COVID-19 and the social distancing we have all undertaken to #flattenthecurve is perhaps giving new meaning to the concept of “Netflix and chill.” These days, it might mean just watching Netflix or another streaming service, and well, doing nothing. 
 
The hard part is finding something new to binge.
 
Last night, I started watching “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker,” a new limited series that’s on Netflix right now. It is a drama based on this well-known (to those of us in the business) beauty icon. Octavia Spencer, who plays Madam Walker, leads a cast that includes Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, Blair Underwood and Garrett Morris.
 
There’s just a few episodes, so it will be over before I know it—and this got me thinking. Are there other movies in which someone from the beauty business is the star or the focus of the story line?  
 
I know we can watch other professionals’ lives played on out the big screen.
 
Bankers have It’s a Wonderful Life and venture capitalists have Wall Street; fashion editors and designers can watch The Devil Wears Prada; sports stars have, well, too many to name. Heck, even high school science teachers have Breaking Bad (although I hope they don’t go as far as Walter White). 
 
I did some quick Google research to find movies related to the beauty business by way of real life or fiction. 
 
“Like A Boss” is newish comedy, out earlier this year, about friends who try to regain control of their cosmetics company. It wasn’t a critic favorite, but I’ll probably watch it at some point.
 
I’m also going to view “Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox”  a 2006 documentary about the famed soap maker/entrepreneur/philanthropist. You can find it on Amazon. 
 
I’ve been (slowly) watching “Schitt’s Creek” on Netflix—but haven’t yet made it to Season 4, and I’m looking forward to an episode called the “The Rollout,” which there seems to be some contact allergy issues from skin lotions being sold by David’s apothecary.
 

“The Wasp Woman” is 1959 movie in which the extract of royal jelly from the queen wasp is used on a woman to dramatically reverse the aging process. It works, but there’s a pretty horrid side effect: I think someone turns into an actual wasp, which isn’t good!
 
The quest for beauty has long been controversial. And that’s also why I’m going to watch “Toxic Beauty,” a documentary film with—in its own words—“exclusive access to scientists, lawyers, advocates, regulators, politicians, a dynamic whistle blower, survivors and women who have lost their lives. It follows the class action lawsuit against J&J and the plaintiffs, personal stories of women fighting for justice in a race against time with this deadly disease.” The producers reportedly document a medical student who measures her chemical body burden from over 27 products…. In the end, the film meets the companies and people who offer solutions and optimism for safer, toxicant free cosmetics.” 
 
Regardless of where one stands regarding safe cosmetics and the clean beauty scene, this is a must watch for everyone in our business, especially as consumers continue to be influenced by groups that may not use sound science as their starting point. It is available on iTunes.
 
Lastly, I did find a storyline that’s closer to my own life; this weekend my husband and I (re)watched In “For The Love of Game,” a baseball movie starring Kevin Costner as a Detroit Tigers pitcher who has an on-again-off-again relationship with Kelly Preston, who plays a beauty writer. Of course, my husband is only a baseball fan (and a Mets fan at that), so that’s where the similarities end…
 
There must be others. What have you watched and what else should I add to my queue?