Mess World Podcast: "The Butt Blush Boom"

Host: Jessica DeFino
Co-host: Emily Kirkpatrick
Date: April 7, 2026
Episode Focus: An irreverent, insightful deep dive into recent beauty, fashion, and celebrity trends—highlighting the bizarre, boundary-pushing, and sometimes unsettling evolution of pop culture, including a full discussion of the "butt blush" phenomenon and its cultural context.

Episode Overview

The episode explores the intersection of absurdity and innovation in beauty and fashion, offering critical (and often hilarious) commentary on:

• The lifecycle of bizarre trends (from mouth and butt enhancements to disappearing clothes)
• The ongoing mainstreaming of kink and cyborg aesthetics
• How discourse and social media are "killing" the mythology of celebrity
• The ethical complexities of new cosmetic procedures, like using cadaver fat for fillers
• The perpetually morphing landscape of red carpet fashion
• The mechanics and mood behind pop culture’s biggest messes

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Announcements and the State of Media Work

• [01:02] (Emily): Announces her new role as digital editor for Interview magazine, emphasizing the shift toward more open, experimental, and personality-forward digital platforms in media.
• On Interview magazine's ethos: "Their aesthetic, their tone, like their provocation is very me... They're willing to be experimental." (Emily, [01:36])
• Candid talk about side gigs and how evolving media employment now accommodates strong personal brands.

2. Unusual Movie and TV Recs

• Emily recommends the Swedish film De Ofriviliga (Involuntary, 2008), a dark, voyeuristic anthology about people in involuntary situations:
  "...shot so interestingly. Like the camera's in these weird kind of like far off positions where you feel like you're always eavesdropping..." (Emily, [05:05])
• Jessica brings up Detective Hole (Netflix) and a throwback to Border, the unforgettably odd Swedish troll movie, noting:
  "You'll never be able to stop thinking about it again. Like, it will infiltrate your life in a psychotic way..." (Emily, [08:05])

3. The "Listerine Strip" and Consumable Beauty Trend

• Jessica credits herself for predicting the return of strip-based (dissolving, Listerine-like) products in wellness and beauty ([08:39]):
  • Examples: Love Wellness’s tongue-melting supplement strips, K-beauty’s Briese mouth strips that tint your tongue, “Sleep or Die” sleep strips.
  • The shift towards "accessorizing" these products: "We're going to see blinged out cases, bedazzled Listerine strips... even a sticky strip to stick the packet to the back of your phone." (Jessica, [12:36])
• Observes resurgence of oil blotting sheets among Gen Z—visual proof products work is back in vogue.

4. Red Carpet Fashion: The Year of the Chicken (And Butt Plume)

• [14:13] (Emily): Explores the mass trend of celebrities dressing in feathered, birdlike outfits:
  • Rosalía’s Chanel at the Brit Awards: “It almost looked like a feather boa...attached to the dress”
  • Snitchery in a full chicken cosplay at SAG Awards: “Full chicken. Just minus the beak.” (Emily, [15:09])
  • Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Mia Goth all staking their claim on “chicken butt energy”
• Jessica dubs it the “fart explosion of tulle” trend ([16:31]):
  • Speculates on materials (eco-feathers, sustainability tie-ins)
  • Observes the link between ornateness, luxury, and textural interest for high-visibility events
• The bugle bead comeback: labor-intensive textures as status symbols.

5. Cadaver Fat Fillers: Death Becomes (Y)ou

• [21:27] (Jessica): Breaks down her Guardian piece on the rise of cadaver fat fillers (Renuva for small areas, Aloclae for boob/butt lifts).
  • "Death literally becomes you... it's so wild to me." (Jessica, [23:13])
  • Rise driven by Ozempic/extreme dieting, which leaves people without enough body fat for fat grafting. Solution: harvest fat from the deceased.
  • Points out legal and ethical ambiguities in tissue donation, and "farming the deceased for fat."
  • "Where is someone to turn when they want to be really skinny but also want big boobs or a big butt?... they're turning to the dead as a resource, corpses naturally." (Jessica, [24:19])
  • Surprising acceptance among patients, and a survey suggesting some would leave donor registries if tissue went to cosmetic use.
  • Conversational musings on "cosmetic cannibalism," sci-fi scenarios, and the blurred line between consuming—or being consumed by—others.
• Standout metaphors: the "DBBBL" (dead body Brazilian butt lift) and "human tallow is the next beef tallow" ([33:56]).

6. Disappearing Clothing, Hair as Fashion, and Temporary Tattoo Tops

• The “disappearing clothing” predictions materialize via:
  • Maura Higgins (Love Island alum) in “floating collar” tops ([37:13])
  • Alex Khunsani in sheer, deconstructed shirt with only pockets and turtleneck visible
  • Tyla and Kim Petras in Simon Carl’s “temporary tattoo tops” that degrade over time: "what I'm actually interested in is the slow degradation of the top... what's revealed and what remains concealed" (Emily, [38:41])
• Increasing fashion usage of real and faux human hair:
  • Lisa Rinna, Margot Robbie, and others wearing “ethically sourced” human hair and hair accessories on the red carpet
  • “Love the phrase ‘ethically sourced human hair.’” (Emily, [43:13])

7. Gen Z Pout/Dissociative Pout: Blankness as Beauty Ideal

• Ubiquity of the “Gen Z pout”—a blank, puffy-lipped, detached stare ([44:47]):
  • New York Times: “blank-eyed and puffy-lipped like a koi fish on Adivan” ([46:52])
  • Jessica connects it to Rain Fisher Kwan’s earlier “dissociative pout” analysis (2022).
  • Asserts that the look mimics the effects of Botox and filler, flattening expressions for an “undead/inanimate” aesthetic.
    • “Aesthetic of death... the standard is very undead and inanimate... glazed donut skin to porcelain doll skin... all aesthetics of lifelessness.” (Jessica, [47:59])
  • Emily ties in social media “unresponsiveness,” internet coolness, and the impacts of neuromodulators on emotional perception ([51:00]).

8. Discourse & The “Death of Celebrity”

• [52:55] (Emily):
  • Contends that the ceaseless "discourse" and performative access via social media are killing the mythology of celebrity by eradicating “aura” (cites Walter Benjamin and John Berger).
  • "I don't think we were ever supposed to know this much about celebrities..." (Emily, [55:00])
  • Jessica adds: hyper-visibility makes all celebrities “non-neutral”; mistakes or out-of-context statements lead to overblown, performative outrage (e.g., Timothée Chalamet's ballet/opera discourse, Chapel Roan’s “controversy,” Lindy West’s memoir discourse).
  • Ties public “punishment” of celebrities to larger social crises and the ease of targeting minor “mess” over real issues ([66:11]).

9. Main Event: The Butt Blush Boom

• [70:58] (Jessica & Emily):
  • Discuss Diesel’s Fall 2026 runway trend of hyper-red, “spanked” butt cheeks:
    "It's blush that... evokes the look of a fresh spanking." (Jessica, [71:02])
  • Expands on the implications:
    • The aesthetic is about cheek (not crack), performative submission, and simulated kink.
    • Frames this as “simulacra kink”—the image of deviance without the reality.
    • The mainstreaming of sexualized/kink aesthetics as sanitized, depersonalized performance rather than lived sexual subculture.
    • "You want the performance of this... sexually deviant lifestyle... without the actual sexiness... we want this performance of these activities. We don't want the reality of them even." (Emily, [75:02])
  • Jessica draws analogies to blush as emotion simulation and the larger beauty industry’s trend of selling “experiences of life” we no longer live—(sunburn blush, “cold weather” blush, Prada’s “love-letter” blush).
  • Further readings: subverting blush’s associations (youth, vitality) for a transgressive, simultaneously submissive and controlling aesthetic; capitalism’s tendency to commodify and strip real lived experience ([79:57]).
  • Both connect this to other cultural currents—Epstein conspiracies, the Coppertone girl as a "reverse" metaphor, and the “faux sunburn” trend for butts ([81:52]).

10. Mess of the Month & Closing Thoughts

Emily’s Pick:

Kevin O’Leary’s $12M NBA ticket necklace

• An example of performative wealth and “broke boy behavior” among the ultra-rich.
  "Why do you want to own memorabilia with two other people?... It feels like weird posturing..." (Emily, [86:49])

Jessica’s Pick:

Tech-Cyborg Language in Beauty/Wellness

• Brands increasingly use digital/tech terms (“Update” energy drink, “Reboot” vitamins, “Software” lip treatments, “null & void” shades) to frame women as literal cyborgs.
  • Discussion of the term “foid” (female humanoid) and its dystopian implications.
    “Woman and machine have been so successfully paired in the minds of the masses that these sort of, you know, tech names are resonating…” (Jessica, [91:59])
• Parallel to Matrix and Metropolis film references: the image of humanity as a dehumanized, efficient, updateable vessel.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Emily on bizarre movie recs:
  “You’ll never be able to stop thinking about it again. Like, it will infiltrate your life in a psychotic way…” ([08:05])

• Jessica on consumable strip products:
  “Just take this tiny little wispy strip and let it melt on your tongue to not crave anything else anymore.” ([09:36])

• Emily on chicken-dressing on the red carpet:
  “Full chicken. Just minus the beak.” ([15:09])

• Jessica on the ethics of cadaver fat:
  “Literally becomes you. Like, death literally becomes you... It feels like a very, like, dystopian sort of resource hoarding…” ([23:13]/[24:43])

• Emily on deconstructed/disappearing clothes:
  “What I’m actually interested in is the slow degradation of the top… what’s revealed and what remains concealed.” ([38:41])

• Jessica on the dissociative pout:
  “The look is a full blanking of the face… it softens… everything is sort of like flattened. So it’s a facial expression that aims to create the affect of Botox and filler.” ([46:54])

• Emily on the death of celebrity:
  “Celebrity wasn’t built to survive social media... I don’t think we were ever supposed to know this much about celebrities.” ([55:00])

• Emily on butt blush & mainstream kink:
  “You want the performance of this... sexually deviant lifestyle… without the actual sexiness… we want this performance of these activities. We don’t want the reality of them even.” ([75:02])

• Jessica on blush and simulated emotional life:
  "Blush is this tool... to look as if we've felt certain emotions or lived a certain life that we actually haven't." ([76:19])

Segment Timestamps

• [01:02] - [04:14] | Emily’s new job and state of digital media
• [04:22] - [08:39] | Swedish media recommendations; what is “Border”?
• [08:39] - [14:09] | Listerine strips, supplement trends, accessory culture in beauty products
• [14:13] - [20:28] | Feathered red carpet; "chicken" and "fart explosion" dress trend; Bugle beads and couture legitimacy
• [21:27] - [34:01] | Cadaver fat fillers: science, industry, law, ethics, and horror-film speculative tangents
• [35:19] - [44:43] | Disappearing/clinging/degrading clothing, hair on the runway, reality TV’s Nader sisters, fashion as performance art
• [44:47] - [52:46] | Gen Z/disassociative pout, inanimate and undying beauty, bots, filler, blankness, and emotional flattening
• [52:55] - [70:58] | The death of celebrity aura, outrage cycles, social media’s impact, overblown “scandals,” and misplaced public punishment
• [70:58] - [83:54] | Main Topic: The Butt Blush Boom—runway analysis, meaning, blush as emotion, commodifying kink, sunburn trends
• [84:07] - [98:53] | Mess of the Month: Kevin O’Leary’s necklace; tech-cyborg framing of beauty/wellness; Matrix and Metropolis film cyborgs
• [99:05] - End | Closing remarks, movie recommendations recap

Final Takeaways

“Mess World” delivers sharp, sardonic, often hauntingly on-point cultural analysis, illuminating how our collective desires, fears, and neuroses get packaged into the trends we swipe, wear, or inject. From “simulated kink” and deconstructed clothing to cyborgian branding and the literal consumption of the human body, this episode is packed with critical insight for anyone who wants to understand the beauty and fashion world’s weirdest new frontiers.

Not to mention, you’ll never look at blush, Listerine strips, or a red feather boa the same way again.