In 2020, we’ve seen just about every unusual beauty treatment possible – between TikTokers shaving down their teeth with nail files to get straighter smiles (please don’t do this), Kesha declaring herself a, “butt mask lady,” and encouraging us to use sheet masks on our butts, and really just about everything Goop Labs has ever done.

New film Beauty is Life – premiering on Nowness  – however, is showcasing the toxicity behind beauty treatment culture. Directed by Jovana Reisinger and in the unsettling set of a late night shopping advert, the film follows 10 women in silky robes experiencing a series of abnormal beauty treatments – including face trainers, breast enlargement pads, double chin exercisers, and even vaginal rejuvenation sticks. Ouch.

“Beauty companies are part of a system that profits from the perpetuation of female insecurities and then gets women to blame themselves for it,” explained Reisinger. “More money than ever is being invested in beauty worldwide.” 

Towards the end of the film, the same women, changed into suits, gather around a table to discuss the gender, sexuality and objectification built into the female experience. “Isn’t it the fault of capitalism?” one of the women asks the group. “Always needing to be strong, optimise oneself, be pushy and whoever is pushy wins.”

“It makes me angry,” another woman shares. “That an industry based on exploiting the insecurities of women for profit exists.” Bizarre treatments aside, it’s definitely time for something to change.

Watch the film below.