Why you need to watch #NotSoPretty, an investigative new documentary exposing the use of petrochemicals in the beauty industry

An eye-opening new documentary is challenging everything we thought we knew about the beauty industry. #NotSoPretty is a new docuseries from HBO Max which takes an investigative deep dive into the practices within the global beauty industry – making some fairly disconcerting claims about the chemicals used within commonly-used products. 

Out now, the original four-part docuseries was created by Academy Award nominated filmmaker duo Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering (Allen v. Farrow, On The Record, The Hunting Ground) – and is sold as “the first-ever comprehensive large-scale investigative expose of the trillion-dollar cosmetics, beauty and personal care industry”.

According to the official synopsis, the programme will: “take this unregulated industry to task via rigorous investigations, incisive wit and emotional storytelling to inform audiences of the hidden hazards of cosmetics and safe, budget-friendly alternatives for their daily products”. 

We already know the power of a documentary to change the way we consume certain goods (case in point, the effects of Cowspiracy on meat intake, and equally the way Seaspiracy challenged attitudes towards fish). 

And if you haven’t seen #NotSoPretty yet, we’d venture a guess it might do the same. It’s narrated by American actress Keke Palmer (Alice, Hustlers) – who doesn’t hold back in her honest, shocked reaction to some of the revelations she comes across while filming content for the programme and interviewing industry experts. 

The trailer is harrowing enough, tbh – case in point the game-changing line: “Almost every chemical you can imagine has been regulated, apart for the chemicals we use in everyday personal care products.” A voiceover also claims: “One of the biggest buyers of petrochemicals is the beauty industry.”

One interviewee talks about her hair coming out in clumps; one talks about the skin on her hands peeling off; while another references experiencing pain in her abdomen – all cases linked to the use of products.