Social media is a contemporary phenomenon, which continues to be an enabling platform for emerging talent. The makeup industry is no exception to this generalisation. I, continuously, find myself drowning in the sea of bronzed and chiselled beauties on Instagram with chromatic highlighters and fluttering lashes. As enchanting as the artistry on this platform, it is evidently deceptive. Its plastic idols hide behind layers of filters, airbrushing, enhancing and cutting. It’s important to recognise the falsity of the ideals espoused by such faces, because it sets unrealistic and discouraging beauty standards for the audience.
The following reasons indicate why the techniques shown on Instagram will not work for the average brown girl, who does not walk everywhere with perfect lighting and professional editors:
The Greasy Mask
These Instagrammers mask themselves completely with piles of primers, concealers, powders and foundations. These layers do not actually look natural. Instead, they emphasize any texture, pores and wrinkles on the skin. Makeup cannot substitute good skin. These layers are especially problematic for brown girls, because the humidity in their resident countries makes the makeup melt , collect in lines and become splotchy as the day goes on.
The Spook Effect
Instagram beauties are famous for baking their faces with profligate amounts of powder. While the technique is completely forbidden for dry skin, the light powder can quickly look ghostly on tan women. To counter this, brown beauties may want to use yellow or skin tone shades. However, if done professionally, the excessive powder can make skin look like the Yoda’s from ‘Star Wars’.
The Over lined Clown Lips
As indicated by the lip bruising Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge, plump lips are in trend nowadays. To achieve this, beauty bloggers do not merely outline slightly above their cupid’s bow, which looks realistic according to Lisa Eldridge. Instead, they create a completely new lip lines, which make the lips look akin to a clown’s.
The Neopolitan Bruise
The complexion technique universally propagated by Instagrammers features three consecutive stripes of highlighter, blush and contour. While their carved out cheekbones and jawlines look profoundly structured, the dramatic application looks unnatural and unblended outside of photographs.
The Gooey Gloss
While juicy plump lips look amazing at a winter ball or in a spring garden, summer can problematize the practicality of glosses. No Instagram makeup seems to achieve validity without a glittering gloss, especially when the sun stars to char humans. The application of gloss from one lip corner to the next attracts nothing but stray hairs. In fact, it appears as if you drooled like a baby asleep.
Nimra Ikhlaq
