Focus Group Archives This is Focus Group Archives, a column by Katiy Heath on navigating womanhood and identity within the beauty industry's white corporate gaze.

When Fresh Food Is a Luxury, Beauty Becomes a Necessity

In the midwest food desert I grew up in, there are higher standards for what we wear than what we eat.

Aug 26, 2021
In America, There’s No Such Thing as Pure Water

If anyone knows how to create a narrative in response to ecological misfortune, it’s the bottled-water industry.

May 20, 2021
How to Hide Your Grief in a French Roll

All that mattered, we told ourselves, was what we saw when we looked in the mirror, what we saw when we looked at each other.

Apr 22, 2021
I Traded My Image for Money, Now I Want It Back

The largest archive of footage of myself, ages twenty-three to thirty-years-old, never belonged to me but is owned by brands.

Jan 21, 2021
What Does It Take to Be a Woman Who Has It All?

When we look at women who work, what remains unseen and what is expected to remain hidden?

Dec 03, 2020
How Years of Running Beauty Focus Groups Nearly Destroyed Me

I am the only one in the room who is neither asked nor allowed to answer: “How does that make you feel?”

Oct 20, 2020