When parents make social media accounts for their young children, the response can often be mixed. On one hand, a lot of people get a lot of pleasure out of seeing little ones doing adorable things.
But on the other hand, some may suspect that the parents are all-too-aware of how precious their audience might find the kids. These people often worry that these parents are exploiting their children to gain more followers, which may then lead to financial gain.
For them, the idea of the words “airbrush” and “infant” being used in the same sentence is enough to start up their alarm bells.
If you were to discover an Instagram account called @lifeofislarose, you would see little Isla here beaming brightly in a variety of costumes and outfits.
But of course, at 11-months-old, she hardly has the coordination to put them on herself. Nor can she arrange for professional-looking photos like this one.
Instead, that job seems to go to her mom, a 20-year-old nursery worker named Danielle Wall.
It is through her efforts that the Instagram account has attained about 1,200 followers, and that seems to be just the beginning.
As she told The Sun , “She’s starred in an advert for Alzheimer’s Society and she’s with a modelling agency. I want her to be a model.”
Not only that, but Isla’s Instagram presence has already netted the pair some brand deals.
Sometimes a company will contact Danielle, and sometimes she’ll reach out to them, but the result is often that she’ll receive free clothes so that Isla can advertise them.
When her followers say Isla’s name at certain stores, they get 10% off and Danielle will either get more free items or discounts in return.
As she told The Sun , “We support them and they support us back but – in order for it to work – we need to provide the best possible pictures.”
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And sometimes, providing the best pictures involves doctoring Isla’s photos.
Danielle said that Isla is very photogenic and it’s not about improving her appearance, but rather removing “milk spots” (tiny white cysts called milia that often turn up on babies), as well as any stray boogers or redness.
As she put it, “Removing her minor flaws is just like altering the lighting – it makes companies happy because the photographs looks professional, rather than as if they were taken on a mobile.”
Although responses on her Instagram page are generally positive, Danielle knows that some would find fault with any airbrushing.
As she said to The Sun , “No one has objected to my face, but I am certain a lot of people think it.”
And a quick trip to the comments of any site telling her story reveal that she’s apparently right about that.
Although the comments clearly come from a place of concern for little Isla’s well-being, Danielle’s ambitions for her daughter seem to have left a bad impression on these critics.
Danielle has a response to this that she hopes will be reassuring to anyone worried about her daughter.
She said, “But she enjoys it. And if she wants to stop when she is old enough she can at any time. I would never force her into anything.”
However, her reply apparently sounded familiar to some commenters in a way that didn’t put them at ease.
And while that’s definitely a cause to stay mindful and ensure that Isla’s decisions are actually her own, the fact remains that we really don’t know how the relationship between Danielle and Isla works behind the cameras.
While an Instagram page almost never tells the full story about someone, there’s also some danger in assuming the worst about somebody that we don’t know that well.
h/t: The Sun
