The majority of essays in Damage Control are incredibly try-hard in their attempts to instill meaning into conventional Western beauty practices within anecdotal tales. At best, they fail. At worst, they reinforce the vapid, vacuous stereotype that they aim to dismantle in the first place by lacking any clear direction or any distinct message within each text. My expectations for this collection weren’t particularly high to begin with, but even still, the essays in Damage Control lack any humor, wit, or charm to recommend them. They are mostly, frankly, terrible.

That being said, Damage Control does contain a few gems. Body Lessons by Lena Levin is a rather moving essay in which a haircut and a massage evoke memories, both personal and familial, of the trespasses against the bodies of three generations of women (Levin, her mother, and her grandmother). Levin’s essay is of particular interest given that inherited trauma is currently a rising hot topic in psychology. Permanent: The Persistence of Arab Beauty Rituals by Maysan Haydar is an astute consideration of the space where Arab beauty practices and American beauty practices intersect. Rites of Spring by Sarah Bennett deftly captures the dynamic of fast friendships that many women experience in their twenties and creates an incredibly relatable atmosphere.

While I enjoyed reading these three essays, their presence in this collection is not nearly enough to make Damage Control a worthwhile read. If you’re looking for an entertaining or intelligent approach to beauty rituals and the beauty industry, look elsewhere. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Essays by women about our crazy maintenance. Men have it easy...shower and shave. Women have: shower, shave, color, pluck, exfoliate, etc. We require so much to feel like "ourselves" or our best selves, this book captures some of the reasons that we do these things. Or some of the things we think as we do these things. Very insightful. ( )

I love reading about how other people look at themselves, what they like, what they dislike and this book didn't disappoint me. Stories about hair cuts gone bad, reflexology on a hypochondriac, the beauty rituals of Arab women and that brazilian bikini waxes are alot more common than I'd ever thought! Fun, quick read. ( )