What's real, and what's not?
Here on the internet, that's becoming harder and harder to determine. Between deep fakes and face editing apps, nothing seems real anymore.
That's why people have started posting Instagram vs Reality comparisons. They're determined to show us just how far influencers and celebrities go to make themselves seem perfect.
She's a makeup artist based in Blackburn, England, and she — like many makeup artists — is no stranger to photo editing.
She decided to start a series on her social media showing off the difference between her real pictures and her edited ones.
Holly used FaceTune to change everything about herself for this picture. She slimmed down her face, changed her facial expression, added in a smokey eye look, and even changed her own skin tone. Oh, and she added some hair.
Technology is insane.
"I still get flabbergasted by how much you can change your image to make it ‘perfect’ so you can fit in with what society deems ‘beautiful’ now," she said on Instagram.
The editing may be extreme, but it's no more extreme than what influencers do on a daily basis, tbh.
I'm still not over how odd this is. You can actually change your whole face with FaceTune. The fact that you can put a smile on your face and add a whole new makeup look seems like it shouldn't be allowed, right?
"I know people are going to get sick of me uploading these kinds of posts," she said in one Instagram post. "But I don’t care because the amount of messages I get from girls telling me they feel better about themselves and how much it’s helping them because of my posts is such an amazing feeling."
"Instagram is just a competition to see who looks prettier, who’s body is sexier, who has more likes and it’s driving young girls to using apps like this to achieve it," she said.
She doesn't post her edited pictures — she only uses them to expose how drastically editing can change you.
Since they are a staple of social media and often get caught editing their photos, it seems important to remind us all that almost nothing they post is real.
Many of the comments in Holly's series talk about the Kardashians and how they edit their photos. Instead of being mad, though, people just find it funny now. It's so obvious just how full of it the Kardashians are, and people are done tolerating it.
The unedited photos are just so much better. They're more authentic, and they reflect the experience she was having at the time of the picture, you know? On vacation, not into doing a full face of makeup, but still having a good time. That's so much better.
"Every girl who sits there feeling insecure and questioning why they don’t look like these Instagram models needs to see these kinds of posts," she said.
And she's right. The more we see how people really look, the more we can accept ourselves as we are.
I could look at these all day. The more you see it, the more you realize how obvious editing is on celebrity or influencer photos. Influencer pictures straight-up do not look real to me anymore.
"I’m also not nocking anyone or judging anyone who uses it because they probably use it due to society today and it’s ‘beauty standards’ and that’s really sad."
Exactly. Self-love takes a long time.
"The amount you can do with these apps is absolutely crazy so until you see someone with your own eyes, don’t believe everything you see when [you're] scrolling through Instagram," Holly said.
SO TRUE, QUEEN.
So many people think looks like the Kardashians can be achieved with makeup, or even a bit of lip filler. It can't. We'll never know the full extent of how much they edit their pictures.
Take a look at Holly's first TikTok in her series right here!
So, what do you think? Did you know you can change your facial expression with editing apps, or is this news to you? Let me know in the comments!
