Twitter has recently been flooded with a wave of “skin care threads”, in which people who have achieved blemish and acne-free skin have shared the products and methods that they used. They usually also include pictures of the person’s skin for reference.
Skincare Routine!!!
A thread ❤ pic.twitter.com/Eo0maXmVgQ— 𝑯𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒆𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒆 🇵🇦 (@HayleeAnise) April 12, 2017
It’s so heartwarming to see people helping each other out, and it truly is a testament to the family-like culture the internet has developed, but seeing so many people with flawless skin reinforces the idea that having acne is ugly and unacceptable.
Acne and its dysmorphia effects many people differently. Though it is attainable, clear skin shouldn’t be the norm for modern beauty. Whether or not one see’s their own acne as beautiful is their own opinion, but acne shouldn’t be seen as a barrier to one’s natural beauty. There’s nothing wrong with wanting or having clear skin, but that shouldn’t be the only option.
Popular media regularly pushes one paradigm of beauty, in this case: clear, blemish-free skin. However, anyone who’s had skin problems would know how unrealistic that is. Pimples pop up, sometimes a blemish appears. That shouldn’t be considered ugly or unacceptable; it should be considered normal, at the very least.
It’s a habit for society to set such exaggerated goals. It goes from the figure of models, accentuated by Photoshop, to eurocentric features, to clear skin. Humans were made to be diverse–it’s unreasonable to expect everyone to follow a certain prototype.
What people think is beautiful–their standards and expectations–is temporary. Self-care makes a bigger impact in one’s life. Do and wear what you’re comfortable in, and it’s not fair to be constantly chasing such distorted expectations of what a human should look like.
Beauty starts with confidence, not looks. Own who you are. Every mark on your skin makes you unique. That’s what beauty looks like.
