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?

MsHarry So if your dds or other girls choose not to wear make up, would the teachers not care, or would they tell the girls they need to take more care with their appearance? I just find it hard to believe that any teacher would pressure teenagers to look a certain way, beyond the smart uniform rules.

Jesus. A step too far there.

I think there's a vast difference between experimenting with make up and hair dye and having toxins and artificial substances injected or inserted into your body. The latter seems to me to be sheer lunacy.

In previous decades experimentation was more of an end in itself. I got my hair permed and wore purple lipstick in the 80s. Facelifts were only for old and rich people. There was a beauty salon in the local parade of shops but nobody I knew had the time or money to visit.

I'm a bit envious that there are a hell of a lot more wash in/wash out hair and makeup products out there today with which to experiment!

But I agree with previous PPs that this is different from getting procedures done on a regular basis at a young age, where the goal is to look surgically enhanced to the point of looking like an ideal, not like a regular person who has made the best of themselves subtly, or is having fun with a different look.

It's this type of look I hate. They all look like the same plastic dolls, yet beneath the object I bet they're stunning!

That makeup just looks dirty 😳

I like Botox etc but I am mid 40s. What I think is so sad is how girls now have no interest in the world or their own politics. In the 80s and 90s we all had an opinion, Thatcher may be despised and may have divided but She was no more relevant than May or Blair and their crimes. The amount of times I see girls acting cute and saying they don't get all that politics stuff Or wanting to dress up as a fucking dirty nun does my head in. I appreciate that this is only one group of females in society but it feels more prevalent than when I was their age. Save the drugs and injections for the over 40s.

@Jumblebee I couldn't agree more.
It's really well done and those who do it have a talent but it is way way too much

@bossbabymomma I agree, some of the eyeshadow is amazing and I couldn't apply makeup like that, but I just feel like I want to scratch some of it off with my nails.

I am, admittedly, rubbish with applying makeup and probably get it wrong sometimes, but I wouldn't want my makeup to look like that. I would feel like my skin couldn't breathe!

Alessandrocopper I think that’s a bit of an unfair generalisation, I work with young people and the majority of them are politically minded and interested in the world, even if they’re still figuring out which camp they align with. With the internet etc you can access so much information nowadays It’s actually easier to be interested in politics.

A lot of men seem to like their women looking like blowup dolls these days

My DP and his friends (all in their 50s) have said they don't like that kind of look as it is too plastic.

I don't think they are worried what men in their 50s think of it.

Yes I think they’d be more worried if 50 year old men did like it!
I agree it probably is a generation thing but I do find the need to conform to one type of look, quite sad.

I think it's the brows and contouring that kill it. I am very jealous of the flawless foundation they seem able to achieve I've never had the time or skill to achieve that!

My two DDs (both too young for make up yet) both have very round faces, very big eyes. Assuming they stay the same as I have I think they would look absolutely ridiculous contoured.

I saw a girl recently who looked amazing and I was thinking how pretty she was. She turned to the side and essentially had a big purple stripe down the side of her face so if you saw her straight on she looked fab, if you saw her side on she looked just weird.

I also think that ultimately those that are naturally pretty will always stand out as less is more. (- and yes beauty in the eye of the beholder before anyone starts!)

Well you have to look perfect if you and your friends are constantly taking selfies and putting it on social media

I'm just hoping that eyebrows of just hair come back into fashion...... Because I'm absolutely shite at the current trend of drawn on ones

That heavy, Insta makeup look is going back out of fashion I think. It looks nice for pictures but ridiculous in real life - shadows don't stay permanently in one place as you move about!

I think makeup will trend towards a more Korean look with a focus on natural looking, flawless skin in the future.

This all seems very mean-spirited. Fair enough saying you don't like the look but why do so many posters sound so angry about what make up other people choose to wear? They seem to like it, so each to their own. They probably don't like how you do your face!

I don't sport that look myself (and yes I don't find it attractive) but I really couldn't care less what clothes other people wear or how they do their make up. None of my business.

Err no one is angry.
Just observations and opinions. Think that’s the whole point of chat isn’t it?

I think the fake look stems from what women THINK men want to see....mixed in with the way women are portrayed in magazines etc. The airbrushing and resizing of people is out of control and young impressionable girls are taken in by it all. So to hide the natural 'flaws' in the skin, they cover it with foundation - they sculpt their faces using more makeup than I use in a year (not kidding there lol) They emphasize breasts, waists etc to be more appealing to the ones they think set those standards (men) The reality is in my 49 years, when I've had discussions with male friends/workers....not one has liked the Barbie doll or what I call the Katie Price look. Many say they loved Katie Price before the plastic surgery and orange skin but they don't find the fake look attractive.

I think the media and magazines are mostly to blame. And the consumers. We buy the magazines, we as women sit with each other and say 'wow, doesn't she look amazing' etc. Society has created and accepted the unrealisted portrayal of women. Now we have created a look the young aspire to achieve.

With time, I suspect it will pass. There will be a big kick-back. A handful of influential men will make the decision to be seen with natural looking women, or to use natural women in campaigns...the tide will turn slowly and then it will be all about natural beauty again.

Pre-Christmas, who was bothered about the amount of plastic they were using? Show some images on The Blue Planet and on the newspapers of turtles swimming wrapped in plastic or some shots of beaches with washed up plastic....now we're all talking about it.

Todays favourites become tomorrows demons.

I really couldn't care less what clothes other people wear or how they do their make up

I think that for some women with daughters, the pressure to not only wear a lot of make up but to undergo surgery to conform to beauty standards is very concerning. It's one thing as a mature woman to simple opt out, it's quite another to watch your DD whose sense of self is still being formed be impacted by all this nonsense.

For other women, they see the pressure that it puts on all young women, or on many women regardless of age. It's a feminist issue.

I do find it bizarre that at a time when women have tremendous freedom to pursue any vocation, there is pressure to spend so much time and money on physical appearance. It's almost like it is a distraction to doing the real work of finding meaning and purpose in one's life.

I don't get why so many famous women have tried to claim they haven't had plastic surgery when it is so obvious they have. Just bloody own it and be like Dolly when she says " It takes a lot of money to look this cheap!!."

I've showed my 15 year old daughter this and she feels today there is no boundary on beauty. It is more popular to have more of a bottom these days and not be skinny. She loves make up but wears none for school and is happy to have days without it. She says it's not a majority that look like this and anything goes.

I've just been watching Grand Hotel with Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford and their look was very simple. Not loads of make up but hardly any eyebrow and what there was drawn in .with pencil and that was it. Not a lot done with the hair at all - probably because they would wear hats a lot back then.

But I wonder if they got as much stick for pencil thin eyebrows and the way they looked back then?

It's only because of social media that we are aware of many of these looks anyway.

HipNewName I do see what you're saying. I have a DD too and it would break my heart to see her being made self-conscious by marketing executives trying to get her to spend more.

But on the other side of the coin I don't think the natural look is morally superior to the heavily made up look. Make up is a way of expressing yourself whether you're a goth or a juggalo or someone who does contouring. I bet a lot of these young women find doing their make up fun and enjoyable. We can worry about the ones that are doing it because they feel inadequate without demonising people who just like to look a certain way.