One of the several definitions of the word “cult," according to Merriam-Webster, is “great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work.” By that description, what is beauty if not a cult? That devotion can take the form of something playful, such as the vanilla-flavored lip balm a junior high student reapplies between classes, or something more drastic, such as a middle-aged woman getting a facelift. But beyond the beauty of modern times, there exists a treasure trove of beauty practices throughout history and the world. And as Confucius once mused: “To define the future, one must study the past."The Cult of Beauty, running until April 28, 2024, at London’s Wellcome Collection, explores this vast landscape. It questions the driving forces that create the myth of universal beauty, using more than 200 items from commissioned films to consumer products. Curated by Janice Li, it is an incredibly inclusive show, spanning all ethnicities, genders, ages, and social statuses.The show is divided into three main sections: The Ideals of Beauty, The Industry of Beauty, and Subverting Beauty. The exhibition opens with a powerful quote by Naomi Wolf from her seminal 1990 workThe Beauty Myth: “Ideal beauty is ideal because it does not exist.” After all, who determines what is ugly, beautiful, natural or fake-looking, desirable, or undesirable? As the show demonstrates, despite the notion of beauty being subjective, there are also various forces at play determining what is deemed ravishing and what is rejected.. Nonetheless the pursuit of beauty, however that perfect “ideal” might look, remains.