Social media is bad for your self-esteem is not a new tag-we all know too well the feeling of judgments that go late at night and compare you to people who seem to have your dream wardrobe, house, car, job, filling. Born from this, especially in TikTok, are endless trends that take up FYP, and while some are flash-in-the-pan (do you remember, cottagecore? Brat girl Older aunt. . .), There are some who are the test of the time and continue to gain traction. Skin care and beauty community is no exception to this, and among these trends, one that has dominated in recent years is the “pure girl” aesthetic, which has collected over two million hashtags in its various forms on Tiktok.
The “pure girl” has no clear definition but can be recognized by her Back bunglowing skin and neutral nails. She falsifies full coverage in exchange for a lighter toned moisturizer and does not do much in addition to brushing her brows and dabb on a touch of lip balm before she is ready to leave the house. Although it sounds innocent enough, this exclusively beauty standard can be extremely isolating and disillusioning for someone like me. As a South Asian girl with acne, my skin is never done. From eruption to post -inflammatory hyperpigmentation to genetically disposed dark circles, my routine requires an arsenal of products before I can hope to replicate the glow from the clean girl. There is no amount of toned moisturizer that will achieve the appearance that Tiktok tells me it can.
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It feels like the only way to be on the trend is to have clear skin or perfectly smooth, designed hair and trust me, if it was an alternative I would choose it a million times over.
Seen as the poster child for the pure girl, many influencers who share tutorials emulates Hailey Bieber and which she is also white, blonde and has clear, spotless skin. Labeling this as a trend that can be achieved by anyone with the right steps has unhappy undertones. 2025, do we still promote Eurocentric beauty standards? It feels like a step back from the skin positive movement we saw in 2020, and the problem is that with the right products anyone can get the same look. This is just not the case for so many of us. For each content, I see that shows an influencer who applies a dab of concealer on her flawless face or mentions how she just needs to cover her barely visible dark eye circles, it feels more and more as if I’m in a losing battle. If I stick to the naked minimal makeup, like a “pure girl” would do, my skin is incorrect and uneven, and I don’t feel my makeup does the work it should be. If I go for full coverage by day to day, I am outdated and overdo it. It feels like the only way to be on the trend is to have clear skin or perfectly smooth, designed hair and trust me, if it was an alternative I would choose it a million times over.
And the opposites require the immediate, subconscious conclusion: if I am not a “pure girl”, what does it make me then?
It raises the question, is this that leads to the increase of before teenagers In expensive, active skin care that they simply do not need or should use? And what should we as women do differently to ensure that little girls’ self -esteem is not based on something as outside their control, like their skin or their hair structure? The use of the language around the trend is what takes it from being an innocent social media moment to something deeper problematic. The word “pure” associated with looking in a certain way maintains the story that those who sit outside this box-as people with color or acne prone, coily-hair girls-are not easy. And the opposites require the immediate, subconscious conclusion: if I am not a “pure girl”, what does it make me then?
Imtiase South is a freelance British Pakistani Muslim beauty writer and PR expert based in London, but often in the United States. She has written for Refinery29, Glamor, Instyle, Bustle, Who What Wear and PS.
