The Influencer Trap: How to navigate the allure of makeup and beauty trends
In today’s digital age, influencers wield significant power over our decisions, particularly in the realms of makeup and beauty. With their flawless skin, perfect makeup and seemingly endless array of beauty products, its easy to fall into the trap of believing that the makeup products that they use will give you the exact same look.
The allure of influencer protection:
Influencers have mastered the art of creating visually appealing content, With high-quality photos and videos, they showcase products in the best possible light. Their endorsements often come with promises of achieving similar results: clearer skin and flawless makeup application. The truth is this isn’t reality. No product is going to look the same on everyone, everyone has different skin types and textures and believing everything that you see on social media can be a really toxic and damaging experience.
Breaking free from the trap:
When viewing content, try to envision the reviewed product on your skin. Ask yourself questions like ‘is this suited to my skin type’. or ‘is this brand known for their transparency’. By asking yourself questions you can set yourself realistic expectations and save yourself the heartache if the product doesn’t look exactly like how it looked on the influencer.
Embrace your unique beauty: this is something that is easier said than done, of course! The beauty industry thrives on selling the idea of perfection, and often everyone tries to meet these standards. But by embracing your own beauty and unique styles, you are breaking down these ‘molds’ that are created within the industry.
Message from Holly
“Before I had the knowledge that I do regarding beauty and cosmetics, I used to fall into the influencer trap and bought nearly everything that was telling me that it would make my acne go away or cover it completely. It’s so easy to believe that everything that is recommended to you is going to work but the truth is it just doesn’t. Granted, to an extent I still buy a few products that I see advertised on Tik Tok, but instead of expecting the product to look the exact same on me as it did on the advertisment, I try and set myself realistic standards of how it will look. For me personally nothing will ever truly cover my scars so this is something that I’ve had to learn to accept and embrace.”