Introduction

The Harms of Beauty has offered an insight into the wider life-worlds of consumers and sellers, following them not only as they engage with licit and illicit beauty markets, but also through their attempts to navigate a society characterized by hyper-comparison, hyper-consumption and competitive individualism. Recognizing the importance of online commerce and the internet, the empirical evidence from observations and interviews within online spaces (for example, social media sites, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) has provided an understanding of the relationship between digital technologies, criminological activity, harm and the beauty industry. The concluding chapter will tie together the book's empirical findings with the theoretical context of this study. In doing so, it will answer the fundamental questions of why these young people use and sell counterfeit and illicit beauty products, and how they engaged with these products, before offering some recommendations to address these problems.

Aims of the book

This book set out to address the significant gap in knowledge regarding the broad range of harms related to the licit, illicit and counterfeit beauty industry and the willingness of individuals to self-harm and inflict harm on others and the environment in the pursuit of self-interest and ‘ideal’ perfection. Using life testimonies of young people, including numerous observations, informal conversations and interviews, I have tried to offer an alternative understanding of young people's involvement in illicit markets. In forging strong theoretical connections between harmful actions and the wider economic, social and cultural forces, structures and processes, this book offers a vital contribution to the criminological literature on counterfeits, crime and harm.

The (Looking) ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’ and the ‘Ugly’

It is a great pleasure being given the opportunity to introduce Sam Barnes’ first book to readers. As one of Barnes’ supervisors of her PhD thesis, which this book is based upon, I was able to personally witness her systematic approach, hard work and resourcefulness in the field, which the end-product is a testament to. The Harms of Beauty is an original work, which fully does what it promises: ‘it explores the wide array of harms associated with legal, illegal and counterfeit markets within the beauty industry to develop an understanding of supply and demand beyond a traditional criminological framework’. Written with the crispness that is the result of state-of-the-art knowledge, this impeccably organized book is based on eight chapters that seamlessly link to one another, covering both the demand and the supply side of an industry with an overlooked sinister side.

Drawing upon advances in ultra-realism, zemiology and deviant leisure (see Hall and Winlow, 2015; Raymen and Smith, 2019), Barnes theorizes on the changing nature of identity, leisure and consumption in late capitalism (see also Hall, 2019). The work is based on a remarkable methodological effort: an ethnographic, ‘offline’ study in a town in the southeast of England, which Barnes refers to as ‘Beaufort’, as well as observations and interviews carried out in relevant settings in East London, neighbouring towns to ‘Beaufort’ and in online spaces.

Barnes offers an extremely rich account on the changing nature of beauty and fashion, and shows how within this context, harmful practices are not only accepted but also widely celebrated.

Introduction

Having introduced the theoretical frameworks of this book, the following chapter provides a theorization of the changing nature of beauty, style and fashion. Various historical and contemporary normalized, accepted and culturally celebrated harmful and harming practices will be explored, emphasizing how fashion and style have long shown a connection with harmful and harming practices. Following this, an examination of how late modernity has accelerated and amplified the harmful and harming practices and processes related to the use and supply of beauty and fashion will be unpacked, highlighting the extent to which potential harms exist on a larger scale than previously recognized. As such, this chapter continues to explore the hyper-connectedness of consumers and sellers and the online and offline.

A history of fashion trends and harmful practices

Fashion before neoliberalism

Fashion and style have been an integral part of human culture for centuries. While trends are constantly changing and vary across cultures, the extent to which individuals will go to stay abreast with new styles has been consistent throughout history and dates back to periods preceding the dominance of neoliberal ideology (David, 2015). From fashionable clothing that has led to mechanical alterations and modifications of the natural body, to extreme dieting to achieve a certain body shape, individuals have long engaged in practices that can cause significant harm to the self and the broader societal and environmental landscapes.

Fashion trends have traditionally been heavily gendered, with certain styles and body shapes associated with masculinity and femininity (Grogan, 2022).

Introduction

In this chapter the ontological and epistemic underpinning of this book will be explored. Ultra-realist criminology and its transcendental materialist roots of subjectivity and zemiology will be introduced to provide a framework for understanding the multi-faceted cultural and corporeal motivations for buying, selling and using counterfeit illicit beauty products and services. Raymen and Smith's (2019) deviant leisure perspective that follows ultra-realism's ontological roots will also be outlined and its relevance to assess harms arising from the industry will be made clear. By drawing on these theoretical frameworks, the pernicious interconnection between the increasingly unstable and fluid job market, a culture of hyper-competitive consumer capitalism and hyper-comparison will be unpacked to better understand the research participants’ involvement in illicit markets.

Ultra-realism, subjectivity and motivation

Liberal capitalism often leads us to believe that we are self-aware, logical and autonomous individuals who freely choose to act in our best self-interest without regard for others. Such a conceptualization of the individual as having pure agency and consciously entering the nexus of social, economic and political relationships comprising ‘society’ fails to engage with the complexity of human subjectivity and the unequal distribution of resource and opportunity. In failing to consider this complexity it is impossible to fully grasp how and why individuals continually and knowingly engage with a consumer culture that perpetuates harm for themselves, for others and for our shared environment.

This book explores the wide array of harms associated with legal, illegal and counterfeit markets within the beauty industry to develop an understanding of supply and demand beyond a traditional criminological framework. Drawing upon data from a detailed ethnographic study, this book examines a small population of beauty-dependent consumers attempting to navigate a society characterized by hyper-comparison, hyper-consumption and competitive individualism. More specifically, it looks at the day-to-day struggles and challenges of young people in contemporary society as they attempt to keep up with the rising beauty standards and expectations of what is considered ‘normal’. I write this book to highlight the toxicity of the consumer culture that is driving individuals’ willingness to harm themselves, others and the environment in their pursuit of image and body perfection. The latter part of this chapter gives a more comprehensive breakdown of the book's structure, but, for now, I aim to provide insight into the ongoing expansion of the beauty industry and where the idea for this project stemmed from.

The beauty industry

The global beauty industry has seen substantial growth in recent years. In 2023 the personal care and beauty industry contributed a total of £27.2 billion to the UK's economy, an 11 per cent increase from 2022 (British Beauty Council, 2024). From skincare, haircare and make-up products to cosmetic injectables, weight management and fitness products and services, consumers today invest significant time and money to enhance their appearance. The consumption of beauty has extended beyond the everyday use and application of products to include a range of procedures, services and lifestyle choices focused on self-care, nutrition, fitness and overall wellness (Cederström and Spicer, 2015). Alongside the surging popularity of legal beauty products and services, there has been an increase in the usage of lifestyle drugs more generally (Hall, 2019; Gibbs, 2023).

Introduction

Having explored the instrumental motivations of (counterfeit) beauty consumption, this chapter sets out to examine the role of hyper-comparison in online spaces and real life, including the impact it has upon human subjectivities and young people's willingness to engage in harmful acts. The use of social media has distorted ideas and views on what is natural, unnatural, realistic and unrealistic. Indeed, the development of this form of hyper-comparison is inextricably bound up with the cultural changes and technological advances taking place across the landscape of late capitalism, which have placed notions of narcissism, competitive individualism and profound insecurity at the centre of contemporary existence (Hall et al, 2008; Ayres, 2020). This chapter will paint a picture of what has driven the research participants to have these distorted views and the impact this is having on their lives.

Distorted views: young people's objective reality

The proliferation of social media has facilitated and enabled a global, real-time connectivity and engagement with friends and peers that would have been hard to imagine at the turn of the twenty-first century. This ever-present digital connectivity through networked devices has radically changed the nature of social interactions and the ways in which people spend their everyday lives. Besides David, all the participants were active on social media throughout the fieldwork and spent numerous hours a day on social media platforms. They would often sit next to their friends, endlessly scrolling through their social media newsfeeds, replying to messages and liking photos. They were interacting all day, but almost entirely through a screen. This undeniably impacted the ways in which they viewed the world.

Introduction

Following discussions in Chapter 2 of the paradigmatic explanatory frameworks for selling counterfeits, this chapter examines the supply-side of the online and localized offline market in Beaufort. This includes offline distribution avenues to online sellers, and the role of the internet in the local trade of beauty counterfeits. The offline distribution networks, the gym and the salon, are explored using observations and participant accounts of their legitimate and illicit working practices and the skills required for both. The online environment of illicit supply will then be unpacked, including how offline sellers procure stock from online sources, use social media platforms to learn how to ‘safely’ inject cosmetic enhancements and the role of the internet in selling and advertising illicit beauty products and services. The final section brings the first two sections together to address how backgrounds and experiences shape young people's willingness to engage in selling practices, and their positions as consumers focused on improving their identity and appearance. This chapter advances the argument that these young people's selling practices do not fit into many of the traditional explanatory frameworks for selling counterfeits, which tend to dominate criminology's theoretical repertoire.

The offline beauty marketplace

The intertwinement of licit and illicit business

Common assumptions associated with the supplying of counterfeits maintain that the sale of counterfeits is linked to organized criminal enterprise such as trafficking, terrorist funding, sexual exploitation and violent activities (Naylor, 2002; Lowe, 2006; Home Office, 2022).

We are very pleased to publish the seventh book in the Studies in Social Harm series. Our series, which began in 2014, aims to provide novel and cutting edge analysis of the serious harms that affect society. Transversing disciplinary boundaries, the series aims to highlight some of the most damaging harms which evade legal sanction and often public scrutiny too. These harms affect human and non-human species and increasingly the planet and environment. Employing different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches and novel investigations, the book series addresses key questions relating to what harms, how, and why. Ultimately, it is through the posing of these questions that we can address how harms can be mitigated.

Sam Barnes’ Harms of Beauty presents a fascinating account of the wide ranging harms associated with the burgeoning beauty industry. Seeking to move away from an approach which labels young people as deviant, Barnes’ investigation involves a rich ethnography to better understand young people pursuit of beauty. Although the desire for beauty has been ever present, Barnes’ book explores how this obsession with beauty in capitalist societies has become associated with hyper-individualised competitive consumer culture fuelled by the rapid proliferation of legal, illegal and counterfeit beauty markets. Barnes’ definition of beauty products and services is broad, encompassing “skincare, haircare, and make-up products, cosmetic injectables, perfume and aftershaves, weight-loss drugs, teeth whitening products and procedures, and anti-ageing and tanning products … fitness and healthy eating regimes … so-called ‘health and wellbeing’ products”, as well plastic surgery and health tourism.

Introduction

This chapter will focus on the consumption of counterfeit and illicit beauty products, including how consumers buy counterfeits, the importance and symbolic value of buying branded beauty and the contexts in which cosmetic enhancements are used. Alongside this, the broader instrumental motivations that drive the research participants’ beauty consumption will be examined, including how beauty and bodily enhancement products are an act of self-transformation connected to professional and socio-economic success. In this chapter I assess the lived experiences of consumer lifestyles in the context of an absence of meaningful opportunities for fulfilling employment in order to examine the extent to which young people are governed by competition and hyper-comparison. This work provides an extensive view of the nature of beauty and counterfeit consumption to exemplify some of the harms generated from commitment to and conformity with the norms and values of consumer culture in late-capitalist society.

Far from adulting

As set out in Chapter 2, the significant restructuring of both the economic and political sphere in the UK has impacted young people's entry and initial experiences of paid labour. Compared to previous generations in which there was a relative fixity in relation to geography and jobs across a working life (Kumar, 1988), many young people are forced to take insecure and low-paid work, often within the service sector, and generally experience greater levels of precarity across their working lives (Kalleberg and Vallas, 2018).