The Issue With “Natural Beauty” in this Generation
Written by Grace Mason
Photos by Nia Harrison
Models: Natalia Cordero, Mara Kolberg, Hal Lueking, Kennedy McCullough
In this generation the term “natural beauty” has become increasingly popular. Natural beauty tutorials flood our YouTube feed, and celebrities promoting products meant to enhance your beauty are all over Instagram. The problem is that most of the celebrities in these campaigns are not natural at all. They had an army of makeup artists to enhance their beauty and another army to edit the photos. Many celebrities have also had thousands of dollars worth of cosmetic work done to give themselves that perfect natural appearance as well. While some celebrities are transparent about the surgery they have had done, many are not. This leads to more false realities of an unachievable beauty standard.
The word “natural” in our generation, especially when used on social media, has become something far from natural.
Makeup companies are not the only ones putting a false reality of natural beauty out on the internet. On Instagram and Snapchat, filters titled “natural” will completely alter your face. The filter will apply makeup or sometimes completely slim your face while masking itself to be a “natural filter.”
The natural beauty trend can be a positive concept for young people in this generation. The idea of embracing your natural beauty and being authentic to yourself is something that should always be encouraged. While wearing makeup is incredible and something that can help people feel more confident, promoting products and filters to make us look more “natural” can have a negative impact on the way young people view themselves.
Trying to achieve a natural look like celebrities we see on the internet is simply impossible, because the fact is there is nothing natural about the photo you're looking at.
Natural beauty is something that comes from within, not from a makeup product you can buy at the store or a filter you put over an Instagram photo.
