Poet and literary translator, Daphné B lives and works in Montreal. She published Bluetiful in 2015 (Les Editions de l'Ecrou), then Delete (L'Oie de Cravan) in 2017, in addition to writing in numerous magazines ( Nouveau Projet, Liberte, Vice, Spirale, Zinc, Estuaire, etc.). She co-founded the feminist platform Filles Missiles and is a regular contributor to the radio show Plus on est de fous, plus on lit, on Radio-Canada. @daphnebbbbb

About Made-Up:
A nuanced, feminist, and deeply personal take on beauty culture and YouTube consumerism, in the tradition of Maggie Nelson’s Bluets.

As Daphné B obsessively watches YouTube makeup tutorials and haunts Sephora’s website, she’s increasingly troubled by the ways in which this obsession contradicts her anti-capitalist, intersectional feminist politics. In a looks-obsessed, selfie-covered presentwhere influencers make the world go round, she brings us a breath of fresh air: an anti-capitalist look at a supremely capitalist industry, an intersectional feminist look at a practice many consider misogynist. Blending together the confessional, the poetic, and the essayistic, Made-Up is a lyric meditation on an industry in full bloom.

Made-Up explores the complicated world of makeup, from how it’s made to how we wear it, talking about gender, identity, capitalism, and pop culture in the process. Makeup doesn’t get a lot of serious attention; it’s often derided as shallow. But Daphné B proves that it’s worth looking at a little more in-depth.

The original French-language edition was a cult hit in Quebec. Translated by Alex Manley—like Daphné B, a Montreal poet and essayist—the book’s English-language text crackles with life, retaining the flair and verve of the original, and ensuring that a bookon beauty is no less beautiful than its subject matter.