💧Dewiness: The makeup trend that has everyone aglow

“I never knew I wanted to look dewy until social media told me I should look dewy,” a Quartz colleague declared recently. Indeed, today’s Instagram influencers seem to uniformly boast translucent, glistening skin—a look that suggests they have just emerged from yoga class in the midst of a tropical rainforest, with nary a drop of sweat or frizzy hair in sight. It’s a major pivot: For decades, magazines and the beauty industry conditioned women to believe that shine was the enemy, with pressed powder, blotting papers, and mattifying gels their chief weapons in the battle against oil. And just a few years ago, the reigning Instagram aesthetic involved heavy makeup and [contouring]( a technique popularized by Kim Kardashian West that uses shading to create the impression of sharper cheekbones and more angular features. So how did the lightweight dewy look become de rigueur? The Korean Wave and the ascent of athleisure are just two of the trends that have converged to convince women around the world they need to get that glow. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Dewiness July 23, 2019 Chasing the inner glow --------------------------------------------------------------- “I never knew I wanted to look dewy until social media told me I should look dewy,” a Quartz colleague declared recently. Indeed, today’s Instagram influencers seem to uniformly boast translucent, glistening skin—a look that suggests they have just emerged from yoga class in the midst of a tropical rainforest, with nary a drop of sweat or frizzy hair in sight. It’s a major pivot: For decades, magazines and the beauty industry conditioned women to believe that shine was the enemy, with pressed powder, blotting papers, and mattifying gels their chief weapons in the battle against oil. And just a few years ago, the reigning Instagram aesthetic involved heavy makeup and [contouring]( a technique popularized by Kim Kardashian West that uses shading to create the impression of sharper cheekbones and more angular features. So how did the lightweight dewy look become de rigueur? The Korean Wave and the ascent of athleisure are just two of the trends that have converged to convince women around the world they need to get that glow. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( A new place to talk about the news --------------------------------------------------------------- We’re tired of all the shouting matches and echo chambers on social media. On the new Quartz app, we’ve gathered a community of curious thinkers and doers to have high-quality discussions about the most important stories each day. It’s like an ongoing conversation with CEOs like Richard Branson, Punit Renjen, Arianna Huffington, and many more. [Try the Quartz app]( By the digits [$6.3 billion:]( Value of Korean beauty exports in 2018, up 27% from the previous year [$59 million:]( Value of Korean beauty exports to the US in 2012 [$511 million:]( Value of Korean beauty exports to the US in 2018 [8:]( Worldwide rank of South Korea’s cosmetics market [258:]( Highlighter products sold on Sephora’s website [10:]( Steps in the traditional Korean skin-care routine popularized by Soko Glam cofounder Charlotte Cho [6:]( Variations on the dewy look tallied by New York Magazine, including “glass skin,” “honey skin,” “buttery skin,” “dewy dumpling skin,” “sunny skin,” and “skin that is actually just wet” Giphy Origin story Dew drops --------------------------------------------------------------- The story of dewy skin’s rise to Insta-fame begins with the same country that introduced the world to joy of boy bands like [BTS]( and [EXO]( South Korea. With South Korea’s [cultural influence on the rise]( thanks to its wildly popular music and soap operas, the country’s beauty standards have also gained international currency. Starting in the early 2000s, Korean beauty began to center on the idea of chok chok: a moist, softly gleaming complexion, achieved through a dedicated skincare routine. Scroll through Instagram and you’ll be greeted with endless variations of the essentially the same dewy #skingoal, including “[glass skin]( described by Charlotte Cho, founder of the K-beauty retail site Soko Glam, as a “clear, poreless, translucent complexion”; “[honey skin]( “[cloudless skin]( and the highlighter-happy [“dewy dumpling” look](. Beyond the rise of K-beauty, several other factors have also helped popularize dewy skin. The minimalist beauty brand [Glossier]( founded in 2014, achieved a [valuation of $1.2 billion]( by popularizing a fresh-faced, lightly glazed look on social media that New York Magazine [described]( as “makeup for people who are already pretty.” There’s also a connection to be drawn between the [rise of athleisure]( and the popularity of the dewy look in the US. A slightly shiny complexion is as much a fashion statement as a pair of Outdoor Voices leggings. Both communicate that fitness has been so well-integrated into your lifestyle that you always appear to be on your way back from barre class. And because people who have the [time, energy, and ability to prioritize exercise]( tend to lead privileged lifestyles, glowing skin that speaks of your commitment to wellness may be the ultimate status symbol. Quotable “Spritzing does moisten skin like the Irish mists and London fogs, but water evaporates quickly and can’t keep you dewy unless you keep at it.” —[Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown in her book]( It All]( Giphy Pop quiz The Japanese term for enviable skin takes which traditional food as inspiration? MisoSakuraMochiUnagi Correct. The phrase “mochi-hada” refers to skin that is as soft and plump as country’s famous rice cakes. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. The way we 💧now The fountain of youth --------------------------------------------------------------- The rise of K-beauty coincided with a backlash against the term “anti-aging.” Some women’s magazines, including Allure and Elle, banned the phrase from their pages, and [brands like Kiehl’s]( began avoiding language about fine lines and wrinkles in favor of euphemisms like “radiance.” As Cheryl Wischhover [writes for Vox]( putting people on a quest for dewy skin is a way for the beauty industry to soften ageist rhetoric while keeping the underlying youthful ideal intact. Of course, as Amanda Mull notes in a recent article for [The Atlantic]( truly dewy skin often requires not just a healthy lifestyle but a fair amount of investment in serums, facials, and visits to the dermatologist: “You can drink as much water and wear as much sunscreen as you want, but the most effective skin-care trick is being rich.” Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Dewiness? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Giphy Brief history [2011:]( Sephora begins carrying K-beauty products. [2014:]( Emily Weiss launches Glossier, a minimalist makeup and skincare line targeted at millennials, touting its focus on “glowy, dewy skin.” [2014:]( Soko Glam cofounder Charlotte Cho helps popularize the 10-step Korean beauty routine in the US, explaining that the process is key to getting “bright, dewy skin.” [2016:]( New York Magazine worries that heavy “Instagram makeup,” featuring plenty of contouring, is turning women into “beauty clones.” [2016:]( Glossier touts the introduction of its Haloscope highlighter with the promise that it will give customers a “Krispy Kreme straight-out-the-oven glazed look… warm on the inside, a little wet and sculpted on the outside.” [2017:]( Allure magazine editor-in-chief Michelle Lee bans the term “anti-aging.” [2017:]( Data analytics company IRI predicts that the contouring trend will soon give way to a “natural, dewy appearance.” [2018:]( A very shiny Emily Weiss is featured in New York Magazine. [2019:]( An outright wet Kim Kardashian West appears on the cover of Vogue. Fun fact! Men in South Korea [spend more on skincare]( than men in any other country, using an average 13.3 cosmetics product per month. Reuters/Eric Thayer Glossary How to do the dew --------------------------------------------------------------- While makeup can help [create or accentuate]( a dewy look, the aesthetic is meant to emerge from a foundation of healthy, well-hydrated skin, as Alicia Yoon, founder of the K-beauty retailer Peach & Lily, tells Quartz. Many dewy acolytes are fans of products that use some combination of the following ingredients: - Hyaluronic acid, which seals in hydration - Vitamin C, which brightens skin - Retinoids, which boost collagen production - Collagen supplements, which may increase skin elasticity - Alpha and beta hydroxy acids, which are chemical exfoliants - Jojoba, rose hip seed, squalane, maracuja, argan, and marula oils, which moisturize the skin Future tense After the glow --------------------------------------------------------------- “If you want to feel bad about your looks, spend some time in Seoul,” begins [Patricia Marx’s 2015 New Yorker article]( about the cultural pressures that inform women’s beauty regimes in South Korea. (Among those pressures is the expectation that job applicants include a photo, a practice that president Moon Jae-in [announced a desire to ban]( in 2017, and [eliminated in government jobs]( A backlash to those regimes began late last year with the “escape the corset” movement, which has led to women tossing hundreds of dollars’ worth of cosmetics and adopting short, low-maintenance haircuts—and [documenting it on Instagram](. Watch this! The beauty of snail slime --------------------------------------------------------------- Snail slime has been touted as a skin-moisturizing, glow-enhancing miracle ingredient since the days of ancient Greece and Rome, when a snail crawling across one’s face was considered the ultimate facial. As this video from Great Big Story explains, in the modern era, the process of extracting snail mucin for beauty products resulted in the gastropods’ deaths—until one Italian inventor found a way to harvest slime with a pleasurable machine that he likens to a “spa for snails.” take me down this 🐰 hole! Euny Hong’s 2014 book [The Birth of Korean Cool]( is a witty guide to the story of how South Korea has used soft power to gain global influence. Giphy Poll What skin ideal will we be chasing in 2040? [Click here to vote]( “Country skin,” which looks untouched by now-rampant urban air pollution“Smart skin,” which can be programed to blush right from your iPhone“Blue Ivy skin,” named after the beauty line launched by the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [skinny jeans]( 41% of you said they’re about to be dethroned, and “it’s about time,” while just 23% said “you’ll have to pry our skinny jeans out of our cold, dead hands.” 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20dewiness&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Sarah Todd]( ([@sarahlizchar]( edited by [Annaliese Griffin]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. The correct answer to the quiz is Mochi. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](