Your face is lovely, dewy, and softly unlined.

You paid a lot for that, both monetarily and in pain, in time and in worry. You've tested every product, tried every fad, talked to many dermatologists about staying younger-looking, and you certainly can't stop now. As in the new book, "Pixel Flesh" by Ellen Atlanta, you can't stop aging, either.

Beauty must suffer.

You've heard something like that time and again. Curling your hair tight hurts. It's painful to exercise beyond your limits. Most medical procedures are not without at least a little ouch. But is it worth it?

Many women believe so – in some cases, nearly 1 in 3 of us – but Ellen Atlanta shows that our obsession with cosmetics and body-altering methods comes with some concerns. These are things that are so-called "empowering," but she sees danger.

It's never-ending, she says: as soon as a woman does one thing to alter her looks, she will be expected to do another because beauty standards escalate and change over time. What was beautiful 30 years ago – both in clothing size, body size, and cosmetically speaking – is no longer acceptable or enough.

"Young girls then look to us, ideal women, to discover that their pursuit of beauty means lifting, shaping, dieting, dyeing, injecting, slicing, scarring, painting, curling, padding, cutting, starving, concealing, and revealing."

It continues, Atlanta says, with high heels (and foot pain), everyday make-up, "or apologising! profusely! as a form of subservience." This, she says, leads to "censorship of women's bodies," especially women of color, overweight women, and "queer women."

To change our attitudes about beauty won't be easy. Google searches for implants and "bum lifts" have risen among 16-to-21-year-olds. Cosmetics counters are full of preteen anti-wrinkle users. A recent survey indicated that one in four seven-year-olds say they've dieted.

In other words, when it comes to negative talk about body image, your children are listening...

A nip here, a tuck there, a whole new look with no harm to it? Or, as author Ellen Atlanta hints, is being "beautiful" toxic from the inside out? The answer – or at least a new way of perceiving the subject – may lie inside "Pixel Flesh."

Just know this: changing the beauty industry is no easier than reading about it. Atlanta throws statistic after survey result at readers, along with outrageous information about patriarchal attitudes toward the female body, sexual harassment, and how porn ties into all this. It's hard to read, both because of the information itself, and because the narrative feels stiff and sometimes a little more complex than it perhaps needs to be. Atlanta seems to focus highly on a certain controversial Hollywood family, rather than general (or other) fashion icons, which also takes some relevance off the table for readers who struggle to totally grasp this issue.

Still, if you've got a young adult in your life, or if you want to step off the treadmill yourself, this book may be the start you need. "Pixel Flesh" may put a new wrinkle in your beauty routine.

"Pixel Flesh: How Toxic Beauty Culture Harms Women" by Ellen Atlanta
c.2024, St. Martin's Press $30 384 pages

For another, different, and highly interesting side of the beauty industry, look for "All the Rage" by Virginia Nicholson (Pegasus Books, $29.95). This fascinating look at the history of beauty and power shows how women of all ages, races, income levels, and fame (or the lack) have endured pain and processes to become "beautiful" in the jaded eyes of society. It's eye-opening and fun to read.