“Acne Is Human”: How The Perfect Skin Pandemic Took Over Society

Society has imposed unrealistic beauty standards on people and the digital world has skewed our idea of the perfect body image.

The beauty industry has successfully maintained its age-old legacy of commodifying the insecurities of young people. With the unsolicited public advice thrown at women with catch-phrases like “go get it, girl”, the industry is trying to pat itself on the back for selling fake empowerment.

As various Indian skincare ads cropped up during the pandemic, digital ad spending for the skincare industry increased by almost 2.8%. Brands like MamaEarth, SkinKraft, Vedix, Juicy Chemistry, etc., released social media campaigns and challenges urging customers to use their products, luring them with the promise of flawless skin.

Every skincare campaign sounded the same. “Do you have blemishes on your face?” “Are you tired of your dark circles?” “Use this retinol serum to look like you’ve just had a facial!” This is how the beauty industry was selling its products by exploiting insecurities.

For young men and women, it has become extremely hard to question the premise. Even though deep down we know that there is nothing wrong with a few acne spots, we have been brought up to believe otherwise.

Fairness creams are embedded in every Indian’s skincare routine. The perceived results promised by TV commercials and family members make it acceptable, or perhaps normal for us to believe it will work.

The expectations piled on women by this industry are delusory. Different communities in India have different beauty standards. Bushy eyebrows are generally frowned upon, the skin should always have a healthy glow, soft, plump lips are a delight, complexion should be de-tanned and body hair is a strict no.

Every Indian man and woman has felt this pressure at least once in their lives.

Rhea, a student from Mumbai, says, “The only thing duller than my elegant half-moon bags that sneakily creep up after a week’s hard work is beauty brands’ evergreen promise of whisking them away instantly with a plethora of make-up products.

“As a Gen Z, I love a quick fix, but can we please take the pressure off of women by looking faultless? I don’t look like a model from the Fall issue of Vogue and I don’t even wish to do it daily.”

How The Pandemic Triggered The Surge In Beauty Expectations

While online beauty sales were expected to hit a record 23% by the end of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a “perfect skin” pandemic. The marketing tactics became more refined than ever, using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to show the youth what ideal skin should look like.

During the initial lockdown phase, the beauty and skincare industry had to shift to a digital mindset. These brands were pushed to embrace the e-commerce business side, and thus, they had to think of creative ways to promote their products.

The question they had to ask themselves was, “How can we sell products if the customer can’t swatch or sample the product through their mobile phones?”

The innovative answer to this was producing enhanced content by collaborating with “skinfluencers“.

Undoubtedly, the pandemic created great avenues for digital creators to build their brand and reach a global audience. Skinfluencers or beauty gurus officially became a reservoir of skincare tips targeted towards Gen Z. Offering skincare advice on platforms like TikTok; the beauty industry thrived through these influencers.

Of course, not every skinfluencer has been honest with their audience. The skin that was seen as flawless was achieved by using filters and professional lighting (along with a good routine, diet and genetics) instead of the beauty products they were promoting.

Thus, this didn’t have the positive impact that was originally anticipated by the brands. In fact, for certified dermatologists, this is a disappointing setback.

Several Reddit threads also became the go-to hub for people seeking skincare tips and OTC solutions for their skin-related medical problems. Hashtags like #skincare and #skincareroutine had billions of views on TikTok.

How Does The Youth Feel?

In the age of phone-dependent self-isolation, we often compare ourselves to the picture-perfect people we see on Instagram. There have been many articles documenting body image insecurities and mental health concerns. But that should no longer be the concern in 2021.

The real concern is this: our obsession with flawless skin and passing skincare trends is becoming problematic. Although skincare and taking care of yourself is an integral part of our lives, it shouldn’t be consuming to the extent that it harms our mental health or puts unrealistic expectations.

Growing up, I was an ardent fan of beauty pageants. That didn’t help because these women were going on stage and confidently telling young girls to embrace their flaws when they had no visible flaws. How do you convince a 13-year-old to be unapologetic about her flaws when all she sees is perfect models with glass skin?

For a long time, I used to think that I felt personally victimised by the skincare industry. It was my lack of self-confidence that made me believe that there was something gravely wrong with the way my skin looked and felt. I viewed it as a “me” problem instead of a “you/they” problem.

It wasn’t long before I realised my friends had the same experiences. Products were specifically marketed to us, but they weren’t accessible or practical. While there was an increasing standard to disguise blemishes and pores, the products and routines weren’t suited for most of us.

For instance, dermatologists have confirmed that the Korean skincare routine isn’t ideal for people in humid and tropical climates like India.

Rik, a student from Kolkata, says, “Skincare products have always been mystified and made confusing to the general public by the media, besides being expensive and out of reach. Personally, as somebody with an oily face but dry elbows and dry scalp, it is difficult to find a single line of products that handles unique combinations effectively within budget.

“Often, I’ve had to stick to the bare minimums, sometimes even cheap shampoo and body moisturisers that at the end of the day harm my skin rather than helping its cause. This is a sector of products that is very difficult for the average consumer to navigate.”

Speaking on the same lines, Anuska points out, “I think the glass skin pandemic, if I may call it, is a scheme to keep the beauty industry running. It’s purely capitalist. It sells an unrealistic standard of perfection that one can never actually accomplish.

“We’re humans. If we were meant to have perfectly smooth alabaster skin, then we’d be made of marble. Pores are human. Marks are human and acne is human. In the sheer goal for aesthetic perfection based on the white woman’s standard that has been colonised worldwide, we forget that we’re human.”

To conclude, the skincare industry has made it increasingly challenging for us to humanise our flaws. To say we’ve had enough would be a blatant understatement. We don’t want to look like Harnaaz Sandhu or Millind Soman. We just want to be ourselves.

Note: The author is part of the Dec ’21 batch of the Writer’s Training Program.