Hailey Bieber: The Glazed Glaze Over Pop Culture's Fault Lines
- Editorial Team
- Oct 17, 2024
- 3 min read
She arrived on the scene swathed in silk pajamas, a dewy vision of Gen Z nonchalance. Or was it calculated cool? Hailey Bieber, then Baldwin, was always a cipher, a whisper of celebrity progeny trailing behind the bombast of her husband’s fame. But something shifted. Maybe it was the slicked-back bun, the sudden ubiquity of her glazed donut aesthetic. Suddenly, she wasn’t just an accessory to fame, but a force in her own right.
The internet, of course, had thoughts. A torrent of them. The “glazed donut” skincare routine, a regimen so meticulously documented it spawned countless YouTube tutorials, felt both aspirational and absurd. Was this the pinnacle of late-stage capitalism, selling us $40 serums for the illusion of dewy perfection? Or was it simply a young woman, albeit an extraordinarily privileged one, sharing her self-care ritual?
The debate, if you can call it that, highlighted the fault lines of our current cultural moment. The collision of celebrity worship, consumerism, and the relentless pursuit of unattainable beauty standards. I remember a time, not so long ago, when skincare was a private affair, a quick splash of water and a dab of moisturizer in the morning. Now, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry, fueled by influencers and algorithms, promising transformation in a bottle.
And then there’s the Selena factor. The ghost of Justin Bieber’s past love, forever looming over Hailey’s carefully curated online persona. The internet, never one for subtlety, delights in pitting them against each other, dissecting their every move for signs of rivalry. A misplaced like on Instagram, a seemingly shady comment – all fuel for the gossip mill. It’s a tired narrative, this pitting of women against each other, yet one that persists with a stubborn tenacity.
But amidst the noise, the endless scroll of hot takes and think pieces, Hailey Bieber remains an enigma. Her public persona is carefully crafted, a blend of aspirational glamour and relatable girl-next-door charm. She posts photos of herself in designer gowns at Met Galas, followed by snapshots in sweats, cuddling her dog. Is it calculated? Perhaps. But isn’t it all, in the age of the curated self?
The truth is, we project onto Hailey Bieber what we want to see. She’s a blank canvas onto which we splatter our anxieties about beauty, fame, and the ever-shifting landscape of social media. Are we obsessed with her glazed donut skin because we crave that same luminescence, that same air of effortless perfection? Or are we simply looking for a distraction, a fleeting moment of escapism in a world that feels increasingly chaotic?
I find myself thinking about a runway show I attended years ago, back when the internet was still a nascent force. The models glided down the catwalk, faces impassive, bodies draped in exquisite garments. They were beautiful, yes, but also untouchable, existing in a realm far removed from the everyday. Today, the line between observer and observed has blurred. We follow celebrities on Instagram, watch their every move on TikTok, consume their carefully curated lives in bite-sized pieces.
Hailey Bieber, with her glazed donut skin and her carefully curated feed, embodies this new era of celebrity. She is both accessible and aspirational, a product of and a participant in the very culture that dissects her every move. And while the internet may continue to debate the merits of her skincare routine, the reality is that she has tapped into something deeper. A yearning for beauty, for connection, for a fleeting moment of escape in a world that often feels overwhelming. Isn’t that what we all crave, in our own way?
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