Trust Me: Cults, Extreme Belief, and Manipulation

Episode: Arabelle Sicardi - Plastic Surgery in Mormonism, Biohacking, and the Beauty Industry
Hosts: Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth
Guest: Arabelle Sicardi (author, “The House of Beauty: Lessons from the Image Industry”)
Release Date: October 15, 2025

Overview

This episode explores how beauty culture functions as its own “cult,” intersecting with religious belief, especially Mormonism, and spurred on by capitalism, social media, biohacking, and the wellness industry. Arabelle Sicardi, acclaimed beauty writer and recent author, joins the hosts for a deep dive into the seductive promise—and dangers—of striving for beauty, offering reflections on power, control, community, capitalist exploitation, and the thick ties between belief, image, and belonging.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Beauty as a Cult: Control, Care, and Terror

• Beauty Culture as Cult: Arabelle likens beauty culture to a cult, referencing the constant self-policing and surveillance intrinsic to both.

  “Beauty is terror... but on the same side, or a different side of the same coin, it’s also an act of care.” – Arabelle Sicardi (14:59)

• The sense of control over one’s body provides relief in an unpredictable world, but the pursuit quickly becomes all-consuming, moving the “goalpost” further and further from reach.

2. The Mormonism-Plastic Surgery Connection

• Utah as Surgery Capital: The hosts and Arabelle discuss the dramatic shift in Mormon culture—from treating the body as a sacred temple (against even ear piercing) to now having one of the highest rates of plastic surgery in the US, rivaling Miami and LA.

  “Now there's Real Housewives situations going on on Hulu where you have Mormonism kind of funneled through the lens of a Kardashian.” – Arabelle Sicardi (22:08)

• Changing Values: What was once taboo is now normalized, often used to align with new standards of grace and femininity, echoing deeper power dynamics in the church and belief that a woman’s body is a “commodity for God.” (23:27)

3. Biohacking, Anti-Aging, and Gender

• Gendered Longevity: “Biohacking” or “body hacking” appears as “life extension” for men and “anti-aging” for women—two sides of the same coin, but couched in gendered language and expectations.

  “For men, it’s marketed in terms of like... Terminator is on the mood board... For women, [it’s] fake your age to be younger... your health kind of doesn't matter in these conversations.” – Arabelle Sicardi (18:31–20:11)

• The hosts and guest reflect on how this shapes the commodification of the body, the normalization of dangerous procedures, and the endless drive for self-optimization.

4. Early Pressures, Social Media & “TikTok Brain”

• The beauty obsession is capturing younger and younger audiences—from Botox at 18 to six-year-olds being aware of retinol via TikTok.

  “She and her friends have gotten TikTok brained and are trying to use like retinol products... they’re babies.” – Host 1 (33:31)

• Sephora as the new tween hangout, predicting children’s wings and even “baby facelifts” as next on the horizon.

5. Beauty, Power, and Economic Agency

• Soft Power: Arabelle explains how beauty offered women “soft power”—one of the few accessible forms of power, financial or otherwise, in a patriarchal society.

  “Beauty has always been a kind of an exit door, a loophole, a way of having some sort of currency in a world that wants to constantly discredit women.” – Arabelle Sicardi (28:04)

• Pretty Privilege & Retirement: Beauty impacts real-life economic decisions, from budgeting for facelifts in retirement planning to staying longer in the workplace.

  “It’s a bigger conversation that has really serious repercussions that we’re beginning to see more, I think.” – Host 2 (30:44)

6. The Inner Critic as Cult Leader

• The “cult leader” is often internal—the relentless, self-critical voice, now amplified by brands and influencer culture.

  “The cult leader kind of becomes the inner critic in your head... and brands—they’re all a choir.” – Host 2 & Arabelle (41:03–41:16)

• External influences (celebs, brands, social media) converge to solidify harmful beauty standards and drive endless insecurity.

7. The Cult Tactics of Brands

• Brand Trips = Religious Retreats: Arabelle describes influencer brand trips as being eerily similar to cult retreats—selecting an elite few, isolating them, showering them with gifts and expectations.

  “They bring them to a deserted isolated space... you’re expected to post about it constantly. That kind of is just like a religious retreat.” – Arabelle Sicardi (43:00)

• Surveillance is subtle but strict; participants are carefully monitored in exchange for lavish experiences.

8. Chanel, Coco Chanel’s Nazi Ties, and Myth-Making

• Arabelle discusses the sanitized history of iconic brands (specifically Chanel), and the cognitive dissonance of loving beauty but contending with dark histories.

  “She was also a spy for the Nazis and had a code name and was a violently anti-Semitic human being... that, of course, is not in any of the biographies.” – Arabelle Sicardi (46:11)

• The lure of luxury is a cautionary tale for anyone with privilege: “Control is an aphrodisiac that you would rather harm someone than ever give up.” (47:45)

9. Exploitation in the Beauty Supply Chain

• Arabelle details her research on the hidden human costs of beauty products, from modern-day piracy on shipping routes to exploitative labor practices.

  “They are just going to stop [the ship] from going anywhere. Every hour a ship does not make it to its port, every conglomerate that has ordered space... loses money.” – Arabelle Sicardi (55:09)

• The chapter features an innovative, literary “choose your own adventure” format to humanize these costs.

10. Beauty as Community, Not Consumption

• Meaningful Beauty: The true value of beauty, Arabelle concludes, is not in consumerism, but in connection and care for others.

  “Beauty is only worth keeping if it is focused on people, not things.” – Arabelle Sicardi (57:24, also in her book)

• Compliments, skill-sharing, and genuine support (e.g., in a bar bathroom) are cited as examples where beauty culture is positive, not performative or competitive.

11. MLMs—Community and Capitalism

• The hosts reference MLMs (like Mary Kay) as prime examples of exploiting the desire for connection for profit—“Frankenstein[ing] community conversations into capitalism.” (61:26)

12. Ethical Beauty: Navigating Red Flags

• Arabelle advises consumers to educate themselves: check who owns brands, their stated values, their packaging and supply chains.

  “I don’t want to give my money to someone that actively doesn't want me to have rights.” – Arabelle Sicardi (63:39)

• Discourages black-and-white thinking (e.g., “natural = good, synthetic = bad”), which is often marketed, not scientifically valid (64:08).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Danger and Promise of Beauty:
  “It can be a playground or it can be a prison. And sometimes it’s both at the same time.” – Arabelle Sicardi (20:41)

• On the Cultic Nature of Beauty Culture:
  “The overarching vibe... is that beauty is a cult and there’s just little sects within it... constant self-policing and surveillance... It’s the same policing people in cults experience.” – Arabelle Sicardi (36:13)

• On Growing Up Beautiful but Never Feeling Beautiful:
  “Some of the hottest women I know are the ones that are the most anxious about how they look all the time...” – Host 1 (16:13)

• On Brand Trips:
  “Your appearance and activities are highly monitored... It is very much, we’re taking you, we’re isolating you, we have demands.” – Arabelle Sicardi (44:06)

• On the Need for Connection Over Comparison:
  “There’s no one who will ride for you harder than a Girl in a Bar Bathroom.” – Arabelle Sicardi (57:59)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 10:55 | Arabelle introduces herself and her career | | 14:46 | Discussion of beauty industry’s predatory tactics | | 18:00 | Gender differences in biohacking & beauty marketing | | 21:31 | Mormonism, plastic surgery, Utah’s transformation | | 28:04 | Beauty as “soft power” and economic leverage for women | | 33:31 | The TikTok-ification of child beauty culture | | 38:07 | Internalized “cult leader”/inner critic discussion | | 43:00 | On brand trips as cultic experiences | | 46:11 | Chanel’s dark origins and how beauty myths are built | | 55:09 | Shocking truths about beauty supply chains & pirates | | 57:24 | The truest value of beauty: connection, not consumption | | 61:26 | MLMs and the commodification of community | | 63:39 | Choosing ethical beauty products |

Final Thoughts & Takeaways

• The drive for beauty, tied as it is to cultish group dynamics, capitalist exploitation, and personal insecurity, can be both damaging and nourishing.
• The more we reframe beauty as an opportunity for genuine connection, care, and creative expression (rather than competition or conformity), the less susceptible we are to its darker manipulations.
• Awareness, reflection, and building supportive, non-competitive communities are crucial for those navigating both the beauty industry and cult-like group dynamics in all areas of life.

“At the end of the day, wanting to believe in something bigger than yourself is one of the most human instincts there is.” – Show Description

For more from Arabelle Sicardi:

• Find “The House of Beauty” at major and independent booksellers
• Follow on Instagram: @arabellesicardi
• Substack: arabellesacardi.substack.com