Why be you when you can be me? - The Instagram Face
Picture this, you’re scrolling through Instagram, seeing the latests posts by your favourite influencers. Post after post, you start to realise that all these influencers look the same. The same arched/defined brows, the same neutral sharp cat-eye, the same contoured full-coverage skin and the same nude lip. Say hello to the ‘Instagram Face’.
The Instagram Face is a combination of a few things, a particular makeup look, photo editing and plastic surgery.
The makeup look is neutral yet specific, invoking a certain bone-structure through contouring and highlighting. Small noses, high cheekbones and defined jawlines are all trademarks of this look. It’s a look that can technically work on anyone, regardless of skin tone or nationality. People want to fit in. We want to feel validated. To feel good. Ultimately, we are social creatures by natured and we strive for social acceptance. We don’t want to be seen as an outsider.
Instagram influencers and models are considered to be what’s currently ‘attractive’. Influencers are often sponsored by makeup or fashion brands, who can dictate what is perceived as ‘beautiful’ in the current market. So if one the top beauty or fashion brands sponsors an influencer (like Kylie Jenner or Bella Hadid for example), then they’re perceived to be the bees knees of beauty at that time. So in turn, others copy, mimicking their style in order to gain the same internet fame. This view of beauty is seen as a potential source of profit, and thus, the homogenised Instagram Face is created.
One cannot write about the Instagram Face without focusing on Kylie Jenner. Her signature look has become symbolic of current beauty standards. Granted, her look is much more inclusive and accessible than the bombshell-beauty of the 50s or the thin, long-haired beauty of the 70s, but it’s clear that her look is hard to achieve by everyone. Jenner’s iconic look is created by a team of professional makeup artists and hair stylists. Her photos are enhanced by photo editing apps. Her face is also enhanced through plastic surgery.
Now, I’m really going to get too deep into the affects and social relationship with plastic surgery. It’s an incredibly personal process, and it’s not my role to make a comment on that. The plastic surgery industry has seen a massive boom in the past few years. Surgeries have become more accessible than ever before. In 2018, American’s spent $16.5 billion on cosmetic surgery, with 92% of procedures performed on women. In the UK, a study by Vice Magazine stated that only 2 out of the 20 visited clinics asked for proof of age, and 13 out of 20 didn’t require the customer to fill in a basic info form, making it an off-the-books procedure. This study was done with a 16 year-old girl as a potential customer for lip fillers.
Now, I have no problem with people bettering themselves for themselves, or wearing makeup to feel more confident. But the issue I have is that the Instagram Face is so one note, it’s become so homogenised that it can only exist digitally, on the feed and profiles on Instagram or behind studio lighting. It can only be created through filters and face tuning. We, as consumers of social media, are responding to a certain presentation of beauty as something that we need to do to see success and acceptance by others. We associate the number of likes with the look shown in the picture. And Instagram isn’t the only one of be blamed here. Snapchat filters create this same effect.
The Instagram Face is simply the same ‘face’, but on different people. It’s the same set of makeup techniques, the same set of the Facetune tools, the same set of filters, the same set of plastic surgeries. The thing is, we are all not born looking the same way. Not everyone has full lips, high cheekbones and smooth skin. The Instagram face is a denial of real human features. It’s a denial of all the unique features that should make us feel special.
The Instagram face prevents people from experimenting. If you see the same beauty ideal from the moment you sign up to Instagram, that one look is going to be your only starting point. If we think back to before Instagram became the behemoth that it is now, there were so many different looks available to be inspired by. There were the scene and goth looks of myspace, the alternative looks from Tumblr. Even Instagram had a wide variety of aesthetics to pick and choose from. It’s now come to the point of no return, Instagram has taken the forefront of social media, and can now dictate aspects of our society. “If it gets likes on Instagram, then it must be good. If an influencers gets the most likes, then she’s the most beautiful, and I must look like her to be successful.”
Makeup is a tool to transform, to create and to experiment. It shouldn’t be used as a tool to gain likes, to find validation or a way to find profit. Just because a certain look is all over Instagram, doesn’t mean it’s good, or it doesn’t mean it’s for you. The Instagram Face is so far from reality that I really think that we all should strive for it. The ideas of beauty and makeup and plastic surgery are all difficult areas to navigate.
Through writing this article, I’m finding it difficult to come to a conclusion, without sounding hypocritical. I think makeup is an important tool for confidence and experimentation, but I don’t think it should be used to create the Instagram Face, to blend in with everyone else. Social media and Instagram creates a platform for recognition and success in this digital world, but it shouldn’t be for impossible standards being projected as normal. I support plastic surgery in order to better oneself, but I think Instagram is normalising surgery and comparing it to self-care and fitness. It may not and probably shouldn’t be for everyone. Maybe the Instagram Face trend will go out-of-trend, but it’s been around for a while now, so who knows? I understand the importance of social media being a showcase of the ‘best-of-the-best’ of one’s the life. I’m guilty of this too in some cases! But I just think that those with high followings and high influence should have a second thought about what they’re trying to convey to their followers.
I just don’t think Instagram should be held in such a high place in society and beauty. The problem is that the Instagram Face is so homogenised that it means nothing any more. It transforms beauty standards into a simple combination of techniques and procedures. There are 7.6 billion people on this Earth and everyone’s striving for the same beauty ideal? Especially one that’s (to be completely honest) a little boring? No thanks.
If you’re ever interested in the effects of the Instagram Face, check out @celebface on Instagram. It’s quite eye-opening.