FLESH WORLD by Jessica DeFino | Substack

Exit The Beauty Culture Matrix. Enter FLESH WORLD.

Reporting on the absurd world of beauty culture.

Jul 7, 2021 • Jessica DeFino

Recent posts

The Don't Buy List: Issue #108

Jan 13 • Jessica DeFino

Mess Is The Moment: Our Trend Forecast For The Year

Listen now | Episode 25 of The Mess World Podcast

Jan 6 • Jessica DeFino

1:37:59

2026 Beauty Predictions: Fetal Skincare! 'Bleph In A Bottle'! Mouth Stuff!

The forecast for the year ahead.

Dec 31, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Recommendations

I <3 Mess

Emily Kirkpatrick

Maybe Baby

Haley Nahman

The Lowbrow Book Club

The Lowbrow Book Club

Lowbrow Book Club

The Powder Room

The Powder Room

Anita Bhagwandas

Mental Hellth

P.E. Moskowitz

Exit the beauty culture matrix. Enter FLESH WORLD.

Features

2026 Beauty Predictions: Fetal Skincare! 'Bleph In A Bottle'! Mouth Stuff!

The forecast for the year ahead.

Dec 31, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

What Was Beauty In 2025?

Surveillance tech! Therapist-formulated skincare! Cigarettes! A look back at my (alarmingly accurate) industry predictions for the year gone by.

Dec 28, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

The Year The Beauty Industry Made You Its Bitch

On dog beauty products, for CNN Style.

Dec 23, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Happy Holidays, You Old Hag!

An inbox poem + an anti-product gift guide.

Dec 12, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

The Ordinary's Idiotic Table of Elements

“A scientific table with zero science.”

Dec 1, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

The Don't Buy List

The Don't Buy List: Issue #108

Jan 13 • Jessica DeFino

The Zone of Skinterest

The Don’t Buy List: Issue #107

Dec 21, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

'Gender-Neutral & Inspired By Horses'

The Don’t Buy List: Issue #106

Dec 5, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Meghan Trainor Is The Moment! (Derogatory)

The Don’t Buy List: Issue #105

Nov 19, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Lolita, Vaginal Wellness Influencer

The Don’t Buy List: Issue #104

Nov 6, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Ask Ugly

'I Lost Faith In Skincare. But How Do I Take Care Of My Face?'

Read my latest Ask Ugly column!

Dec 18, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

'Wait, Why Do I Want A Facelift?'

Read my latest Ask Ugly column!

Nov 21, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

'I'm Literally Sick of Perfume'

Read my latest Ask Ugly column.

Oct 9, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

The Liberation To Labiaplasty Pipeline

Read my latest Ask Ugly column.

Sep 11, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

'Help! I'm Not Hot Enough For The Beach!'

Read my latest Ask Ugly column.

Aug 7, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Interviews

Your Face = Ad Space

An interview with Glamour.

Nov 4, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

An interview with Marie Claire US on "keeping your lower bleph."

Oct 20, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Erika Kirk’s Memorial Glam (Or, A Definitive Guide To MAGA Aesthetics)

Interview unlocked.

Oct 7, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

Makeover Madness!

My interview with the New York Times about the Skims Seamless Sculpt Face Wrap.

Sep 1, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

You Can't Shop Your Way To Safety

An interview with Lindsay Dahl, author of "Cleaning House: The Fight to Rid Our Homes of Toxic Chemicals".

Aug 14, 2025 • Jessica DeFino

“Yanking consumers out of the matrix made by the beauty industry.” - HuffPost

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