This book exposes the ugly underside of the industries that drive us to pursue, endlessly and in vain, an idealized image of perfection, and it delves deeply into the everyday exchanges between buyers and sellers that underpin their profits. It is both a vital and unsettling read! — Daniel Briggs, Northumbria University

As one of the first ethnographic studies to focus on the counterfeit beauty industry, this book makes a significant contribution to scholarly debates at the intersection of youth, consumerism, beauty, crime, and personal risk. — Choice Magazine

This book is part of the “Research on Social Harm” series (12 volumes in total).
★ When technological “progress” harbors hidden social harms, and the “pursuit” of beauty devolves into self‑destruction… this series employs a transdisciplinary lens to decode the concealed costs beneath contemporary society’s breakneck development. Taking “social harm” as its prism, it pierces the “narratives of progress” surrounding high‑tech innovation, the beauty industry, career advancement, and adolescent growth, illuminating the pain and alienation experienced by individuals within the myth of progress.
★ Series Editors: Christina Pantazis (University of Bristol, UK) and Simon Pemberton (University of Birmingham, UK).
★ “This series addresses what matters most. Our value system has become imbalanced. We incarcerate people—most of them the poorest—often for minor offenses, such as being unable to repay debts, while frequently celebrating those who commit grave wrongs as wealth creators. Now is precisely the time to focus on who suffers the most, how they suffer, and why.” — Danny Dorling, a renowned British social geographer and Professor at the University of Oxford, whose research spans population, housing, health, education, poverty, inequality, and other social‑geographic issues.
★ “Social harm” is an emerging field of study that has enriched contemporary social and political debates. This compelling lecture series advances a holistic approach, seeking to understand the mechanisms through which harm arises in modern society. With sharply defined themes, a transdisciplinary orientation, and comparative and international perspectives, the series aims to map the distribution of harm while integrating cutting‑edge theory and empirical research.

The series currently comprises 12 volumes: “The Colonial and Patriarchal Dimensions of Harm Between the State and the Corporation,” “Dying under Power: Invisibility and Social Harm,” “Crime, Harm, and the State,” “Social Harm and Neoliberalism,” “ How Technologies Harm,” “The Harms of Beauty,” “Border Harms and Everyday Violence,” “Youth Violence: A Perspective from Social Harm,” “Harms at Work,” “Labor Exploitation and Workplace Harm,” “A Harmful Society,” and “Environmental Harm.”

The beauty industry thrives by cultivating dissatisfaction with one’s appearance, and social media has further intensified the pursuit of idealized beauty. This has led to the growing use of various products aimed at enhancing physical appearance, such as facial injections and weight-loss medications, which are increasingly being normalized in society.
This groundbreaking ethnographic study sheds light on the darker side of beauty—revealing why young people are willing to harm themselves in the quest for “perfection”—and explores the motivations behind the use, purchase, and sale of counterfeit beauty products and services.

Sam Barnes is a senior lecturer in criminology at Arden University.

1. Introduction
2. Contemporary Subjectivity and Excessive Comparison
3. The Essential Transformation of Beauty, Enhancement, and Harm
4. Contemporary Sellers and the Myth of “Organized Crime”
5. Consuming (Forged) Beauty; Consuming Aesthetic Pleasure
6. From Filters to Fillers: The Authentic Instagram Face
7. Botox, Alcohol, and “Intimacy”
8. Conclusion