If before, beauty standards were often shaped to meet the expectations of traditional society, the 2020s have witnessed a remarkable conceptual shift. Under the influence of TikTok algorithms and AI, beauty has mutated from social pressure into a “cultural obligation” in the name of self-love. We cast off makeup in search of freedom, only to fall into the chains of a “standardized bare face” — an endless project of bodily optimization. Is this autonomy, or merely a more subtle dependence on expensive beauty bills?
I. WHEN THE BARE FACE BECOMES THE ULTIMATE LUXURY
The beauty standards of the 2020s are witnessing a major shift: instead of using makeup to conceal imperfections, women are now expected to be “beautiful at the core,” with glowing skin, evenly white teeth, and thick, silky hair. Behind the label of “effortless beauty” lies, in reality, an enormous investment of resources, where invasive procedures such as Botox, fillers, and chemical peels are normalized as an inevitable part of beauty.
According to the analysis in “Why Skin Health Matters in Facial Attraction” (roughly translated as “Why does healthy skin matter for facial attractiveness?”) [1], the skin is not merely an aesthetic feature but also a biological “report card.” A smooth, even-toned face is automatically perceived as a sign of good health and attractiveness; conversely, dull or darkened skin is often judged as an indication of physical decline. If, in the previous century, jewelry served as a measure of wealth, then today, “glass skin” has become the marker of another kind of affluence. — an abundance of time to care for oneself. To maintain that “natural” state, one must get enough sleep, visit clinics weekly, and follow expensive wellness-oriented diets.
This reality exposes a harsh paradox: the pursuit of social beauty standards seems to be a “private game” reserved for middle-class women with a secure economic foundation. For women from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds, these standards are no longer merely beauty goals, but a “double burden.” They are not only pushed to the margins of the appearance race by financial barriers, but are also forced to endure harsh social judgment while still struggling with basic material concerns. Clearly, this is not the liberation of women from the shackles of cosmetics, but rather the raising of the beauty bar to an even more ruthless height: if you are not naturally beautiful, you are bluntly judged as either “poor” or “lazy.”
II. THE ADDICTION TO SELF-MODIFICATION: FROM FILTERS TO SURGERY
As society begins to worship the bare face as a luxury item through which status is asserted, women are drawn into an intense “addiction” to self-modification in order to attain that unrealistic version of naturalness. The extreme danger of the 2020s lies in the fact that the boundary between the real and the virtual has been blurred by social media filters. We are witnessing the rise of Snapchat Dysmorphia, roughly translated as “application-induced dysmorphia.” This refers to the phenomenon in which users become anxious, insecure, and self-conscious about their unfiltered faces. As a result, some people come to desire cosmetic surgery in order to resemble the filtered version of themselves [2].
This reality has been demonstrated in a study by Fardouly et al. (2015) on the impact of social media on women’s psychology [3]. The study shows that frequent exposure to idealized images not only causes appearance-related anxiety, but also creates a toxic form of upward comparison. Women unconsciously use the “virtual frames” of friends and celebrities as a standard against which to measure reality, leading to a vast psychological gap between the real self reflected in the mirror and the ideal self displayed on the screen. In turn, this gap gradually suffocates their inherent confidence.
These psychological effects are now being translated into changes in beauty-related behavior. According to a report by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), the total number of surgical procedures increased by 42.5% from 2020 to 2024. Among them, eyelid surgery was the most popular surgical procedure, with more than 2.1 million cases. — representing a 13.4% increase. The most common non-surgical procedures were botulinum toxin injections, with 7.8 million cases, and hyaluronic acid injections, or dermal fillers, with 6.3 million cases [4]. These figures reflect the growing tendency to pursue a form of perfect beauty that has long existed within image-editing algorithms.
This phenomenon is not limited to adults. Data from Dove indicate that around 80% of girls have already begun using photo-editing applications to alter their appearance before posting on social media [5]. This “addiction” does not merely modify facial features; it is also quietly “surgically altering” the way people think about human worth. It implants in their minds a toxic belief that they are valuable only when they resemble an image from which every flaw—such as acne or enlarged pores—has been filtered away. Ultimately, whether through the worship of the bare face or the overuse of filters, beauty is turned into a deeply pressurized and unforgiving game. — where one’s true sense of self-worth is suffocated by unrealistic standards.
III. THE HOMOGENIZATION OF BEAUTY – THE DEATH OF UNIQUE INDIVIDUALITY
In the age of algorithms, we are witnessing the erasure of distinctive features to make way for a single industrialized template. The algorithm is like a microscope that scrutinizes every detail, yet lacks the lens of the soul. This was demonstrated by Tate Ryan-Mosley in MIT Technology Review (2021), when she tested AI-based beauty-scoring software. The results showed that these “artificial brains” were far from objective; they had been programmed to prioritize light skin, slim facial features aligned with Western beauty standards, and to coldly downgrade the distinctive traits of other racial groups [6].
That system rejects the distinctive aura—sometimes deeply rebellious—of each individual in order to worship mass-produced faces. It is precisely this ruthless calculation that has forged the “facial uniform” of our era: a high, narrow nose bridge, plump lips, and a sharply defined V-line chin. As we scroll through images on social media or look at rows of beauty pageant contestants, we cannot help but feel a quiet sadness at the sight of once-unique beauty gradually dissolving into an industrial assembly line, where recognizing a soul through a gaze has become more difficult than ever.
Within that relentless cycle, the identifying features of East Asian heritage and distinctly Vietnamese beauty—such as the slightly flat nose tip often associated with East Asian faces, the rounded cheekbones of Vietnamese people, or healthy brown skin—are suddenly downgraded into “raw material.” Although brands continue to comfort us with polished phrases such as “love yourself” and “celebrate diversity,” the reality is that everything from photo-editing filters to cosmetics labeled as “nude” is still quietly steering us toward a beauty standard designed to satisfy mainstream taste. At this point, beauty is no longer the flourishing of individuality, but a compromise with mechanical golden ratios, where distinctive features are crushed in exchange for the illusory recognition granted by invisible algorithms.
IV. HOW CAN WE AVOID BEING SWEPT AWAY BY THE WAVE OF BEAUTY HOMOGENIZATION?
To avoid being submerged by the wave of beauty homogenization, the first solution does not lie in editing tools, but in changing our own thoughts and behaviors. Looking deeply at one’s real face every day is a way for the brain to reconnect with the body, erasing the harmful sense of “strangeness” that filters on TikTok and Instagram have planted in us. Instead of trying to construct a flawless image, let others see your real moments. Freedom only comes when we dare to open ourselves to reality, with all its awkwardness and sincerity.
Going deeper into the nature of behavior, we need to establish a clear lens through which to distinguish between “care” and “rejection.” Caring for the skin in order to keep it healthy, or training the body to make it stronger and more resilient, should be understood as an act of preserving the original beauty of a “work of art” shaped by the love of countless generations. In this sense, beauty becomes an expression of gratitude for the life we are fortunate enough to inherit. By contrast, forcing ourselves into artificial standards of perfection is, in essence, a way of rejecting our own true beauty. Instead of pouring our efforts into short-term procedures designed to serve the purpose of “living virtually,” we should prioritize the values that create a happy body: deep sleep, a clean diet, and physical training. At this point, beauty is no longer an exhausting race to “meet the standard,” but a journey of cultivating inner strength, where confidence is born from a healthy body and a peaceful soul.
In addition, Lexie Kite, co-author of More Than a Body, once proposed a highly practical solution: users can actively “train” social media algorithms through their own patterns of interaction. Digital platforms operate through recommendation algorithms that learn from users’ habits of viewing, liking, and engaging with content. Therefore, when encountering content that promotes toxic beauty standards or unrealistic body images, users can choose to scroll past it immediately, mark it as “not interested,” or report it. These small but repeated actions gradually reshape one’s personal feed, prompting the algorithm to reduce its recommendations of messages that intensify appearance-related pressure. In this way, users not only protect their own mental well-being, but also indirectly help limit the spread of harmful beauty standards within the digital media environment.
Finally, change cannot be complete without an ethical mindset within corporate systems. Beauty and fashion brands must recognize the right of all identities to be seen, instead of confining beauty within a single dominant ideal. Diversity should not merely be a fashionable marketing slogan, but a genuine commitment: from models who embody the distinctive beauty of different regions and ethnic groups to body types that do not conform to the so-called golden ratio. When brands dare to dismantle the prejudices surrounding a “standard face,” they also begin to break open the glass cage that has long imprisoned women’s confidence. Only then can every woman remove all the masks imposed upon her and live fully with her own distinctive beauty.
Reference materials:
(1) Why Skin Health Matters In Facial Attraction | Skin Texture and Colour Predicting Perceived Health Why Skin Health Matters In Facial Attraction | Skin Texture and Colour Predicting Perceived Health
(2) Mancin, P., Gaudenzi, V., Telesca, R., Centofanti, D., Bartoletti, E., & Cerea, S. (2025). Exploring Snapchat Dysmorphia, Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptoms, and Body Trust in Patients Seeking Aesthetic Medicine Procedures. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, sjaf185.
(3) Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P. C., Vartanian, L. R., & Halliwell, E. (2015). Social Comparisons on Social media: the Impact of Facebook on Young women’s Body Image Concerns and Mood. Body Image, 13(1), 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.12.002
(4) https://www.isaps.org/discover/about-isaps/global-statistics/global-survey-2024-full-report-and-press-releases/
(5) Dove. (2022, October 31). Toxic beauty standards on social media: The stats – Dove. Dove; Dove. https://www.dove.com/us/en/campaigns/purpose/social-media-and-body-image.html
(6) Tate Ryan-Mosley. (2021, March 5). I asked an AI to tell me how beautiful I am. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/05/1020133/ai-algorithm-rate-beauty-score-attractive-face
Author: Phan Quynh Anh Thu
English 
Vietnamese
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