The ugly truth about beauty

No matter what excuses society comes up with, beauty standards still have a disturbingly strong hold on our lives. The beauty industry may claim that attractiveness is a health matter, but it’s the devil in disguise. Either way, online or in real life, the consumer is left grasping at straws.

Do we always have to wear what flatters us? Color analysis, “morning shed”, body type, face shape…an endless wave of beauty trends has been flooding our feeds. As the ubiquity of stick thin supermodels and influencers in fashion comes under scrutiny, some users ask “is it an outfit, or are they just skinny ?”. Today, our complexion is more pixels than pores as we favor phones over mirrors, constantly dissecting our image to try and fit the norm. It seems nearly impossible, then, to feel beautiful without falling prey to a multi-billion-dollar industry. 

No rest for the wicked 

“The uglier you go to bed, the hotter you wake up.” This new TikTok mantra promotes a nighttime routine with up to 25 steps, each more bizarre than the last, promising your daytime perfection. Going to bed swaddled in three layers of face masks, we wake up afraid to frown, smile or even move in case we undo the painstaking work of the night before. Despite feeling like the architects of our own aesthetic, this relentless need to control our appearance, even in our sleep, reveals the true grip of beauty standards. 

From the trad wife to quiet luxury style, norms are shifting rapidly toward conservative ideals, and body positivity on the catwalk has drastically declined. According to Vogue Business’s most recent report, “plus-size representation dropped from an already low 0.8 per cent last season, while mid-size representation is down from 4.3 per cent.” Quite ironic for them to track size inclusivity when they seem unable to implement it in their own work. Lastest in fashion : their recent Hairspray tribute for their April cover story, featuring Gigi Hadid. She’s impersonating, slender as ever, Tracy Turnblad, a self-described “pleasantly plump” Baltimore teen from the 60’s. In the midst of an Ozempic craze and a low-rise jeans come-back, thinness has once again become the epitome of fashion. Goodbye diversity, back to square one where only one type of beauty prevails : the conventionally attractive, skinny white girl. 

The beauty of money

Are you a Deep Winter or a True Spring? Color analysis has been flourishing on the web. While some are satisfied with online quizzes and TikTok filters, others have gone so far as to fly to Korea for a professional color consultation. Depending on your skin tone and undertones, certain shades are said to complement you better than others by accentuating your features. While not inherently unflattering, as long as it doesn’t keep you from wearing your favorite orange sweater, this trend still raises an important question : can fashion still be fun (and cheap)? 

As evidenced by Hollywood’s decor, fitting the norm comes with a price, one that most of us could never afford. Indeed, no matter how much you try, makeup and routines will never achieve the perfectly polished, wrinkle-free look that plastic surgery provides. Now that Botox procedures are becoming mainstream, celebrities are moving on to the next level with biohacking. Straight out of a science fiction movie – Kim Kardashian’s vampire facial still lingers in our mind – microneedling, cryo-facials and facial acupuncture are the new (s)hit. Exorbitantly expensive, these techniques are praised by a market that thrives our over-consumption, emphasizing the differences between the ones who can and those who can’t. 

Axelle Dusart et Fanny Jonckeau

© Embassy International Pictures/Brazil Productions