In-Store: Arabelle Sicardi: The House of Beauty w/ Smell Ya Later

Event guidelines:

• Each ticket will include either a copy of the featured book or a $10 Books Are Magic gift card.
• Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.
• A signing will follow the talk.
• Home address is collected for contact tracing purposes; it will not be used otherwise.
• The event will also be livestreamed for free here: https://youtube.com/live/qhzSnSVi-GU
• As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected].

“When I tell you that beauty is a monster, I need you to know it is my favorite kind.”

So begins Arabelle Sicardi’s blazingly original collection of essays. A former beauty editor, Arabelle has devoted their entire adult life to the subject of beauty—they have analyzed it, criticized it, praised it, benefited from it, loathed it. Now, in The House of Beauty, they get to the contradictions at the heart of it: beauty and horror, two sides of the same coin.

With their signature blend of intellectual rigor and poetic sensibility, Arabelle explores how beauty myths are crafted, sold, and weaponized, from corporate boardrooms to your local nail salon. Follow alongside Arabelle as they trace the global trail of the shimmering mica in your beauty products, choose-your-own-adventure-style, or journey into the past to unearth the sinister connection between fragrance and fascism. Bear witness as they visit a tech convention focused on the next horrifying frontier of body modification, or as they ask what’s at stake in the braids we weave in our hair. Sharp yet tender in their observations, Arabelle challenges readers to reconsider beauty as more than a product of consumption, inviting a vision of beauty rooted in community and self-care, one that transcends industry-driven ideals.

Equal parts exposé and cultural reckoning, The House of Beauty cracks open an industry that sells dreams and wields power. Once you have encountered Arabelle’s words, there is no looking back.

Arabelle Sicardi is a Taiwanese American writer exploring beauty, care, and crisis. They’ve written for Allure, Teen Vogue, and the Cut; run the scent collective Perfumed Pages; and founded the Museum of Nails Foundation. They split their time between Los Angeles, California, and New York City.

Smell Ya Later is a weekly podcast hosted by Sable Yong and Tynan Sinks that explores the myriad ways we interact with the aromas in our lives, the odors seared into our memories, and how scent expresses what’s going on in our culture.

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