Many people say that beauty is about biology. Thick luscious hair, bright eyes, clear skin, good teeth and symmetrical features have always represented good health and vitality. This in turn suggests good genetics which makes a more person desirable. It’s all about choosing a mate to get jiggy jiggy with and to share your genes with. But there’s no denying that beauty ideals also vary across cultures and evolve with time. Thanks to social media, we are exposed to more diverse images of beauty, which is obviously a good thing. But it’s also presenting an illusion of perfection and some pretty unrealistic images of beauty. I call it the ‘TOWIE’ effect (taken from the reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex – TOWIE) where everything is bigger and more exaggerated. Alternatively you could call it ‘Kardashian’ culture. The lips, lashes and lenses are taking over our beauty landscape.
How many makeup videos have you seen on YouTube or Instagram where, in the course of the tutorial, the person has become totally unrecognisable? There’s contouring, sculpting, highlighting and who knows what else, leading to a complete transformation. And then there are the aesthetic adverts for Botox and fillers. Whilst I’m all for feeling and looking good, I’m beginning to think the doll like lashes, coloured contact lenses, pouty lips and contoured faces are a conspiracy against women, propagated by our very own kind! They are promoting these fabricated and exaggerated standards of beauty that simply aren’t real, and are only reachable if you spend a lot of time and money.
i see it all around me, not just on social media. There is a definite shift towards women pursuing these high maintenance beauty ideals in their everyday lives. And sadly, a lot of the time, it’s very young women or girls who feel most compelled to follow these standards. It’s sad because the pressure to conform is immense amongst generation Z and millennials, and is fuelling an obsession with body image. Research from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery found the number of women aged between 19-34 having Botox and fillers has risen by 41% since 2011. Why does your average nineteen year old feel the need to have Botox? I get it for older women, who many want to iron out a few wrinkles here and there (never say never, I say), but why should a teenager feel it’s necessary in order to look good? Why are we promoting this manufactured Barbie look which in turn promotes an over reliance on products and procedures? How can this be good for a young person’s self-esteem and self-worth?
Wanting to look beautiful is nothing new or unnatural, and we are all perfectly entitled to make ourselves look attractive. But we are currently in the throes of a body image obsession that focuses on creating a doll-like perfection. I hope this current trend for lips, lashes and lenses fizzles out soon so that young women can stop trying to “fix” themselves and embrace the notion that our imperfections are beautiful too.
I rarely wear make up and when I do I fall back in the “natural look” that was in when I was a teenager. I really don’t find the high maintenance look appealing at all, I’m hoping all of this is just a phase and the natural look will be back in by the time my daughter hits her teens.
I hope so too. I mean, I have no problem with getting dressed up and making a special effort for special occasions but the normalisation of botox/fillers for young people is really worrying. Thanks for commenting!
I feel the same way! I do wear make-up every day but it’s a natural look that takes me about 5 minutes do. Funny enough I had a professional make-up done a few weeks ago (just for fun) and I didn’t like it. The make-up was beautiful, don’t get me wrong. It just felt fake and unnatural 🤷♀️
Yes I am totally the same! It’s great to look polished and presentable but the high maintenance manufactured look puts so much pressure on young people. It’s creating an unrealistic image of beauty..
Make up is something I really don’t too much time or money on. I feel, all that you’ve mentioned big luscious eyelashes, pouted lips, botox, etc just go against the natural nature way’s of aging. Simple makeup is the best I feel.
We all want to age gracefully, if at all possible! But I actually don’t have an issue with mature women trying to iron out a few wrinkles if they want to, it’s when young women in their late teens and early twenties want to do it! What’s the need? It is a worrying trend.
I like to use makeup but like the soft double look. I agree with you there is so much social pressure on young girls to look perfect that it is rocketing the makeup sales .
I like makeup too! But it’s the pressure to look perfect that I don’t like. As you say, there is so much social pressure being placed on young girls.. I worry for my daughter.
I do wear make up daily, however I think makeup should be used to enhance your natural beauty – not turn you into some doll like creature that bears little resemblance to the pre make up you. I do agree that this obsession with perfection is bad – Models in magazines etc. are air brushed and then young girls think they are real and that is what they need to aspire to when it will always be unachievable as it is artificial.
One day, After I finished my 3 minutes make up routine, I received the non-impressed and always painfully honest opinion of my daughter L: “you look worst now mum”. And after the typical speech of being beautiful inside and outside, she closed the conversation with a “I will love you anyway, even if you are ugly”. I do wonder if this crazy trend will ever reach my house, all my hopes are now on my little E.