Sali Hughes #7 Yes I threatened and yes I lie, but can I interest you in beauty pie?

[La Vida Es Un Tango]

Omg the 'does your luggage have a ticket' was appalling.
For those who were blissfully unaware SH and another (assistant possibly?) a few years ago were on a train and SH voice recorded herself berating a woman who had her bag on the seat next to her. It went on several minutes with SH accusing her of depriving old people of seats. I remember the woman mildly apologising but the tirade carried on. From her voice I guess the woman was a middle class Boden person (I could be wrong here). She actually recorded herself.
The Chelsea tractor incident was about a woman on the school run blocking SH drive which caused SH to shout at her 'are you a vet?' as that is the only reason you'd have such a huge car in a town. This caused much admiration and hilarity on GtL with people repeating 'are you a vet?' in awe of SH feistiness.

These two instances, to me, are the very definition of bullying. If this is just something that you do, and that’s it, then ok, you are maybe someone having a shit day. But the recording and the sharing in social media, so that it can be mocked by others, elevates it to bullying (and in turn, mobbing). Of women, in both cases. It is not social activism (whatever that is), it is not fierce (if anything it may be narcissistic) and also, I am not ready to criticize anyone by their choice of vehicle until I am ready to go everywhere by bike or on foot. Or until I figure out what to do about my tons of freaking non recyclable skincare and body care empties that make me feel worse every single day - but hey. All these women want me to buy more. More hard plastic. More more more.

But you know what? SH led me to this place a month ago today! And now I am finally posting! Hi everyone

 

[BostonFernGreen]

The article about failure which was linked upthread is incredibly problematic.

There are some things in life that simply are defining and they aren’t all the positive things. It’s not a million miles away from the ‘beating cancer due to being such a good fighter’ narrative.

Those who are quite understandably set adrift by difficult life circumstances do not need a national magazine with a woefully un-insightful opinion writer to add insult to injury.

I feel extremely strongly that this cliquey narrative is disgracefully elitist and victim blaming. Those of us who work for public services know that there is a huge raft of the population that remain hidden. To claim the world can be divided into people who learn from failure to better themselves and people who sink into it and complain is so unbelievably stupid.

And that’s to say nothing of the fact that super successful Sali does little else besides complain. In her forties she spends an awful lot of time dissecting her own teenage years in public. What is that? I find it very hard to believe she has faced much adversity in her life for the simple reason that she seems to have little to no knowledge of what it entails.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

YES WE PAID FOR THE WHOLE MEAL OBVS is a strong contender for next thread title imo.

 

[Aude]

I'm another who came here four weeks ago - and stayed. Best SH recommendation ever!

 

[Satisfying Click]

"Pretty Menopausal: I AM NOT THERE YET" was the draft title

 

[SqualorVictoria]

It was Eleanor Morgan.

Eleanor, interestingly, published a book a few months ago about women’s hormonal health. The very week it was published, SH wrote a snide tweet about too many books being published about periods. Followed by a swift backtrack when EM called her out.

Even if it’s a coincidence... not a great way to support fellow writers. And of all the topics to have too many books about surely female-specific health (woefully understudied, underfunded) isn’t one of them.



Genuinely shocked. It’s not her body to write about.

How sneery. You're right SH, books on female health are not needed, books about the Queens colourful outfits are far more worthy and important

 

[lipsticktaser]

It strikes me as puerile all this "and I bought it" she's started putting in her descriptions. For every mention just put (bought) or (gifted) without making a bigger deal than it needs to be. Doesn't need attention that she's started showcasing some things that she didn't get for free. She could still have bought it with a 90% press discount

View attachment 52593

Every time she does I bought it, I start singing destiny’s child.
“The jumper on my back - I bought it
The Rolex on my wrist - I bought it
The tiles in my loo - I bought it
Everything else - I never bought it (gifted)”

 

[BostonFernGreen]

When we start our beauty collective we can also include some fake woke word salads.

I don’t mind not being paid for it since I don’t think my musings on my own thoughts and feelings about life will really add any value to anyone’s day.

I’m very interested in the value of content. I’ve heard SH say a few times that nobody wants to pay for content anymore like it’s an outrageous affront to her and her kindly gifted opinions. But something we all have to understand is that a career is not a career if nobody wants to pay you for what you offer. It reminds me of X Factor contestants with the blinkered logic: ‘yeah I think I’ll win because I want it so much more than everyone else! 110%!’

It’s great to want things and to have drive. But it’s only a hobby if your want doesn’t translate to something someone else wants enough to pay money for it.

You wouldn’t hear a cleaner saying ‘nobody wants to pay to have their toilets scrubbed anymore!’ Because there is a clear value attached to that.

Writing about beauty products is not something with an inherent, clear value which remains even as society changes. It’s an illusory, slippery career which might soon be irrelevant. Why anyone would pay for content which is encouraging them to spend their hard earned money on things which ultimately add very little value to their existence? You can’t retire a year early by smearing creme de la mer on your cheeks. That’s the real question I think, why would you expect someone to pay to read veiled adverts? It’s just so delusional to me.

When i read about the child slave labour and associated deaths when mining for, for example, mica, I am disgusted by any claims of woke-ness. We are none of us very woke.

An expose of the beauty industry which took months to investigate? That I would pay proper money for.

 

[Raindropsonkittens]

I just can’t escape the feeling that SH keeps missing the point about her brand, which is baffling. Engagement is everything, so she doesn't read/reply to her comments, or she is chippy or, more amazingly, switches them off completely. Honesty/integrity is her USP yet she is completely opaque about ads/collabs and tweakments. She wants to be taken seriously as a journalist/writer but cannot take an alternative point of view or even light criticism. Women are the majority of her market, yet she has form for slagging other women not like her off and bullying others. There’s so much cognitive dissonance her head must be on the verge of exploding. Maybe that’s why she is borderline aggressive the whole time.

 

[Tesla's Ghost]

- Are you a vet?
- Why? Do you need your annual shots?

She's so brave! Telling off random women for some nuisances, I see her at the top of a building with a Bella Freud cape flapping in the wind, the soft blue light of her phone catches her red lip as she tweets "This city needs me".

 

[TriviaNewtonJohn]

The best thing about her Instagram AD is her bag on the seat next to her. I hope it had a ticket.

 

[HowardMoon]

I’ve just seen that the jumper Sali wore in her ShuTtATtLeLifEdOwN video retails at £310. Paired with a Rolex. Both worn in a hysterical video in which she complains about how a handful of women she doesn’t know gossip about her amongst themselves. I’m sorry, just fuck off. I don’t know why that bothers me so much but it really does.

 

[BostonFernGreen]

The Dolly Parton podcast is phenomenal so far btw. My goodness she’s an interesting person. She knows herself and she’s got genuine warmth and humour for all living creatures.

It’s an example of quite brilliant journalism and I think we should share those here or start a new thread for them.

We all seem to yearn for the same things and have some important things in common so perhaps we could flag up articles/books/podcasts/documentaries that are interesting and informative or thoughtful.

If anyone else interested I will start a thread

 

[Aude]

I was pleased in a way to see SH back on Instagram this week. Not that I was breathlessly awaiting her opinion on the CH kit or to know what she had for dinner but I was glad to see that she had recovered from the upset. I do think the Friday video was a shameless piece of get-your-retaliation-in-first media manipulation but I'm sure the upset was genuine and I don't wish her ill.

I think she does need to re-evaluate what it means to be an honest beauty journalist/influencer. As said upthread, the goalposts have move significantly since she started out. What seemed to be her definition of honesty (I won't say I like a product if I don't) is no longer good enough given her multiple connections with brands, her own use of cosmetic procedures and how readers' and consumers' expectations have changed.

I think she also needs to take Suzanne Moore's advice and find a way of coming to terms with the questioning and criticism - and, in some cases, hate and abuse - that comes with being a writer, particularly these days. In the Guardian recently Suzanne wrote about how young women aspiring to be journalists are held back by 'this dreadful need to be liked'. She says 'I wouldn't advise anyone who wants to be liked to write for a living'.

 

[BostonFernGreen]

I definitely think a lot of it is skincare - but NOT the skincare influencers recommend. I’m almost sure tretinoin is to thank. It’s a few pounds and it has oodles of research behind it.
See Hot and Flashy YouTube for really helpful info about tweakments. She’s honest and actually informative.

Speaking of research/evidence, I think that’s another area where the influencer culture has fostered a lack of transparency. Lots of the claims about products aren’t backed by anything like hard evidence.

When that is coupled with brand relationships it means that the person in question is literally a billboard embodied whilst pretending not to be. Pretending not to sell when you are selling is lying.

I am trying to think of how consumers could be protected from this, especially because a lot of us do want to be beautiful and most of us don’t have unlimited funds. If I did have unlimited funds I’d rather spend them on charitable donations than piles of landfill and Charlotte Tilbury’s retirement fund.

One way would be to state all brand relationships upfront, ie in IG bio.
One way would be to comply with the law and state things clearly in each post
One way would be to have a third party website which collated all Influencer brand partnerships so consumers could refer to it to see who has or does work with which companies.

I noticed on SH IG today that someone commented why should she have to state she bought her dress! It’s her dress and it’s nobody’s business! Another commenter agreed and said it’s a waste of poor Sali’s time. It’s this fuss that really worries me. People actually seem to believe that demanding transparency is some kind of weird conspiracy theory put forward by bitter, nasty creeps who hate everyone.

I actually really love people and in my day to day life I deal with people who are far less fortunate than the SH demographic. That gives me a good window into vulnerability and how quickly life can change and how often women are the ones who hold things together. Far from wanting to tear women down, all I want is for other prominent women to stop publicly belittling women and to stop dishonestly selling them things which frankly do not work.

I’m sorry for the long post - the complaints from followers that she should not need to declare when her own items are bought tipped me over the edge!!

I think a great initiative would be an estee laundry-adjacent website which stated well known influencers and known brand relationships plus possibly listing influencers who were approached to disclose but declined. Not to ruin their career!!! As a resource for busy people to understand when they’re being given impartial advice compared to when they’re being sold to.

 

[Jelly Bean]

We take the piss and can be harsh(ish) but always remember SALI HUGHES directly caused a woman to lose her job. A job that she wanted herself. How fucked up is that. Not some idle gossip on a trivia site that can be easily ignored. But a sustained campaign that affected someone's actual life and career. Real life. Not gossip. Real life. So fucked up.

 

[Yel]

Wow - ELC now spends 75% of its marketing budget on influencers.

And the influencing industry (industry!) set to be worth £8 billion next year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7605767/The-influential-mothers-Britain-guess-do.html

I cant be the only one that wondered why the early learning centre was spending so much on infuencers. Oh the Estee Lauder company

Infuencers are in a bubble, more and more are waking up to the fact they aren't these relatable people and are easily bought by anyone.

The markup on beauty products is huge so they have so much money sploshing around at the moment. But trends change, especially during recessions / depressions. It won't continue on its current trajectory for much longer.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

She is in a vulnerable place career-wise and it is easier to invent trolls to rage at than it is to address the real problems.

The guardian column has run its course and there’s no next step or equivalent replacement. The last book did not do so well. She is not a natural event host. It is difficult to fully embrace influencer life if you have made your reputation on bring honest and impartial. She has her gang but otherwise people don’t warm to her. She enjoys being acerbic on twitter but hates being held accountable for what she says. She wants to have a following for all the trappings it brings but only if it’s 100% on her terms and she’s never questioned.

You can only get away with bad behaviour for so long before enough people start to put two and two together. Weirdly the person speeding up the unravelling process is SH herself with the narcissistic rage video and all the internet stalking.

 

[AmberSpyglass]

SH really does have an awful twitter manner. She fearlessly tackles soft targets, Samantha Brick ffs. And I'd forgotten her love of 'boner'
And that periods book thing was wierd - what an odd thing to boil your piss.

She is so self assured and confident with her Twitter posse to back her up that she is breathtakingly rude and snide to those who aren’t in her gang .

 

[Tesla's Ghost]

@Mselvista[/USER] quotes above continues, with the commenter saying: '...I absolutely agree with you about privacy issues but I thought you wouldn't mind answering my question because you already reveled same things about your beauty procedures. I think there was another thing that influenced me not to think about your privacy like I would if it was not you but an ordinary (I don't think this in a insulting way) woman. I'm a lawyer and in law the standards of privacy for a public, famous person (like you in the field of beauty) aren't as high as standards for a non public person. Maybe it sounds strange but the logic behind this it that a public person who choose to speak and reach many people (like you do as a writer in the field of beauty) is renouncing to some degree of privacy in the field she/he is publicly active.'

To this SH replied simply: 'I’m not convinced legality is an issue here tbh.'

I don't think the commenter was suggesting that there was a legal issue, but simply making the point that a different standard applies to SH because of the field in which she is publicly active (and in which she positions herself as an advocate for honesty).

The comment is clearly not about legality, Sali's reading comprehension is questionable. And all those poor women have to sandwich a legitimate question between compliments, so that Sali doesn't take it the wrong way. But she does. Every time. Even if one writes: Dear Sali, you are the single most important feminist icon since the bones of suffragettes were trampled under horse carriages, your tastes surpasses that of Coco (pre-collaborationist days), I just wanted to ask about botox/hair colour/whatever. I bought all your books and follow you religiously on every possible platform. Thank you so much for everything you are doing for us out of sheer altruism. And they don't even get a Sx.

Also, I loved how, when presenting CH not-Advent Advent calendar, she said something to the effect that you can buy the items individually, if you don't need a whole routine. Well, who would have thought of such a thing? Buying just what you currently need?!