Sali Hughes #14 Went to the pub during a pandemic, for real! Never mind, feel as you feel

[bottlewrapper]

She's phoning it in again... I think we came up with better lockdown ideas. Hilarious to see her finally recommending an avocado face mask - it always made me laugh that week after week in the BTL comments someone would ask for a recipe for avocado (or sometimes oat) face packs. And god knows why yoghurt gives 'extra glow'.

As for the other 'tips' (use handcream, let your hair air dry, paint your nails, immac body hair and apply fake tan)...it's an incoherent mix of rubbish. Seriously, does any kid over the age of 10 not know this stuff? Let alone women who earn enough to afford the expensive creams and products she normally recommends...

 

[Jelly Bean]

"Read the room." innit

A friend of mine has recently had her team furloughed. Two fit and healthy friends both had to attend A&E struggling to breathe (they are both OK). Others who work in healthcare are terrified of becoming unwell. Seeing celebrities, influencers, whatever you want to call them finding thinly-veiled ways of seeking validation. Yeah, eye-roll, no time for it. The NYT piece nails it.

Exactly - it really is like they just don't get it. Attention seeking is OK, even mildly amusing when times are alright for most people. Now they aren't.
I get that celebrities/influencers can't win - they talk about the virus and it is obvious most of them are very nicely cushioned financially so can't possibly understand, do a post being light hearted and they are accused of being tone deaf.
They need to understand their every thought and utterance is not required. They aren't the NHS and providing a vital backbone for a despondent and frightened nation. They just have to suck up the fact they aren't important.

(Hope your friends are all OK by the way )

 

[Jelly Bean]

I read a comment by Caroline about when you wake up, and think your skin looks nice and glossy, it is because it is sweaty and dirty so needs to be cleansed thoroughly. I always thought that was a bit harsh as maybe your skin just looks better after a bit of rest. It is the way everything is a problem to be attacked with some product or other.

My skin hated HCC, I went back to cotton pads and micellar water (shock! horror!)

Same here! I love a micellar water I've been using for a few weeks now - it is Garnier Rose Water Cleanse and Glow. Recommend highly - takes off every scrap of make-up very gently and does leave skin sort of clear and glowy. It was about £3 for a big 400ml bottle.

We all see the subtle bandwagon jump of BB from helping 'the poor' to helping 'our nhs heroes' (who aren't sufferers of hygiene poverty).

This has left me conflicted as yes what they are doing is lovely and therefore a Good Thing. But the NHS aspect wasn't in the mission statement at all, and wasn't mentioned at all in the recent Gofundme page of a couple of weeks ago - it very clearly said the money was for refuges, food banks and one other outlet (which I have forgotten) serving people suffering from hygiene poverty. I've worked for a few charities and they all have a very clear purpose, tempting though it is to try and solve every need. I'm sure Sali will say they are responding to a rapidly developing and ongoing situation and seeing where their help can be most useful, but as you say the NHS staff aren't suffering from hygiene poverty (not minimising their other huge problems obviously) so not sure why this is a natural crossover? It would be interesting to know the % of funds going to each sector they are helping.
(Goes without saying I am not being at all critical of the NHS getting all the help they need and deserve).

 

[rosemarina]

Well, there’s no chippy “I PAID” on it, is there?

(Not meant aggressively.)

 

[Tesla's Ghost]

She's just a month behind on that joke, there's only been hundreds of 18-year-olds' hilarious versions.

 

[Jelly Bean]

I read it and thought, well nothing really. Wasn't terrible. Wasn't inspiring. Just was there. I wonder though if part of the problem is I simply don't give a shit about buying beauty products now. I appreciate as a beauty writer she has to write something - and I actually can't think what I would even be interested in reading about the subject right now. Certainly nothing that revolves around buying stuff. Maybe how to achieve a classic look with products you probably already have?
I had a dip into FB for first time in ages - and on Caroline Hiron's group someone recommended Sali's columns and someone else commented they used to love them but since comments stopped they had forgotten about them and haven't bothered. I thought it interesting as they were actually a fan.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

This article is a breath of fresh air and an excellent counterweight to influencer culture right now. Although I’m a little surprised this is in Vogue, don’t they have advertisers to worry about?

+++

For that matter, do I really need to tend to my roots right now? Trim my bangs? Paint my nails? Put on makeup to feel more “professional” and “productive” while I livestream updates on death toll projections and safety precautions? As the stories about self-administering a salon-grade facial or maintaining a Brazilian wax continue to pile up, I wonder if we’re missing the point. Maybe this is a time to just be with our bare faces and big pores and chipped polish, to examine why we feel this frantic need to keep up appearances at home, alone, anyway.

The irony is, the most profound improvements in my skin happened over a two-week period in 2018, when I quit skin-care—save for splashing with water morning and night—in an attempt to “cure” my chronic dermatitis. I had tried everything, but I hadn’t tried nothing, and it turned out “nothing” worked. My skin, amazingly, was its clearest, brightest, and healthiest with no products at all.

https://www.vogue.com/article/skipping-my-skin-care-routine-while-in-isolation

 

[Brian Butterfield]

I took my children to a local nature reserve today that has a small lake in the middle and there were women and girls running in full make up in 21 degree heat head to toe in gym shark looking like they weren’t for breaking any sort of sweat. I run a lot and never ever run in a full face of make up unless I have a run at lunchtime at work and then it’s just minimal anyway. Very weird. Also always confuses me when people wear make up on holiday to sit on the beach and sunbathe? Just don’t get it.

Same here. Although when I was younger I wouldn’t even answer the door without full slap let alone leave the house. I was so insecure about myself and always had to be immaculate. My now husband didn’t see me without make up for months. Now I’m in my 40s I’m the total opposite. Very rarely wear makeup or so my hair unless I’m going “out out”. I just can’t be bothered anymore.

Thank God we didn’t have influencers or social media when I was young, I’d have definitely got myself in debt and hated myself even more than I did. It’s so fucked up and dangerous what these people are peddling.

 

[Jelly Bean]

Sali, give it a rest.

Discussing her sex life, please.

Who mentioned maintenance shags in the first place , who put it in the public domain ,was it us?

I suppose it is pointless to say again we didn't write about any of those things, how can we as we don't know Sali? But we did comment, have an opinion and speculate on what she chose to put in the public domain about those things. There is a difference. She wrote a whole piece about 'the maintenance shag' (her term not ours). I'm not even going to dignify the claim about her children.
It would be the same as if someone comments on Caitlin Moran's pubic hair, a topic she writes about frequently, and she could say 'they even wrote about my genitals'.

And yes the supermarket ordering is a bit wierd, I really thought they were meant to be saved for those that simply can't leave the house? And Sali can as she walks her dog. I've seen a lot of people on line talking about their online food orders when they seem perfectly able to do a shop (which is of course allowed). I suppose the companies should be a bit more stringent about allocating slots (I don't know how these things work tbh as never used them).

 

[Disillusioned]

Me too... they are remarkably similar. The Hygiene Bank was a registered charity first - number 1181267 vs BB 1184944.
I wonder why they don't work together for economies of scale? Maybe though it's just because boots and superdrug don't want to support the same charity?
It's wrong to hope the story is more juicy though, isn't it?!

Now that, skidders, is what I call *deeeeeep* research...

 

[DCICassieStuart]

Completely agree with everyone who's saying that a 'spendy treat' is the last thing on their mind at the moment.

Both my husband and I are still working (me from home, he's a key worker so out in the thick of it unfortunately) so in one way we're probably a bit luckier than a lot of people in that our income hasn't been reduced, but we don't know what the future holds.
I don't want to get too into it, but basically his job will be safe. Mine is okay at the moment, but harder to know what will happen down the line.

Because we don't know what will happen in the future, we're being cautious with spending. Aside from the regular bills and (thankfully small) mortgage, our only other spend at the moment is the supermarket shop, but I'm not going to go spending stupid money on cosmetics etc, especially when with the exception of my husband, no one is going to see me.

I have a Zoom meeting twice a week though, so I do put make up on for that because I don't want to frighten the rest of my colleagues

 

[Curio]

Yes, the column used to be a conversation starter in the comments. Now the conversation happens elsewhere so makes the column less relevant, unfortunately.

While the book is a nice idea, I think celebrities just seem irrelevant at the moment. They’re like fast food when people are craving wholesome.. (argh no, I’m sounding like...!!). Anyway, I think normal people’s stories are more compelling at the moment because that’s who is out there getting stuff done - like front line workers, Capt Moore etc.

Also I bet Merumaya is thrilled about the mention and smarting on the packaging smack. It’s great to hear the honesty but an unexpected time to start saying it.

 

[Spanner]

Never works out in her life? But goes out on runs and even designs her own trainers?

@SqualorVictoria Beat me to it!

I never smoke! Only with my morning coffee, on my break, after lunch, when I'm working from home, when I watch TV, after I do chores, when I drink, when I'm stressed, when I'm thinking about lung damage (very rare). Otherwise, never!

Serious question: did she just pretend to be exercising to sell her followers these trainers? Since she never ever works out? I know I'm not whip smart, so could use some help.

I’d forgotten how much she uses the phrase “whip smart” and how much it pisses me off.

 

[RayRayJay]

Her pedicure was free. She actually said free! Congratulations Sali.

#moettoe surprised it's not sponsored with that beautiful imagery

 

[bottlewrapper]

Will you be casting your vote?

Bloody hell, that's a low bar if (a) after 8 months of running a registered charity she's eligible for a 'lifetime achievement' award and (b) your empowerment can be boiled down to yapping on that a red lip is 'empowering'.

Yes, she should definitely be put on a plinth right next to Marie Curie and Mary Seacole for those 'achievements'.

Vogue needs to aim higher. But then, nothing like rewarding your own which is the very definition of privilege.

 

[SqualorVictoria]

Caitlin deserves her own thread at this stage. Found this piece on how things have changed for girls nowadays vs the 90s and in typical Caitlin Moran style it's drivel

My 15-year-old came home from school and recounted how a classmate, previously a big fan of K-pop boyband BTS, had turned up in a Kurt Cobain T-shirt that she’d bought from Topshop (£28).
“All the cool boys immediately got really sneery,” she told me. “They were like, ‘You don’t know anything about grunge. You don’t even know who Kurt Cobain was. Go on, who was he?’”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She just looked at them like they were stupid children and said, ‘Yeah, I do know who he was: he was dead fit’,” she replied. “Everyone went quiet, and then the girls were like, ‘Yeah, he was dead fit. He’s got dreamy eyes. We love him’.”
“What did the boys do?” I asked. “The boys shut up,” she said. This reply made my heart sing.

How much has life really changed for women since the Nineties?

“It’s fun to look back a few years, but the view is much better from 2019.”

www.stylist.co.uk

Caitlin is the worst feminist ever. All this article does is prove that she thinks girls don't know about music. I couldn't read until the end as it's just utter rubbish.

 

[MakkaPakka]

"The skinny and bleached brows? Ignore. They rarely translate in real life."

And the lashes do?!

 

[Jelly Bean]

Re SH’s recent tweets: I would actually prefer some of this discussion to be in a private group. I’ve got no desire to bitch publicly about, for example, anyone’s appearance.

Tbf I found in the comments about her outdoor Estée Lauder foundation useful, as it really did not look glowy in the slightest but quite matte, compared with for eg today's photo where I presume she is using a ring light. They looked like two different products.
I personally think when someone is using their own face as the advert, and actually as part of a paid campaign like here, then commentary on the product must be OK.
But yes I tend to agree with not being bitchy about anyone's appearance generally.

 

[curiousTat]

That is interesting. An impartial observation from someone. Quite telling I suppose that interest here in Sali is lacklustre these days - which I'm sure she should be happy about.

A bit of a bold worrying claim too, to suggest people will commit suicide directly because of here. I (and I'm sure others here have too) have had a horrible experience of this close hand. It is a complex and desperate thing. Not sure where I'm going with this, but it is not language that should be bandied about lightly.

She calls people 'mental' and such and now suddenly she's worried about mental health issues?
(And why does she keep promoting this place...)

 

[Minniemousesshoes]

I also thought that she meant the first time getting drunk in general, not just garden drunk. And back when I still followed her she had a private account (the bio directed non-friends/family to the public one) and I assume she still has one.

It demonstrates wot a good writer she is when everyone is misunderstanding her. You’d think a professional journalist would be able to express themselves.