Beauty Laid Bare

Chloe is a makeup artist and influencer from Belfast, Casey is from Cheltenham and thinks there's a lack of male representation in the industry, Queenie is from London and rarely wears makeup at all and Resh, from Manchester, now sees makeup as a lifeline following an acid attack on her 21st birthday.

The group travel to Los Angeles where they begin their investigation at Beautycon, one of highlights of the beauty industry calendar, where 30,000 beauty fans and the world's biggest social media influencers, including Bretman Rock, one of YouTube's biggest stars, gather to celebrate all things beauty. 

Resh and Casey are in rural Mexico investigating how candelilla wax - a common ingredient in many beauty products - is produced. The plant-based wax is often marketed as a vegan and ethical alternative to beeswax, but they're shocked to see farmers producing the wax by handling sulphuric acid with no safety equipment.

The group visit the headquarters of one of the biggest beauty brands in the world, Benefit Cosmetics, and have the chance to question the founder's daughter, Maggie Ford-Danielson. The group discovers how hard beauty brands work to protect their image, and discover that one of the biggest threats to that image is the millions of counterfeit products being sold all over the world.

During two weeks investigating America's beauty industry, the group sees the good, the bad and the ugly side of it. They see first-hand how cosmetics are produced and sold and are confronted with the environmental and health effects of the products used. They then have the opportunity to put what they have learnt into practice and make their own products, and they discover the dilemmas faced when trying to create a product that is both ethical and affordable.

Finally, the group travels to New York City to meet esteemed beauty journalist Jane Larkworthy, who reviews the products they have created and gives her frank assessment of the beauty industry. Is it capable of change? And will the group make any changes based on what they have discovered?