For the second semester of ASTU, the course has switched its focus from life narratives to archives. Previously, when I thought of archives, what came to mind was the sort of artifacts one would find in a museum exhibition; e.g. sacred documents and or outdated tools. However, as of recently, my perception of what an archive is has changed. Social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be categorized as archives. All three of these websites allow their users to document whatever aspects of their lives they wish to share. Another website which I think can be considered an archive would be Into the Gloss.

Into the Gloss focuses on beauty, more especially on the regimes of inspirational people from a variety of backgrounds and reviews of cosmetic products (Into the Gloss, About). Into the Gloss’s Founder, Emily Weiss, remarks that the inspiration for Into the Gloss came from “wanting to know about … women who were so cool and interesting for all these different reasons” (Fashionista). Furthermore, Weiss describes Into the Gloss as a both community and a “mighty movement toward taking ownership of [one’s own] beauty routine” (Fashionista).

Into the Gloss has managed to profile a number of famous people on its website. Some examples include supermodels Karlie Kloss and Cindy Crawford.

Karile Kloss was featured twice on Into the Gloss. Her first feature was when her modeling career was in its early stages. In that interview, Kloss discusses the products she uses and how she dealt with having temperamental hair for a while (Karlie Kloss, 2010). Four years later in her most recent interview with the website, Kloss’s article demonstrates how much she has grown. This time around, Kloss talks about how she is aware of her image and how she is seen as role model. Kloss then goes on to discuss how as she has gotten older, she started to pay attention to nutrition and exercise. Kloss reveals that when she feels strong, that’s when she feels her most beautiful (Karlie Kloss, 2014). Having interviewed Kloss during two different times in her life, Into the Gloss has allowed its readers to observe Kloss’s identity evolve with age.

Along side with Kloss, Into the Gloss featured Cindy Crawford in a lengthy article. In the article , Crawford discusses how past figures in her life have had a profound impact on her current beauty regime. Crawford mentions how from Kevyn Aucoin, a makeup artist, Crawford learned to highlight instead of contouring (Cindy Crawford, 2014). Additionally, Crawford shares that at her one of her first modeling jobs she didn’t really know what she was doing. It was through watching the other two models, Iman and Diane deWitt, did she watch them and then learnt what to do (Cindy Crawford, 2014).

After reading Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill, it is apparent that whether through cosmetics or food, people are able to relive memories and discovery their identities. I think Into the Gloss represents archives because it gathers the beauty regimes from all sorts of people, (may they be supermodels, actress, makeup artists, even Instagram users) and publishes on its website. Through this, Into the Gloss records history and shares with the masses.

 

Works Citied:

https://intothegloss.com/about/

http://fashionista.com/2015/04/emily-weiss

https://intothegloss.com/2010/11/karlie-kloss/

https://intothegloss.com/2014/06/karlie-kloss-2/

https://intothegloss.com/2014/05/cindy-crawford-2014/