:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Stocksy_txpc8538098My9300_Medium_3514456-6a99366137974ec9969128c3466d343b.jpg "When did everyone's skin get so soft?")
If aliens landed on Earth and only relied on social media influencers to develop their understanding of human biology, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd be closely related to dolphins and nothing more than pore-free, flawless skin. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking that we're made of something more malleable than flesh. In fact, even though we are now taking more photos than ever before, the way we present our skin online is very inaccurate.
Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez who can be seen in the photos - in their 40s and 50s respectively - post them online with skin like glass. This can be seen in the beauty filters available on apps like Snapchat and TikTok that thin out the structures of our largest organs. Sometimes it goes unnoticed: Companies like Samsung and Apple have built technologies into our phones that automatically make our skin silky smooth in selfies by changing its tone to resemble a wax apple or laminate.
To make matters worse, celebrities and tech companies aren't the only ones promoting dolphin skins online. These are images created by your yoga teacher, your mom's friends, your school friends and the person who walks your dog, right on your phone, in perfect shape, available 24 hours a day. - In social networks. What we see online - the virtual space that the average American spends about two hours a day on every day - and what we see in the mirror is becoming more and more common.
All these strange subtleties undoubtedly affect the real world. Skin care concepts such as “glass skin,” a Korean beauty trend designed to make pores and texture invisible , have racked up billions of views on TikTok . Sales of collagen, a protein thought to keep skin youthful and smooth, are on the rise . Startups that give people remote access to personalized skin care products are raising millions of dollars in investment . According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of laser skin resurfacing procedures increased by 484 percent from 2000 to 2020.
But while our wallets show more interest, if not emotion, in juxtaposing our skin in real life with what we see on social media, our online presence confirms it all. On Reddit skincare communities like r/SkincareAddiction, which has nearly two million members, 22-year-old women are asking for help with fine lines , which are just part of a normal human face . Requests for help in solving the "growing hole" are almost endless; The obsession with perfectly healthy skin made the participants frantically remember what their skin really should look like . “I ask the moderators of this subscription to start a new subscription, or please do something to keep the subscription alive,” one user complained in frustration earlier this year. “This is not skin care. "What's wrong with my face?" Under".
This is something that concerns experienced members of the community. "We run into a real problem when users ask us about what's going on with their skin or how to fix normal nasolabial folds and send us photos of their normal skin," says 31-year-old Maya Adivy, a digital artist. Nomad and r/skincareaddiction moderator from Canada. There should be rules in the subreddit to prevent the accumulation of such posts, although many of them still fail . "It's hard to come to terms with it. People are looking for perfect skin."
Adivy is one of the many caring viewers of the online skincare community who have spotted a disturbing trend: More and more women are obsessing over perfectly healthy skin. This raises questions about the impact of social media and photo editing on our attitudes towards pores, wrinkles and other normal parts of our anatomy that can harm our mental health.
The textured leather upper has always had an infamous history among people. Experiments to treat pores and the problems they cause, such as acne and uneven skin tone, began after they were discovered in the mid-1700s. In the past, women sprinkled pieces of raw meat and toxic mercury on their skin to fight blemishes and signs of aging. The mid-20th century brought slightly less scary treatments such as laxatives and antibiotics, as well as chemical peels to fight aging acne under the supervision of plastic surgeons. But ever since Biore became a hit in the 2000s - the first steam strips that sucked the life out of our noses - the pursuit of skin perfection has become a consumer benchmark. Excessive skincare and flawless skin as a status symbol has spread from popular magazines to pop culture figures such as American Psycho's Patrick Bateman and Mean Girls' Regina George ("My pores are huge!").
James Swarenski, associate professor of media literacy at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, says the early 2000s played a key role in shaping the way we experience our skin, thanks in large part to the advent of technologies like Photoshop. public photographers. It is important to see these events in context - to improve the image you see in the media. Throughout the history of mankind, many events have taken place in the darkroom related to mixing, adjusting and modifying photographs, ”he said. What is changing , however, is the ability for consumers to customize the filters built into their phones or apps like Facetune, which was launched in 2014 and allows users to completely change their face in seconds. “I think it's an interesting thing. “Before, I didn’t know what I would look like if the photo editing team fixed it [as celebrities do],” Swarzenski added. "Now I can do it in 20 seconds."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the proliferation of photographs taken by ordinary people alone and often shared via social media such as Instagram has led to a change in the way we see ourselves, often for the worse. “You look at Instagram or any other social network and think: “These are the people, where did I get this from?” When you spend so much time on the Internet and only compare yourself to an airbrushed goddess, you can get really dizzy,” said Ruby, 22, who works as a waitress at a Chicago restaurant. (Ruby told ELLE.com to her (she asked not to use her last name for privacy reasons.) She admits she has struggled with skin issues like forehead acne and facial psoriasis since she was a teenager, and she thinks social media has clouded her view.) about her skin. There must be something."
According to skincare veterans who regularly organize online skin improvement communities such as Reddit r/SkincareAddiction, the main problem is that often edited photos are even in places where you would not normally expect them. kind of confession. that they have changed. “It is likely that the photos I see have been edited, but we tend to take them for granted, especially if they are ordinary people,” said Corina Malamas, a 45-year-old medical coder from New York. . . "Sometimes it's so subtle that you don't realize how unrealistic it is."
Malamas told ELLE.com that she often sees edited photos in non-skin posts, such as photos shared by online curly hair communities or influencers. Even though she knows about editing, Malamas says she still struggles with the images people compare themselves to and edit against. Malamas, his forehead line is already over twenty. “I wish I could take care of my pores more than ever, but at some point I had to throw away all my magnifying mirrors.”
Others feel the pressure of self-comparison, trying to make sure their skin matches the photos they post online. "This is a great honor for me; I don't want people to think that I'm separated from my Instagram. I have invested more money in skincare and makeup than ever before [because of social media],” says Natalie Ward. 27 year old content moderator from Nashville, Tennessee. . It doesn't help that today social media is a constant source of old selfies and comparison photos. I would like to see it that way .”
While Ward acknowledges that social media is a big force behind her skincare obsession, she notes that the niche also offers community and respite. “Many things are out of my control. I can't go to the state legislature, or the local police, or whoever, because of so many issues," Ward said. - So what am I going to do? I will focus on myself. And I think it's something really inspiring."
Skin care is definitely not the only way to maintain skin texture. Here's what Ruby, who runs the Instagram account @problematicfame , has to say, where she checks celebrity photos for signs of plastic surgery by examining photos. “I started looking at all these unedited photos; I thought, “Oh! Literally everyone has their own place here or there: “You know what?” she said. “Hi, I just wrote:“ This is what celebrities really are. grow.
Ruby's findings inspired @problematicfame to create one of her most popular series, in which she shares unedited celebrity photos proving that everyone has skin texture, both good and bad. “These people are beautiful, but even with the best skin care, the best dermatologist and the best care, they will still have scars, bumps and texture,” she says. He was inspired by sincere comments from his followers who told him the posts were entertaining. “It makes me very happy to think about it,” he said. "I really did something that changed the way people saw themselves better."
He wasn't the only one who was against such things. r/SkincareAddiction moderators actively work to remove posts that they believe are "unrealistic" to someone's intentions, often sending a direct message mildly explaining that the author's problem may not be their skin; To prevent धानताबश्त अ वष्तानो, they will also remove प्रश्र्ष्द्ध द्वस्त. "I don't think anyone should be comfortable in their own skin," said Adivi, who acts like she's tough, angry, or rude when she poses in this pose. (They also work to "set the tone" for the skin's response to anxiety by triggering their own sympathetic responses.)
Subversive intimidation through a session of kera murumurapyo uru ururu from opperyo maan very unlocked maan. This is something that he has already begun to notice in the students of दलिलिलिलिला, who began to think that their pictures in the media do not match their ककुर रारार रन् क अर. “These filters will remain, but they won't look like they do in real life. “Almost like an online avatar, you create your own with special tools,” Swarzensky said. इसार्टादाबाबीबित कर क्र्ट्याट
Ward, on the other hand, believes that the perception of skin texture may change as a result of treatment, but dismisses this. Increasingly, artificial intelligence is creating everything from professional shots to portraits made from real people. “I think there are people who will move away from that and want to show the texture of their skin,” he said.
This is a skin treatment which is rubi pbi kagukkandaditi choka. "People can have any texture, and there's nothing wrong with that," she says. “It shows that you have been through life – why would you want to remove it? It's real - and I think it could be wonderful."
you might like it too
originally published