Last month, in October of 2024, I was able to see the indie horror hit directed by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance, starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore. The film focuses on the complexities, not the subtleties, and terrors of being self-consumed. The movie has been widely discussed and loved, but it got me thinking about the rise of plastic surgery and cosmetic trends that women all around the world are constantly falling for, myself and Demi Moore included. Hell, even my Grandma gets Botox. But what does this mean for us? What does this mean as consumers, movie enjoyers, and individuals?
This “trend” is scary. Not only are celebrities, those that the general public looks up to and admires, but micro-influencers and niche internet celebrities are encouraging their audiences to buy as many products, creams, serums, and surgeries as possible. They want us to purchase the “answer” to solve problems that would not have existed without this market of self-hatred. I notice this in the women around me, lamenting about needing to buy pimple patches or get their eyebrows done, or some new TikTok shop product they’re thinking about trying because this influencer they “just looooveee” gave it rave reviews, yes it was sponsored but “influencers are always honest!”. While I am guilty of falling for these traps and admit that getting my eyebrows and nails done and “treating myself” feels wonderful, I wish more of the women around me would slow down and appreciate the beauty they have naturally. But, how could I ever expect them to?
When thinking about the women in my life that I know and love personally, I could make an educated guess that a majority of them have either: a. Gotten work done, b. Wants to get work done, or c. has thought about getting work done. How could I blame them for falling into a trap that I fall into every day, just like they do, just like the celebrities we admire do, just like the “perfect” influencers online do? I will never blame a fellow girl, who has been told her entire life that she has to live up to a patriarchal society's ever-changing standards of beauty, for reducing herself to someone with a plastic face, or someone who spends an obscene amount of money on beauty products.
I wish I could wrap my thoughts up on this issue with a neat little bow, but, it is with a heavy heart, that this “iPhone face” phenomenon will not be stopping, and with the rise of 12-year-olds running amok in Sephora, I don’t see it stopping with the generation after us either. What I can say though, is that ridges and bumps, big noses, acne scars, soft jaw lines, chubby cheeks, and any other thing the marketing world can convince you need to be solved with their products, are all beautiful in their own right. despite how much the world tries to sell you differently.
Written by Lucy Anderson
Photography by Mark Bluemle
Director, Talent: Lucy Anderson