Flawless Face, Troubled Mind

By Josephine Carrillo | Published April 17, 2023

“If you have features such as freckles or bushy eyebrows, people will think you’re beautiful, but if you have features such as acne, wrinkles, big pores, etc., you best believe you will be judged,” said Gabriela Borges, a sophomore at Kean, focusing on public relations.

In today’s society, the meaning of natural beauty is almost, if not completely, lost. Cosmetics franchises make millions of dollars by taking advantage of people’s insecurities due to the unrealistic beauty standards modern society has. 

The beauty industry promotes the “flawless” look on social media, sending the message that beauty is clear skin, no acne on sight, long eyelashes, plumped lips, skinny waist, flat stomach, no under-eye bags, full eyebrows, and light-colored eyes. 

If you do not have such features, these brands will sell you products that will fix and cover your insecurities, and give you the flawless effect. 

Their way of spreading and promoting their products is by using social media platforms that their targeted audience use in order to augment the number of their sales. 

Olivia Velez, a senior at Kean majoring in Psychology and freelance makeup artist, believes that social media is a big influence and has a major impact on one’s self-image perception.

“People spend so much time looking at other people, and wishing to look like them, that they completely disregard their own beauty,” said Velez. “ People who wear makeup to cover their insecurities begin to like the way they look with it, rather than a bare face look, since they want others to see perfection in them, even if they are not being nor showing their true self.”

According to the Office of Women’s Health, “more than 1 in 5 women” struggle with their mental health in the United States.  They also believe that women that feel confident in their body and skin (positive body image) tend to have good mental health, unlike women with a negative body image.

Women with a negative body image and self-perception are at higher risk of suffering from mental health disorders, such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and could even jeopardize their physical health. 

It is important to be conscious of how to properly treat your body and skin, and it is such as important to prioritize your mental health. Beauty trends are marketing and advertisement for big beauty franchises to promote the launch of their new products, not to help you “improve” your image. 

In an article written by Mary Acklin, for Civic Science, she proves that makeup is losing its popularity in the past years. In 2015, the average of women using cosmetics in the United States was 52%, but in 2019, four years later, the average had decreased to 39%. 

“If you want to be an “it girl” or “the main character”, the media tells us we must meet certain beauty standards expectations in order to do so,” said Borges. “They tell you to wear makeup, but not too much, but also not too little, so that it can look natural.”

With Mental Health Awareness Month coming up, on May 1st., spreading awareness on the subject of beauty brands and social media beauty standards and how these affect women’s mental health was a must. 

“You have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens” by Louise L. Hay, from one of her books “You Can Heal Your Life”.

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