Allure

Allure, the first and only magazine devoted to beauty, is an insider's guide to a woman's total image. Allure investigates and celebrates beauty and fashion with objectivity and candor, and places appearance in a larger cultural context.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE • Three generations of Allure editors contributed to this issue.

Allure

not like, love! • THE VIRTUAL BALLOT BOX IS OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR THE 2021 ALLURE READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS. BUT BEFORE YOU HEAD TO ALLURE.COM TO MAKE YOUR FINAL DECISIONS, OUR EDITORS JUST WANT TO GIVE SHOUT-OUTS TO SOME OF OUR FAVORITE WINNERS FROM 2020. (AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, IT TURNS OUT WE HAVE SIMILAR TASTE!)

HOW TO VOTE • Go to allurereaders choiceawards.com by 11:59 p.m. on March 15 to vote for your all-time favorite beauty products.

THIS IS 30

self-LOVE • HEAR THAT HONKING IN THE DISTANCE? IT’S US, TOOTING OUR OWN HORN. FOR THREE DECADES, WE’VE BEEN CHALLENGING THE WAY BEAUTY IS TALKED ABOUT, DISCOVERED, AND SHARED. SO, IF YOU WILL, INDULGE US AS WE REFLECT ON A FEW OF OUR GREATEST TRIUMPHS. TOOT, TOOT!

1 WE DEFINED WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A beauty reporter • At Allure, beauty is the lens through which we see the world—and tell stories about the people and places in it. But before Allure, beauty journalism wasn’t always so… evolved. We’d even argue that, before Allure, beauty journalism didn’t really… exist. By combing through scientific studies, challenging accepted norms, and publishing investigative reports, Allure opened the door to a new kind of beauty coverage. (Founding editor Linda Wells was a reporter at The New York Times when she was tapped to start the magazine.) Here are just some of the many stories that raised the bar.

2 WE GOT THE PROS TO SPILL THEIR bag of tricks

3 …AND CREATED best of beauty best of beauty TO AWARD OUR OWN MUST-HAVES

4 we started conversations ABOUT AGE, RACE, DISABILITY, AND MORE

5 get your fill • THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS—OR SHOULD BE—WEARING FACE COVERINGS HASN’T PUT A FULL STOP ON INJECTABLES LIKE LIP FILLERS. AND ISN’T THAT JUST A LITTLE BIZARRE? HERE’S A LOOK AT HOW WE GOT HERE.

6 a k-pop prince TURNS 30 • HIS PARENTS WANTED HIM TO STUDY MEDICINE. INSTEAD, HE STUDIED DANCE. KIM KI-BUM’S TECHNICOLOR DREAM OF POP STARDOM CAME TRUE WHEN HE JOINED THE GROUP SHINEE IN 2008. A RAPTUROUS 12 YEARS LATER: HIS FAN BASE IS THE SIZE OF A SMALL NATION, HE’S STARRED IN HANDBAG ADS, SERVED IN THE SOUTH KOREAN ARMY, AND FINALLY HAS A MOMENT TO REFLECT ON IT ALL.

7 the great WHITE WAY • THE AT-HOME TEETH-WHITENING INDUSTRY IS WORTH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, WAS BORN AROUND THE SAME TIME AS ZENDAYA, AND REGULARLY ASKS THE QUESTION: WHAT WON’T PEOPLE DO FOR BRIGHTER TEETH? IF THE LIMIT EXISTS, WE’RE NOT EVEN CLOSE.

8 going free • “CLEAN BEAUTY” HAS NEVER BEEN UNIVERSALLY DEFINED—YET IT HAS REDEFINED OUR BEAUTY ROUTINES. THIS IS HOW IT GREW (AND GREW AND GREW) FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY, “PARABEN-FREE.”

9 CUT AND paste • ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WERE BEAUTY RULES, DO’S AND DON’TS, AND I’LL-HAVE-WHAT-SHE’S-HAVING HAIRCUTS. ONE GEN X’ER (AND ALLURE ALUMNUS), PATRICIA TORTOLANI, REFLECTS ON HOW HER JOURNEY TO BEAUTY SELFHOOD ONLY TRULY BEGAN AFTER SHE MET “THE RACHEL.”

THE MASTER MIND • Hairstylist Chris McMillan (above, with his longtime client on the set of her January 2015 Allure cover) sounds off on creating a cut that defined an era.

RING ME UP • Started at the beauty counter, and now we’re here.

10 HOW WE SHOP then, now, and next • FROM DEPARTMENT STORE WINDOWS TO AMAZON TABS, EVERYTHING ABOUT HOW HUMANS CONSUME MATERIAL GOODS HAS CHANGED. BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS: HAVE WE? TO IMAGINE SHOPPING’S FUTURE, BRENNAN KILBANE LOOKS TO THE PAST.

TESTING, TESTING

WHEN MARIO MET SEPHORA • Today, makeup...