. Annie: So, she's not allowed to have, like, time off to recover from a serious medical procedure? nick: She is, but she has to give the people more information. Annie: She did! They did! They said she wasn't going to make any public appearances until Easter. nick: Okay, but then she, people weren't okay why is Annie: And started saying she was dead. nick: Okay, well Ridiculous. Okay, so you think that she's having marital problems? Annie: I think it's, I think she's got, did probably get a procedure. She's recovering and what'd she get? They said her stomach was fucked up. Here's what nick: I think. And this is like, based on some gossip and rumors that I've been subject to party too. To Annie: all the, like, if anyone knows. What's going on in this whole world. I have a direct line nick: to the, to [00:11:00] Buckingham palace. Um, here's what I have. I think that Kate has Crohn's disease and she has long suffered from Crohn's and that she had to get her colon removed and she's getting a colostomy bag and it's embarrassing and they don't, and like, she doesn't like, they don't know how to sort of like talk about this, like sort of quote unquote embarrassing thing. Annie: Yeah. Okay. I would say that that like, That seems like a fair, right? I don't think that there's like, I think she's like fully bought into like, I don't think she's like trying to leave the royal family. I think that whether or not the Crones was exacerbated by the stress that Meghan Markle put her under, just saying, just saying, just saying, just saying. nick: I'll say without revealing too much of my royal connections. Let me just say that Did I ever told you this? When I was like, after Into the Gloss, Glossier, I was like consulting for two years and my friend was [00:12:00] like, Oh, would you talk to this woman, Megan, who is like on this USA show that I'd never talked to, I never heard about Suits. She's starting a blog and wants like advice about how to like monetize it. Like sponsored content, advertising, et cetera. It was called the TIG, which was like based on some dumb wine analogy. Anyway, I had like a 30 or 40 minute conversation with Megan during which we were like, had planned to have dinner. Like I was like, well, like I can, let's talk in person. So you're saying your contact is Megan. You're saying you heard this true from Megan. Yeah. Well, no, it actually, it, there's a sad ending to this story, which is that. Two weeks later, I like confirmed, like, hey, are we still on for dinner? And she was like, are you kidding me? Like, you think we're still having dinner? Like, I Like when you've been like [00:13:00] radio silent and it was because she had like emailed me to like advertising offers That I was waiting. I was gonna wait until dinner to talk to her about like I wasn't gonna give her work I wasn't gonna do work for her for free Annie: Did she say what she actually said? Are you kidding? nick: Yeah Annie: I love that. nick: And I was like, okay Annie: Oh, I love her. Oh, I love when women You Express themselves and call people out for like bad behavior. But my behavior wasn't nick: bad. Her behavior was bad. She was expecting me to start just like working for her for free before we had even had a conversation about how much I charged. Annie: Well, that's, that's a give and take. That's a setting expectations. That's a communication issue. nick: I think the first hour that I gave her of advice was free. Annie: Did you not email her back and say let's talk about this at dinner? nick: Let's see if I can find it. I don't Annie: know You sat there fuming [00:14:00] thinking she's trying to give me a word for free and i'm gonna i'm gonna teach her a lesson and not respond nick: Oh Annie: And she said nick: I so hold on. So this is she said fucking attitude February 24th 2015. I wrote to her. We dropped the ball on dinner. How long are you in town question mark? and then She wrote, are you serious? Annie: Can't even take accountability. Everybody blames Megan, go ahead, go ahead. nick: She wrote back, are you serious? I emailed you three times after we spoke and never heard back from you. Annie: Yep, I knew it. nick: And also, she had one, she like had a custom, this is like good gossip actually, she had one of those like, you know how people say like, sent from my spaceship, instead of like, sent from my iPhone? Like they make their own custom, like footer. Hers said, sent while on the go for the TIG, please excuse grammatical uh ohs and terrible typos. I'm a Luddite. I hate anyone who [00:15:00] like says that they're a Luddite. Like that was too, Annie: that was too many words too. That wasn't a cute sign off. nick: And so then I wrote back, I have been nonstop with fashion week programming and the Oscars just took the red eye back this morning. We were going to discuss integrated ad deals in person. I am mulling over what you should charge. It's not an easy answer because your traffic isn't super high, but your social and public profile are. It really depends on the advertiser and specifics of the deal. My apologies for the delay on getting back to you on the two emails you sent. I swear it was nothing personal. And she never wrote back. Annie: Nick. nick: So, you know what Annie: I say? Nobody did anything wrong even though you're trying to blame Megan I think it's good that like I think it's good that you both expressed yourselves I think you could if my only note is like you could have just emailed her back the first time She emailed you and said like hey, let's talk about this live when we get dinner nick: Well, but I had set the expectation that was like let's talk about this when we have dinner [00:16:00] I gave I talked to her for an hour. I think it was a little presumptuous To like keep on emailing me asking me for help while You Like I had set the expectation and the boundary that I'd be willing to talk about business when we met in person. Annie: There's only one conclusion to this and that is we need Jada to pull out that red table. nick: Oh my God, we should go on the red table talk. We need to go Annie: on Facebook. nick: I know. The funny thing is, like, I had never heard of, well, obviously, I had never heard of Suits, I had never heard of Meghan Markle, I had never heard of any of this, so I was like, also, like, I was like, like, you want me to consult for you for this thing? Was she, was she Annie: dating, was it out that she was, like, with Prince Harry? nick: No, this is 2015. Annie: I have no idea how long ago that was. nick: Oh, nine years ago. Um, and she started dating, let's see when she started dating Harry. She started dating Harry. [00:17:00] 2016 so she already Annie: knew I bet they were already dating and she was like, no way. No, no, nick: no, no, no, no. I just think she wanted me to like work for free and was like, and handled it weirdly. Granted I should have responded, but it was the most important season award season. Like I, that and, and, and actually. That was the one year where I was a red carpet correspondent for ABC's online Oscar coverage. So I actually was, like, on the red carpet at the Oscars that year. You're not buying it. Annie: No, no, no. I'm buying it. nick: And it was fashion week. It was, you know? Annie: I'm over fashion week. I don't care about fashion week. nick: Megan, if you listen, if you're listening to this, In retrospect, it was kind of on me. I should have written back and said, listen, I'm really busy right [00:18:00] now. And. I take, I take responsibility for that. Annie: And honestly, you dodged a bullet Megan. Cause we look, this podcast has been around for how many years and it's not much nick: and we can not true. Honestly, how good of the, how, you know what I mean? Like how, I think you like figured out how to monetize your business better than I could have ever helped you do, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Annie: all the podcasts, podcast world is like nick: crashing Annie: major. Like, nick: I know, I know. Were you the one that spoke to Annie: me with Alex? What? Oh, the Alex nick: Earle thing? Annie: Cooper. nick: Oh, yeah. Well, she started a network Annie: Yeah, I mean she has like the most nick: popular Podcast like on the internet. This is my impression of Alex Cooper. So do you like giving blowjobs? So when you were dating Brad Pitt, like, was he a good kisser? Annie: Yeah. She's not a good, [00:19:00] she's not a, I'm like, are you kidding me? I'm like, but nick: can I say one, can I say, can I say something about that? when I was a celebrity interviewer for a brief period of time, it is all pre Worked out premeditated like the questions you're asking what you can talk about what you can't talk about Etc. Right. There's obviously certain venues where like Marc Maron or you know, Howard Stern or Really like that's it. Maybe now Dax Shepard where celebrities And their publicists agree they can ask anything, though. I imagine there's still certain things that they can't ask about, you know, like, and I've just been in enough of these situations to know that you're either allowed to talk about whatever, or it's very specific.[00:20:00] You know, like, you're there to promote X thing. You have to devote X number of X number of minutes to that thing. You're there to promote. And then otherwise, like, you can talk about anything. But again, I'm sorry. I'm being long winded. What all of us just to say, like, I'm not impressed that it's not that Alex Cooper has, like, the balls or the journalistic, you know, skills to, like, Ask these hardball questions, it's that she's been given permission to like, ask the things that anyone else would ask if they were given that permission. Baby: Yeah. nick: Like, you can't like, go up on a red carpet to Gwyneth Paltrow and ask her, who is a better kisser, Ben Affleck or Brad Pitt? You know what I mean? Like, she just would literally, her, the publicist would be like, this conversation's not happening. Annie: Yeah, but I think that she kind of, created that for herself, like her and Sophia being so, like, crass and unfiltered about their own lives. Right, but it nick: wasn't them, right, but it wasn't them interviewing celebrities [00:21:00] in the beginning, was it? No, I know, Annie: but I'm saying, like, I'm saying it, like, positioned her to Now I'll being able to like interview people. She was authentic Dick. That and like Yeah. Ask the same things. Yeah. Like, it's not like it's Katie Kirk being like, So tell me tell . nick: Right? No, . So, so D 69 a lot. Annie: No, I was gonna make a, that joke just came to me too quickly. Sorry. I know it's really inappropriate. I'm just nick: gonna , but no, I guess you're right that like it was years of setting the found, you know, creating the foundation. Mm-Hmm. , nick: where she would be able to. You know talk about sex stuff unfiltered, right? Annie: Yeah, because like I wouldn't do that. I have too much Dignity, sorry nick: that sounds there's a lot of there's a lot of judgment in the word you chose Is it about dignity or is it about? Hang ups Annie: No, it's dignity nick: insecurity [00:22:00] Annie: No, it's But Annie: and that's okay to say that doesn't mean i'm not like sex positive. I'm just saying like of having put so much of my life online at the beginning of my career and seeing how Not good it felt and actually it did all go away I was just talking to a writer that I worked with back then Like yesterday the day before and she was like, you know, everything's like been wiped from the internet. I was like, you gotta be kidding me Thank god. nick: Yeah. Yeah okay now it's time for top stories And this is probably the number one story of this past week dwayne the rock johnson Launched men's skin care and it's called Papatui. Which is Hawaiian for redundant. No, just kidding. It is. Annie: Is he Hawaiian? [00:23:00] nick: Oh, oh, sorry. It honors his, so he's Samoan. His Samoan grandfather, the high chief Peter Mavia, Tui was his nickname for Johnson and Papa translate to, translates to rock in Samoan. So Papa and Tui. It's launching in Target and it has like a tattoo bomb thing. The packaging is stock packaging and they're expecting first year sales to be between 40 million and 50 million. Annie: Um, that's not, you remember the brand Art of Sport? Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just went on their website. They don't even have an e com site anymore. It just redirects you to Amazon. So, nick: actually what's funny about that is like two years ago they were the, whatever, the private equity firm or the VC that had the majority stake in that company was shopping at a round to sell it because it was co founded by Kobe [00:24:00] Bryant. RIP and I think when he wasn't that involved during his life, but then certainly when he died, like the air was sucked out of anything that he was working on. And that was one of the things, and I think I wanna say it ended up like they were shopping it for like $5 million for like the assets Annie: they, they, but it wasn't doing well. A lot of big celebrities still as involved in it. And yes. So like even without Kobe's involvement, they still had a list like athletes. Hyping the brand and being in the ads and stuff. So I'm just like, it's, again, I think this is going to be another example of like celebrity brand that like. People don't want to people care to buy like this shit from a celebrity. Sorry. I don't know She's like glam and like No, you don't can I say? He and his his suit was too his his silk. Yeah, too tight was too tight the other night and he looked like a ball [00:25:00] sack nick: I love the rock. I think he's charming and fun and I would not buy skin. I just feel like he's like, like male celebrities, I think are tougher to buy from because a lot of times male celebrities audiences are women, right? It's like how Emily Ratajkowski promoting something for women doesn't really make that much sense because the majority of people who follow her are men. You know, so like there are very few male celebrities who I think have like a male audience and I feel like the rock is one where like, guys want to go see a rock movie. Girls are happy to go see a rock movie. And like, I think guys might buy it. Annie: Nobody sees. Nobody saw black Adam. Right. But we nick: all we all make mistakes. Annie: I think I think this is. I think this is the physical version of block out. [00:26:00] Um, I think it's another like ego. You didn't need to do this, nick: but I mean, he has very successful other businesses. Like, oh, he has a Tara. He has a tequila. It's called Tara mana. Annie: Fucking tequila brands. nick: He has, what else does he have? Oh, Annie: and then Kylie doing a, a seltzer drink now. nick: Oh yeah. He has ZOA Energy, an energy drink. He has Project Rock apparel brand. Annie: Yeah, these are very successful. nick: I thought he like did he, I thought he was. Annie: Also the thing though, like weird, like secret about these drink brands is like, it's really easy to launch a kind. And in fact, there's like, there's incubators for like Anheuser Busch where they just pay like a group of people to come up with brands, like five brands once a quarter. And [00:27:00] see which one works? Yeah, and just throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. Because it's all brand, it's not nick: product, it's not like product, like formula. No, it's just like a flavored seltzer vodka. Like yeah. Annie: Yeah. Yeah, I guess like it's really easy It's really appealing for celebrities like want to start like a beverage brand because of how Like turnkey it is nick: When do you think that when do you think we will really? Fatigue on the Kardashians, because I just saw not only did Kylie like launch a another brand that seltzer brand hard seltzer, but she also is now like, starring in the Sam Edelman campaign, like being shot as like, you know, a model and I'm like, when, like, she's still being like, they're still being cast in campaigns. Annie: Yeah, when will they stop? She does more than kindle. I think she gives like she's I think she's better in front of the camera than [00:28:00] kindle nick: Just but like I thought we were kind of getting to like peak saturation and like not being interested Anymore, but then I like see things like that Annie: They're they're they're throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. nick: Yeah But that's kind of like Anheuser Busch and their five brands a quarter. It's like, they're like, let's just launch things and maybe one will be a Skims, one might be a Kylie cosmetics. Like, let's just see. Annie: Yeah. I mean, I guess it's the same as like a VC firm, like investing in a ton of different things and being, and seeing. It's not like they're, I Annie: mean, there's different levels. There's, there's good VCs and there's shitty ones. Um, but they're it's ultimately like, you know, just putting bets on like different numbers and roulette and seeing like, What happens? And so they're just doing it for themselves. Do I, I don't think I don't like it. nick: I like, I, when I was in Korea with [00:29:00] Alexis Page, our mutual friend, Alexis Page she and I were looking at all of the brands, like the skincare brands that exist in the market and every brand. And I was also, I was there. Probably like six years ago or seven years ago. And it was like mind blowing all the new, like the brands that were, I saw. And this time every brand is a copy, like a carbon copy of diptych by Rado. And Santa Maria novella, like that apothecary thing diptych or by radio being kind of the outlier was at san serif and you know, a little bit more like luxury feeling, but the diptych Santa Maria novella thing, everything there's like, and like some of the most popular new brands that have popped up in the last few years, like. I nick: forgot, like, there's one called, like, not normal. It's like, it's all the jumbled letters, like diptyque candles. they're like, [00:30:00] have like funny Italian names. Like it's, that is the vibe and that is the aesthetic. And I was like, wait, like, I kind of, I had thought that like Korea, I think Korea is obviously still leading in terms of formula innovation and ingredients, but in terms of brand, like, they're now taking the lead from. Western Europe and the U S Annie: Oh, like they're, mirroring. nick: Yeah. Yeah. Which I, which I, I'm Annie: so nervous to record with you. nick: Don't worry about it. But yeah, I just thought that was interesting. And so Alexis and I were thinking like, why don't we just, we could literally just create a bunch of like Diptyque, Byredo, Santa Maria Novella, Aesop y feeling ideas and brands. And just like launch them in Korea as a business. Annie: That scares me. Do you think you would know that you think you know the market well enough to no [00:31:00] actually launch? No, nick: no, no, no, no, no. Annie: I mean I would I mean it would be great if like one of the Big manufacturers over there was like, Hey, we'll pay you to do this. nick: It would be, it would be smart. Yeah. But it was just funny. It was interesting to see like, how, like the stranglehold that Diptyque has on the Korean beauty market. Everything is, looks like diptych. Annie: Well, they say that too, about China, like any American brand, like they'll like go nuts for it. nick: But think about like 10 years ago, Dr. Jart and Laneige and all these brands, which didn't, they were not that their vibes were not at all copying anything American or like, you know, European. Annie: Yeah. But I guess over there, that's so many of the brands look like that though. So, no, no, right. But it's just funny. Like nick: now the new trend is kind of like pulling these like heritage, I guess, again, by radio being the outlier, but like diptych is sort of a heritage. Annie: They're fragrance [00:32:00] brands. So they're not nick: skincare. No, some of them are skincare. Like there's one really popular skincare brand called Dalba D apostrophe. A L B a It's like a relatively like expensive perfumed, but skincare brand. And it's like all around like Italian, like ingredients and like the, it's like Santa Maria novella, which is like, thought that was funny. Interesting. Shout out to Charlotte Cho, who connected me with her lovely sister who took us on a trend tour. In the new Hyundai mall, which opened in 2021, I think. And it's an insanely enormous, fancy, fancy, shmancy mall. And took us to a few other cool places. Annie: Charlotte took me to my first, um, Korean spa. And like within like 10 minutes of meeting each other, we were like ass naked. [00:33:00] That's nick: a beautiful way. Okay, Annie: hold on. Okay. We have, nick: we have a lot of other top stories to, to, to cover. Celine, Celine is launching beauty. Annie: I think they're, I think they're launching beauty in the same way that they have all their other knickknacks at the front of their store. I think it's just like, nick: What I think is funny about Celine launching beauty is that it's like a man launching beauty. Like, and it's starting with like a red lipstick that feels very, very much like the, uh, male lens, right? And, and it says here, the creation of Celine beautÈ comes to enrich the cultural roots, promoting a French idea of femininity and allure distilled over the last five years by Eddie Slimane in his new institutional codes for the Maison Celine, the house said in the statement, I'm [00:34:00] like, what is heady? Know about the French idea of femininity and allure. Sounds like he's, he's a homosexual. Who's Annie: obsessed with LA. nick: And who's like, and like fetishizes, I don't know. But that's also, I think it's hard, like men are always women's fashion designers. But I'm also like, having been a women's fashion critic and reporter early in my career. I was like, what the fuck do I know about women's fashion? Like , whether a dress is good or bad, like I don't wanna wear it. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know how any man who doesn't wear dresses like can have anything to say on whether like a collection is good or bad. What do you know? What's not for you? It's like as art, like as an object, you can say something, but that's not really what the fashion industry is about. It's about self expression, right? Annie: Which is a [00:35:00] form of art. You're talking about like, you're on the one hand, you're talking about like the practicality of like. We're actually wearing the pieces and like enjoying them in your real life. But then also like, I think there's the more neutral, like, just observant of art. nick: Sure. but like, whose opinion matters more? Annie: Depends on, it depends on who you're writing for. Are you writing for the masses? Are you writing for like the fashion snob? Like, nick: right. I guess. I mean, I just remember, like, sitting in my, at my desk at Elle magazine and, like, having spent the last, like, hour and a half. Like in my head, picturing myself as like woman who has like a boyfriend, because I'd be like, Oh, like the perfect, you know, sweater in case your boyfriend won't let you steal his or like, I'd have to like write shit like that. And I'm like, I remember just like finally sitting there and being like, what the fuck am I [00:36:00] doing? What do I know? I'm like having to write as a character. Like, this is not. We're being like, you know, like Raf Simons gorgeous, you know, peplum dresses for Jill Sander. I'm like, I don't even know if like girls want to wear this shit. I never saw you in a peplum Jill Sander dress. I Annie: don't like peplums. nick: See? Okay, what else do we have? Annie: We have Daily Mail. nick: Yeah, give us your Daily Mail story. Annie: It's about a, talk about women, girl bossing. So this 53 year old woman, she lives in California with her husband, who's also implicated in this. She stole 8 million dollars in cosmetics and designer clothes over the past like 10 years. basically she recruits. Um, and she recruits girls like young girls to, I didn't really understand this part because it says that she covered their airfare and travel [00:37:00] expenses. So I don't know if they're all based in California and she sends them out across the country to do this or if they're based other places and then they fly the products back to her. To do what? What are they doing? They just go into stores and steal. She gives them a list of what, like a shopping list, stealing list, and they go in and they like, steal. Like, I was looking at the photos and the article of like the, when like the FBI busted into her her 3 million mansion in Northern San Diego County. They found 350, 000 worth of like inventory and stolen goods. And I'm looking at the photos trying to like make out what makeup products. I'm like, I think I see boy brow. I think I see a lot of boy brows. I think there's a lot of NARS. I can't really, I feel like I saw some Fenty, Tarte. Anyway, they've been going into design, Ulta Beauty, Sephora, um, like lens crafters. They do designer sunglasses. And then she's been selling all these products. From her warehouse and an associate's. Warehouse [00:38:00] or homes on her Amazon storefront for like less than half the price. And she's like made millions and millions of dollars over the years. Okay. nick: I have a pitch. So no one took the, took the bait with Michael Poppins, male babysitter. This is breaking bad for girls. There's a teacher, a female teacher. Down on her luck, finds out she has a terminal illness, and then starts a ring of girls who steal from Sephoras, and she sells them on Amazon, but then she gets in over her head. Lauren Sanchez gets involved. Annie: Lauren Sanchez. nick: And all of a sudden she's on the, yeah. Annie: She's like, girl, I see you. No, I feel like Lauren would try to help her out. nick: Yeah, maybe. So how did she get apprehended? Or, like, caught? Annie: A girl ratted. I'm like, obviously. Trust no one. You're [00:39:00] trusting, like, these, like, 20 year old shoplifters? Like nick: That's a tough thing. You can't run a tight ship when you're trying to find 20 year old girls who'll shoplift. It's just not a tight ship. Annie: No, no. Inherently. I'm surprised nobody ratted her out before. I'm like, what was she doing to intimidate these girls? Like, I feel like there's something much more nefarious going on here. nick: Like the vow. Maybe they, like, she would get collateral on them. Annie: She looks like a fucking, like, annoying ass PTA mom. She just, it's so fucking annoying. This is nick: Breaking Bad for girls. It's Breaking Beauty. Annie: Breaking Beauty. Is that something already? Done. nick: I think, Breaking Annie: Beauty is something. I think it's a podcast, isn't it? Or is it a nick: Yeah, the one that we went on. Annie: Everything's taken. nick: Everything's taken. Annie: Okay, people can't expect me. Here's the thing, like, [00:40:00] everybody needs to understand that I had a brain injury one time from a car crash, so if I ever get anything wrong, that's what it was. So if I don't remember your podcast that I came on, if I don't remember your name, it is from a brain injury. Sorry, what are we talking about? TikTok being banned. Finally, thank God. nick: This is according to Forbes. The House of Representatives passed a bill that would force Chinese tech firm ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban with a two thirds majority after it gained broad bipartisan support. Annie: It means that we've been giving all of our fucking data to China and the government's like, this is not a good idea. We're going to put a stop to this. so the two options is they have to shut down operations in the U. S. Or sell it. Or they have to sell to a U. S. nick: Yeah, I mean, my whole thing with this and this is my whole thing with my own identity is you can have it I mean, I'm just like [00:41:00] China, good, good luck doing anything with this schlub's identity. You know what I mean? Like, what are they going to do with your identity? What are they going to do? Annie: It's not about the individual. It's more about how they can control the, like, narrative and the conversation and the, like, zeitgeist of the U. S. That's on us. Baby: Do we think that this is also Annie: So, the government's taking charge and being like, no. nick: Well, it's a little late. They should have stopped it at the Savage dance. I think it's never too late. I Annie: think it's never too late. I do agree. They should have stopped at the Savage Dance. But nick: that was the first sign when everyone including Annie: item beauty, nick: true. And speaking of which Hiram and selfless by Hiram, his skincare brand and the Inkey list who was manufacturing it, it was like a partnership. They parted ways. And I think he either bought back the brand and he's going to try to relaunch it, but that's not going well for him. other beauty news we have. [00:42:00] Acne Studios is releasing a perfume with Frederic Malle. Annie: Okay, I'm sure it'll be weird. I have a question. What? Speaking of award season, what is it about celebrity makeup artists where they post, like, the most face tuned photos of their clients? nick: Because otherwise the, I think they err on the side of Facetune because the client would like flip out if they didn't like it. So they probably were just like, Hey, like, cause they probably have to get approval from the client and the PR like in the moment. And so like, they just have to like blow it out, like rather be over retouched than under. Annie: But the celebrities themselves aren't even posting like. They're posting more real, like, photos. Like, untouched Right, because they have maybe a nick: little bit more time. But, like, I feel like the makeup artist is trying to do it, like, faster. It's just so Annie: bizarre. It's like, aren't you supposed to be really good at making people's skin look incredible? Like, why are you, [00:43:00] like nick: I think it's the dance with, like, the publicist. Annie: It looks insane. Like, it looks crazy. nick: Right, but like, do you, like, think about all of this shit. Like, think, like, the fact that that Kate Middleton, not to come back to it, but the fact that that Kate Middleton photograph got out the door with all of the, uh, Photoshop fails that it had in it glaring Photoshop fails, right? Allegedly using the cover of her 20s, like 18 Vogue. Annie: Oh, that's silly. There's two different photos. nick: I agree. But like, how did these pictures get out? Remember the Balenciaga? Remember when we all were like, you know, not, we were like protesting Balenciaga because they were like littering their advertisements with like, child. Essay content and like, winks. Annie: No, like every single person wore Balenciaga to the Academy Awards. I nick: know, that's what I'm saying. And now we're over it. You know, I [00:44:00] bite dance. Annie: Yeah. Tick tock. That's what I'm saying. They're trying to control the narrative and they are poisoning. The youth worked, the youth Baby: it's worked. Annie: And as somebody who has never had kids, I have a lot of opinions on that. nick: Okay. Annie: I'm like, if I'm being real here, I'm just happy as like somebody who did all the social media for like, you know, Annie: Huge company and, um, was really like annoyed every time a new app would launch and we would have to figure out the strategy for it. It was Snapchat. Like I, Snapchat was my thing where I was like, Oh, I told you so. nick: Like that you would have to like, figure it out. Annie: No, I mean, Snapchat like totally like never worked for brands. Yeah. Like it's like a weird niche app now that kids used to communicate. It was like never a place for brands yet. Like so many resources were, were sung and [00:45:00] so much like time was wasted, like talking about Snapchat. nick: 100%. I hate to do this. I really do hate to do this because I really liked, I really liked this person, but nick: I got the waterless conditioner and shampoo from James Petras's new brand. I just re sent you the photo. So it turns out that water, like, that water is in conditioner and shampoo for a reason. It's like, crumbly tablets. And you're supposed to take the tablet, into the shower with you because you can't keep these tablets inside the shower because they would all turn into one like gloopy glob so that's the first problem because like who is remembering to like bring a tablet and then like holding it the whole time until you're like ready to like you're supposed to bring a shampoo tablet and a conditioner tablet [00:46:00] into the shower be like hold one in each hand i guess They were packaged just in a tin, like loose, like Altoids. Annie: Loose in a tin, like an Altoids tin. Um. Who was doing like his production on his brand? I just feel like Well, I also got it right after, right after I made the order. I got an email saying, we're so sorry for a delay, but there was like, due to like, a shipping issue, a bunch of our conditioner got destroyed. nick: So we had to like, redo it or something. And then Annie: That's when you, I mean, so there's something called, there's, there's, there's, you do ship tests. Like, this is like, part of the process. So it's just like, amateur hour. I feel bad for him. nick: I do too. But the other thing is like, It's just like, this is a technology that might get there, this idea of waterless shampoo and conditioner. But it's not there yet, because again, as the consumer, how do I do it? Like, I'm supposed to [00:47:00] bring, okay, a shampoo and a conditioner tablet, one in each hand. They can't get wet until I'm ready to use them. So where do I put them when I get into the shower to turn on the water? No, it doesn't work. That's when you stop the idea. Annie: That's where, that's when you go, that's when that's the part where you're like ideating about like products to launch and you go and you're like, just add water next, but right. But that's not, we can't fault James for that. That is literally just a problem with like the technology. It doesn't exist. We can fault James for that because he chose to do it. nick: He's a bleeding heart, you know, environmentalist. He thinks it's better. I totally understand. I mean, I've been there too. Like where you've sunk a lot of like resources into an idea and before, and then you figure out it doesn't work. There is that, I sent you that brand though, who's trying to do something similar with like waterless shampoo and bath products that you keep in the shower, but it's in like a weird container where you can like. Annie: Dispense nick: one? Annie: You know, it's it's not it's it's powder. It's not a tablet So it's like in a [00:48:00] bottle but you can like press a button or do it squeeze it or something And then it pops out so the idea is like It's dispensing the powder or it like dribbles it out or something. So water can water powder can come out, but water can't go in. But I'm telling you that if that's in a humid bath, it's definitely getting water will go wherever it wants to go. We talked about it's like the sweat conversation. You want to put Botox in your armpits. Water is going nick: to get in. Exactly. Like, I, I agree. I also think that there's a lot of things in the, uh, You know, eco packaging conversation that just don't make sense yet. Like. My whole thing with Blueland, the, the cleaning brand, is cleaning products, like the bottles themselves, get dirty because you're using them to clean dirt. So like, I don't want to keep refilling the like, same like, gunky, like, that consumers don't want. To like have to [00:49:00] clean their cleaning product bottle. Like that's the last thing they want to do. Like we want, we want to help the world and heal the environment, but we're not willing as consumers to like take five extra steps. And guess what? No matter how, like the, the Blue Land. packaging has an embossed Blue Land logo on like the plastic caps and guess what gets in that embossing? Dirt. And you can't get it out. So all of a sudden, then like you're, it's like becoming kind of like a grayish emboss. Annie: I bet they didn't do enough real world testing on the product. No, they did, but people were like, it's great. Like, they're not thinking about nick: like, it's more about like behavior and like, That's what I'm saying. Annie: Real world, like actual in situ, like also a lot of people that have like a window that gets a lot of sunlight right above the kitchen sink. They leave all their soap there. It's getting blasted with UV and then the plastic will in the, in the web, the goop inside will like break down because of the UV and like everything will [00:50:00] crumble. Itches. It sucks. And a lot of brands will like sync, you know, launch entire, or they'll launch entire brands around this concept that is not, like, hasn't, that's maybe been tested for like nine months in the real world. nick: I just think refillable in general, unless, yeah. I mean, listen, you know what also is gross to me? Those fucking Stanley water bottles. Are people really using little, like, scrubber brushes inside those straws? And really getting the bottom corners and all the little nooks and crannies of those? Because, no matter what, I've smelled the I've tried to clean stainless steel bottles, and they develop a smell. And no one's gonna tell me they don't. Annie: No, mine don't. I'm very clean, though. nick: How do you let it, like, air dry in, like, a perfect position so that there's no collecting? And, like, how do you do that? Annie: I have, like, a, I have a bottle dryer. Every single day? No, I don't wash it every single day. That's gross. But I have, I have three different water bottles.[00:51:00] And I have like, I have every, I have the bottle, I do like, I turn my kettle on, put a little soap, I use really hot water, and then I shake it up, and then I pour some out, and then I use the bottle brush, and I use, I have like a tiny brush for the stainless straws. nick: I mean, that's a commitment. That's a pretty, that's a valiant effort and pretty good commitment. Annie: Yeah. I'm also like a perfectionist and like probably a little OCD, so it works for me. nick: Beautiful thing. Annie: But yeah, if your stuff is smelling, then. I nick: mean, I'm, I'm now, I know, I feel like everyone's like imagining that I've been like a Disgusting stink. No, I Annie: I was there. You wash all of your kids stuff. You're probably just exhausted from washing all the like kids. Yeah Like little just like i'm like, you know when nick: I see a straw now I just think about like how tiny of a little fucking scrubber brush I have to like make sure that I Buy so that it's like clean and that takes all the fun out of like reusable Refillable things to me. Annie: Oh, [00:52:00] I love I love niche cleaning supplies I did like a whole, I have like a horse hair broom that I like bought from some friends. nick: That's beautiful. Annie: It makes cleaning like enjoyable. I think everybody should invest in their tools and they'll like it more. nick: Okay, product of the week time. Speaking of tools. Annie: Okay, mine is actually a Japan purchase that, I think had just been waiting in the wings for me to like work it into the rotation and it is from a brand called Addiction. I think Addiction Tokyo is the the full government name and it's called the Skin Care Foundation and it's a little rectangular plastic bottle. Oh, it has SPF 25, which I didn't even realize. And the shade I use is called [00:53:00] pure beige. Oh, eight. And you have to shake it up. It has a little ball inside. and it applies like a skin tint. with way more coverage. It's not, the finish is not dewy. The finish will like reveal whatever the skincare you put on before underneath, but it's not particularly dewy. It won't make you any shinier than you were before. But it doesn't like, it doesn't dry down and like mattify too much. It's really great. And it also doesn't oxidize. I thought it would turn really yellow because I put it on. I was like, oh, is this going to be too, or it would turn orange. I thought it would be too dark, but it's like really true to color. So. That's my story. Japanese brand. And they have really incredible shadows too, eyeshadows, they have amazing eyeshadows. nick: My product of the week is from a company co founded by a friend of the pod, Caroline Goldfarb. And [00:54:00] it is the Fly by Jing X Fishwife collaboration eye shadow palette. Salmon, tin fish. I know that's a mouthful fly by Jing, the like, what did they call it? The chili crisp brand that was founded during the pandemic. And now has like dumplings and all these other things. They basically put a little bit of chili crisp inside the. Fish wife smoked salmon 10 to and it turns out 1 plus 1 equals 3 because it's delicious. It's not too spicy, but it just like, it is an incredible savory umami. Salmony tinned, nick: extravaganza. And my new thing is that I, as an appetizer, when I have people over, I'll just like open a couple of tins of like [00:55:00] different fish. I don't like sardines or clams or mussels in tin. So I do mostly trout and salmon and cod and things like that. I'll open a few of those. Squeeze some lemon on them, grind some pepper, some bread, torn bread and crackers, and you have a beautiful little appetizer. Annie: Delicious. nick: But the fly by jing shit is incredibly delicious and addictive. I believe you can get A three pack on fish wife's website for, I'm gonna tell you, $39 for a three pack. Oof. nick: But like, it's, Annie: it's so expensive. nick: But tin fish is expensive. Annie: I thought one of the big selling points was it was ca like it wasn't expensive 'cause it was a canned No, I mean, it's like the [00:56:00] best fish raised by third generation family farmers. They're fed a zero waste, nutrient rich diet, raised without antibiotics and chemicals. And, it's just, it's quality. But if you subscribe to the 3 pack, it's only 35 for a 3 pack. nick: So, it, yeah, I mean, listen. How much would you spend on creating a cheese plate for guests at a party? Much more than 10, which is how much one thing of Fly By Jing is. Fish wife. Fish. Annie: I love that. I was sold. I think Caroline did a very effective pitch when she was on the pod before. For tent fish in general. nick: Yeah. No, she, um, she knows what she's talking about and I recommend everyone try it. And with that, we'll bid you adieu. nick: We are produced by Jonathan Corman of friend of the pod. We are edited by [00:57:00] AJ Mosley and we are supported by no advertising, but by the goodness and the kindness of our listeners on Patreon, patreon. com slash eyewitness beauty. I've been. Traveling so I haven't been able to record with Annie for our bonus episode for this month, but it's coming I have time I think on Saturday to do it. So we'll post it early next week and That's it