There is no denying that pop culture has a lot of influence on our lives. Everyone these days has easy access to a lot of content through social media and their television screens.

The interconnectedness of today’s world allows us to follow national and international trends. While there is nothing wrong with the access to this material, what creates problems are the standards being set by pop culture, beauty trends for instance

People these days follow beauty trends set by people all over the globe. And this is not just limited to following what the stars are wearing but also the way they look, even to the point of getting the facial features that they have.

Top bun & big hoops

A post shared by Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty) on Mar 10, 2018 at 4:30am PST

Natasha Zubair is a Pakistani photographer who recently pointed out this growing trend and pressure of having to keep up with beauty standards which make you self conscious more and more

I recently came across an interview featuring Hollywood actress, Mila Kunis. In the interview she states how she feels “all female faces are starting to look the same.” Her words resonated with me for quite some time. With social media in our lives it isn’t very difficult for us to be aware of new trends. Instagram is an open market. We are fed tons and tons of information on a daily basis – for free! Within all this information we find millions of faces on Instagram which have within a small amount of time turned into one generic human. Social media portrays a certain set of features that I’ve found we commonly aim for (thin contoured nose, big eyes with long eye lashes, contoured cheeks, full lips, thick eyebrows.) With all the conformity that takes place, it’s very easy to lose your individuality. In my assignment I took features from famous celebrities who are known for altering their face (Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Huda Beauty/Kattan) and allowed for the public to alter my face as well – according to what society demands. My once unique face became another part of the mass production we call society.

A post shared by Natasha Zubair (@natashazubair) on Mar 13, 2018 at 6:55am PDT

For an assignment, she took out features of some of the celebrities we all follow

She then took out their features and asked people to alter an image of her. The entire activity makes you realize how we are in this race to look exactly the same.

I recently came across an interview featuring Hollywood actress, Mila Kunis. In the interview she states how she feels “all female faces are starting to look the same.” Her words resonated with me for quite some time. With social media in our lives it isn’t very difficult for us to be aware of new trends. Instagram is an open market. We are fed tons and tons of information on a daily basis – for free! Within all this information we find millions of faces on Instagram which have within a small amount of time turned into one generic human. Social media portrays a certain set of features that I’ve found we commonly aim for (thin contoured nose, big eyes with long eye lashes, contoured cheeks, full lips, thick eyebrows.) With all the conformity that takes place, it’s very easy to lose your individuality. In my assignment I took features from famous celebrities who are known for altering their face (Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Huda Beauty/Kattan) and allowed for the public to alter my face as well – according to what society demands. My once unique face became another part of the mass production we call society.

A post shared by Natasha Zubair (@natashazubair) on Mar 13, 2018 at 7:01am PDT

To further clarify her position to those who thought that she is against the use of makeup, Natasha said, “I think makeup is awesome! I’m not against makeup. However I am against using makeup to the point where you are altering your face. Trying to look like someone else. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with enhancing your natural features. However over lining your lips, contouring your nose, wearing fake eyelashes, etc so that you can follow specific beauty trends is a waster of your time.”

She also explained how she personally had to deal with insecurity about herself due to the increased pressure to follow trends

“I have always been insecure about my nose. However my insecurity about my eyebrows only started because of the new thick eyebrow trend. I’d look at these girls with stunning eyebrows that shape their face and think why do I not have enough hair here!? I remember using different oils on my eyebrows hoping they’d grow.

That is the stupidest shit I could’ve done. I don’t bother filling in my eyebrows anymore. Own yourself and your own damn features.”

Morning loves! Love this pink look @makeupbyariel did last week. And we used the @kkwbeauty Creme contour sticks layered with the powder & highlight palette and a new lip that’s coming soon!

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 25, 2018 at 7:55am PST

It is no secret that there has been an upward trend in plastic surgeries around the world, people wanting to get the exact same nose as a particular model that they like or the kind of lips a particular actor has

What this does is increase their insecurities about how they naturally look. They begin this cycle of being more and more critical of themselves and the way they look that they start feeling that they are not good enough for anyone to like, and not even good enough for themselves.

And then there is growing pressure to keep up with all the makeup trends. The introduction of contouring into the makeup industry has completely revolutionized the way people would look at makeup. While once it was a way to just enhance your own natural beauty or just an activity that one enjoys, now it is a way to cover up our “flaws”. The entire concept itself is quite demeaning and lowers the self esteem of individuals.

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Cover image via: Natasha Zubair