Sable Yong's charmingly subversive and often hilarious debut, Die Hot with a Vengeance: Essays on Vanity, demystifies the glamorous allure of the beauty industry and invites readers to engage with beauty culture in a manner that stays true to how they view and value themselves. Her provocative essays delve right into the heart of the question, "What is beauty for?"
A former digital beauty editor for Allure magazine, Yong recalls her days as a child model, her severe allergy to deodorant as a teenager, and the winding path that led to "The Job a Million Girls Would Dye For." She enjoys upending expectations of what an Asian woman looks like, determined to free herself from "the tyranny of shoulds."
In the pivotal essay "No Fun in the Fun House," Yong reflects on how social media has transformed vanity from an undesirable character trait into a popular lifestyle choice, fueled by YouTube and Instagram. The ubiquitous use of filters in photographs encourages impossible beauty standards, she notes, calling out the industry's manipulative harnessing of "every perceived flaw" as a platform for marketing more products. Yong gradually learned to engage consciously with beauty, deploying it as a means of self-expression and a path to self-discovery instead of as a response to her insecurities. After surviving puberty sans deodorant, perfume is now her "favorite way to connect with people."
In "Age Against the Machine," Yong celebrates the confidence that comes with life experience. Her essays are a compassionate reminder that there are no absolute rules when it comes to beauty, and at the end of the day it truly is an inside job. --Shahina Piyarali