It used to be that if you wanted to know what strangers kept in their bathroom cabinets, you were limited to sneaking a peek during a party. Now, on social media (mostly) young women do their makeup in front of a live audience and celebrities describe their daily routines. The Vogue video interview series In The Bag sees stars dig around their bags to show off their favorite lipstick.
The scale of appetite for this low-level voyeurism is illustrated by the billions of views the #GetReadyWithMe hashtag has generated on TikTok, where online content creators broadcast themselves doing their hair or makeup – #skincareroutine alone has an astonishing 55bn views.
It all arguably began fifteen years ago, with the frank admission of nosiness that was the interview series The Top Shelf – with its polished photography, revealing personal details and tips – wherein a model, stylist or other industry insider talks through the contents of their bathroom cabinet. It was part of the Into The Gloss blog, which was the first venture of the Glossier beauty brand founder and original “girlboss” Emily Weiss, who is now the subject of a new book, Glossy: Ambition, Beauty and the Inside Story