Next week Selfridges will be launching a 6-week national campaign – The Beauty Project – exploring what “beauty” is all about and focussing on some key themes: Men and Beauty, Age and Beauty, Adornment/Extreme Beauty, Global Beauty, Androgyny and Natural Beauty.
Both Manchester stores are getting involved in The Beauty Project throughout May and June, and Selfridges Exchange Square will be hosting some thought-provoking talks looking at what it means to be beautiful. As tickets need to be booked in advance these talks could get booked up quickly, so if you’re interested you can buy tickets online at http://www.selfridges.com or in-store (tickets are £15, which includes a glass of wine and tasting plate of San Carlo’s signature dishes).
Carefree Black Girls: Beauty Ideals, Cultural Aesthetics and Creativity.
- Thursday 8 May. Journalist Bim Adewunmi talks to actress Zawe Ashton (best know from Channel 4’s Fresh Meat) to discuss the narrow standards of what constitutes ‘black (and mixed race) beauty’ in the media, the tentative return of TV’s ‘Carefree Black Girl’ and how beauty translates across different audiences.
Who are You Calling Invisible? Beauty and the Older Woman
- Thursday 15 May. With 64-year-old Jessica Lange starring in the new Marc Jacobs Beauty campaign and 68-year-old Charlotte Rampling set to be the new face of Nars, is the time of women over 50 feeling ‘invisible’ to the beauty industry over? Fashion industry expert and diversity campaigner Caryn Franklin hosts a conversation with Helen Walmsey-Johnson (The Guardian’s Invisible Woman) and Jody Furlong (one of London’s top casting directors) about the relationship between beauty, brands and the older woman.
We’re Born Naked, The Rest is Drag; Identity, Fantasy and Beauty Beyond Gender
- Wednesday 21 May. An exploration of the transformative powers of make-up and the role of beauty work in the creation and expression of gender and identity – with Dr Sally Hines (Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Leeds), Grace Oni Smith (make-up and drag artist) and Cheddar Gorgeous (drag performer, visual artist and Manchester academic)
The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful
- Wednesday 4 June. Journalist, broadcaster, Guardian columnist and founder of the award-winning salihughesbeauty.com, Sali Hughes will be in conversation with writer Emma Jane Unsworth and fashion historian Amber Butchart, discussing the rituals, history and effects of beauty work and examining its place in modern feminism.
As well as the above talks celebrity make-up artist Armand Beasley will be providing individual beauty consultations at Selfridges Exchange Square from 7th May (booking required), and at Selfridges Trafford there will be a Fragrance Lab where customers can create a signature scent based on their physical presence and responses to different stimuli and questions.
English Rose from Manchester's Blog 
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