Models walking in the Chromat show at New York Fashion Week this season knew more or less what to expect. As with most Chromat shows, they'd be instructed to strut down the runway in edgy, swim-inspired apparel with lots of stretch. Before that, they'd go from chair to chair, getting their hair, makeup, and nails done.
But ahead of the show on Friday afternoon, in came Sylwia Wiesenberg, the founder of Bawdy Beauty, with something unexpected: butt masks.
Yes, like face masks, but for the buttocks. "I am butt-obsessed," Wiesenberg tells Refinery29. "If I had to point to one part of my body I love the most, I'd say I love my butt. And after a while, I started thinking, Why aren't there any products that work on this part of the body that I love so much?"
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Indeed, there are masks for our faces, hands, and even feet, so why not give your butt the same skin-care love? This past July, Wiesenberg launched Bawdy Beauty to offer the kinds of butt products that she'd longed for, starting with sheet masks.
There's Slap It, which exfoliates, Bite It, which plumps with collagen, Shake It, which firms and illuminates the butt skin, and Squeeze It, which also hydrates and evens skin tone. At the Chromat show, the models were offered a choice between Shake It, Slap It, and Bite It, with Wiesenberg herself applying the masks. It involved squatting down and lifting the models' bikini bottoms to carefully place the masks — there's two in each package, so one per cheek — on their backsides. The models kept the butt masks on for about 10 minutes just before heading out to the runway.
"The goal is to make sure the butts look fabulous," says Wiesenberg, who says she was introduced to Chromat designer Becca McCharen-Tran through mutual friends. "I think it’s about the reinforcement of unapologetic beauty. When I met Becca, we both agreed that this made sense for her show. Chromat is perfect for us because we're about having fun and loving yourself, and that's what Chromat is about, too."
"I kinda love this," one model said as Wiesenberg applied the mask. "And I can just stand around in this?" asked another. Yes, you can. There are surprisingly few rules when it comes to wearing a butt mask. You can walk around, sit in a chair, and even dance, says Wiesenberg. Now, it should be noted that the one thing you cannot do under any circumstances is use the bathroom while wearing these masks. That would end with the $9 mask floating in the toilet — a tragedy.
While this was Bawdy Beauty's NYFW debut, Wiesenberg sees a future in which butt masks are backstage for any runway and photo shoot where derrières are on display. Given that they were gifted to each person sitting in the front row of the Chromat show, Wiesenberg's butt masks may be well on their way to that goal — and to your bottom.