to wonder why the "fake look" is so popular?

[Namila]

Obviously light-hearted and I fully appreciate that people have different tastes and like different things. Apologies if you feel offended by this post.

However.

Every time I turn the TV on, it seems like the prevailing beauty standard is what I heard to be called "the fake look": fake tan, fake lashes, fake eyebrows, fake hair, fake nails and often times some fake features due to plastic surgery. It seems like these beauty interventions are meant to look obviously fake and very easy to spot.

Many of these women truly look fake as they resemble plastic dolls, but usually not in a flattering way!

I wonder why the current ruling beauty ideal implies so much "fakeness". Of course women have always spent time and money trying to improve their appearance to a certain degree, but I feel like this is a whole new level

What do you think the popularity of this "fake look" tells about our society? Do you reckon the trend will go away?

squoosh because the general public see my face and not my arse

@ladiva posted too soon argh. Meant to say me neither - and some of the women i work with have had facelifts (babies, long hours and hormonal changes are not always kind!). They look beautiful, natural and don’t wear a lot of make up!

Although, as an early 20s woman, I actually know lots of women my age who don’t wear shit tonnes of makeup and hair etc... most don’t tan out of my friends and we’re not out of the loop socially.

@Purple I agree I have 4 kids and my facelift was a birthday present to myself, my husband thought I didn't need it, but it was something I had to do for myself, and we are both happy with the results, despite 48 local injections and 60 stitches :P

I don't really see this look. I use Instagram a lot and see lots of natural looking beautiful young people hiking, cooking, making stuff, out in nature .
I think it depends on what media you choose.

Actually this reminds me of when we were exuberant teenagers when we were 18.

We painted 3 brown stripes against each cheekbone to look kamikaze then went and had fun in the local park, then went to the pub.

At the pub we met a load of Russians who were saying 'yes you are very max factor, go to hollywood!'

We probably looked daft with our cheekbone tiger stripes but we dun carr. Actually we did look daft, what am I on about

@juliesaway my DS is a doctor and has false lips, tan and hair ... it’s not all to do with intelligence.

Oh, it's nothing at all to do with intelligence. It's just the prevailing aesthetic, fashion.

Oh, it's nothing at all to do with intelligence.

No, but it’s a lot to do with class. That’s why I hate these threads. It’s just another way for desperate middle-class Mumsnetters to sneer at those further down the economic food chain.

OP I live in Essex, from Cornwall originally and I can confirm sooooo many girls are like this. They are all dolled up all the time and painfully self conscious and insecure. The men too. It's a competition between girls and the focus is on aesthetic and wealth. There's beautiful countryside here and when they get out in it it's full dolly bird make up with the most expensive Barbour jacket and white Range Rover and handbag dog. Of course there's exceptions but that's the trend and I honestly worry sometimes about the environment that my kids are growing up in!!

imaginativeusername Essex has always been like that, though.

... and if it worries you that much, maybe you should move back to Cornwall?

@LegallyBrunet "straighten it which I can't really not do otherwise it just looks a mess as I have naturally untameable hair"

I'm also a curly girl, and I have some tips for wearing naturally crazy hair in a natural way:

1. Don't use a towel to dry it. The little nibs on the towel will make it frizzier. I know it sounds crazy, and I can't explain why. The best thing to use to get the extra water out of your hair is a tee shirt -- like a man's undershirt. Your hair will be less frizzy. (They also make special overpriced hair towels for this, but an old T shirt works just as well).

1. The key to curly hair is the right gel. There are a couple of good brands. I like Ouidad and Deva Curl. Exactly which product is best depends on how thick your hair is, what kind of curls you have, etc. My personal best product is Deva Curl Styling Cream. I use enough that it sounds sorta of squishy when I scrunch it. I'm in the US right now, so the exact brands might vary, but I'm sure there are similar things in the UK.

1. While your hair is wet with lots of curling gel / styling cream, take a hand full of it, and scrunch it up. Do this all over your head. I like to hold each handful for about 5 seconds. It lets the hair fall back into it's natural curl rather than being drug down with the weight of the hair.

1. Either don't use a blow dryer, or use one with a diffuser.

1. Don't comb your hair (you can while you condition it, but not once it is styled). Combing your hair will take the curls out of their little groups and leave you with a big mess.

I know some of this advice might sound odd, but it lets us curly girls wear our hair natural rather than fighting with it, and sure as heck guarantees that we don't look like the plastic people!!

This is a link that has short videos on styling curling hair. It pushes the products, but the techniques are good (the "romantic" is pretty much what I do): www.devacurl.com/deva-looks.html

This link has a bunch of different curly hair looks styling tips. It pushes product too, but there is still a lot of good information and ideas: www.ouidad.com/looks

Good luck. I used to straighten my hair every day, and it has been so freeing to go curly and let my hair be itself.

That’s why I hate these threads. It’s just another way for desperate middle-class Mumsnetters to sneer at those further down the economic food chain.

From what I can see middle class women are just as likely to indulge in cosmetic interventions as working class women.

@leilanii there is sometimes sneering on these types of threads, but the 'look' the op describes (if i'm interpreting it correctly) is as visible on kings road as it is in essex. From what i see anyway.

I don't watch towie / made in chelse but from the e4 adverts all the girls in both shows seem to look very similar. My cousin teaches in a well known private girls day school in London says a lot of her pupils are adopting the contouring / lip fillers protocol.

I think it's just everywhere but i could be wrong.

Programmes like TOWIE have normalised this look.

There is definitely a class element to the heavy make up and obvious fakeness but I’ve no doubt there is quite a lot of middle class Botoxing going on too. More subtle but no less fake.

There has always been this pendulum swing between ‘glamorous’ and ‘natural’, so I don’t think it will last forever.

My concern is for the very permanent effects of surgery. ‘Glam’ is still in vogue amongst certain expat communities and I’m afraid it doesn’t age well.

Juliasaway

I think to say that anyone who goes in for the fake look is below average intelligence is pretty low. You can be intelligent and still find yourself ugly, and so wish to mask yourself.

There are plenty of young professional women who sport the same look. I really don't think it's as simple as 'class'.

I don't like the overly fake look and I'm definitely not middle-class.

Wouldn't mind some thin fake eyelashes though, but I remember the last time I tried putting those on and it was a disaster

From what you can see? What's your experience of that then? Explain.

Well what do you think it means? Was I speaking in a foreign tongue?

From what I can see cosmetic procedures such as botox and fillers are just as popular with middle class women as they are with working class women.

Still confused?

So many things need to be s.p.e.l.l.e.d out these days. Gets so very boring.

Squoosh, I concur.