Re: Natural Beauty

Exactly how far are people willing to go to be perceived as beautiful?

Jan 24, 2024

Natural Beauty, Ling Ling Huang

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Almost like a continuation of my thoughts on beauty maintenance routines, but well articulated in the form of a cohesive story and weaves so many other layers that consume the industry.

Set in Manhattan, this story is about an American Chinese woman in her early 20s who quits her job as a pianist prodigy and eventually begins working in an elite, neo-wellness beauty company that creates revolutionary products that promote self-improvement to support her immigrant parents who had gotten into a nearly fatal accident. In turn, she also undergoes the regimen offered (and required) to work at the store and slowly becomes “beautiful,” just as the store promises. As the story unfolds, the central theme tackles the “At what cost?” and “Exactly how far are people willing to go to be perceived as beautiful?” questions in the beauty and wellness space through horrific, grotesque avenues that feel dystopian, yet somewhat realistic.

In this social horror novel, Huang tells a surprisingly poignant tale about the horrors of where the beauty industry is heading if we’re not careful to reflect on the lengths we go for beauty with underlying themes of power, consumerism, race, and identity perception. There’s also a layer of critique on the American rebrand of traditional and cultural holistic health practices (ayurveda, naturopathy, homeopathy) to be palatable and beneficial to Western populations.

We’ve noticed misinformation and blind faith when it comes to treatments and alterations to our physical selves, whether it be through plastic surgery and fillers or extensions and facials or mascara and blush. It simply doesn’t end with what we do, we always want more and the next best quick fix. The fountain of youth is very much real, but in the quest for eternal beauty, we lose sight of the bigger picture. The part where we don’t know the negative repercussions of extreme beauty fixes in the long run. Beauty efforts are ultimately futile without a personal sense of identity.

This was a great concept and though there are a few holes and unanswered questions, Huang did an admirable job sparking social commentary on the generational blind obsession over beauty in her debut novel.

4/5 ⭐️