If an alien from another planet took a scroll through Instagram, they might assume that nearly all humans have the same facial features and body type. Tiny noses, slim waists, large lips and hollow cheeks seem to be on trend at the moment. But we all know that there are billions of us on this planet, representing billions of different ways to be beautiful.
Reddit users have recently been calling out current beauty standards that they can’t seem to wrap their minds around, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts below. Enjoy scrolling through this list that will remind you just how arbitrary these standards are, and keep reading to find an interview with Valerie Monroe of How Not to F*ck Up Your Face!
#1
Those long fake nails.
I dont know a single dude that thinks its attractive.
I understand painting your nails, or leaving them to be a little longer, but those talons that people walk around with just make me feel yucky.
Image source: Wajina_Sloth, Steve Jurvetson
#2
Giant eyelashes that will make you take flight if you flutter them fast enough.
Striving_Hermit:
My husband hates the long fake eyelash look, and he asked me why women wear them when men don’t particularly like them.
I thought it would be funny, so I told him it’s not about impressing men but about asserting one’s dominance on another woman.
He believed me and now tells all his friends that it’s an ‘alpha-female’ thing, hahaha.
Image source: TitsMcGhee99, cornflakegirl_
#3
What people do to their lips is wild to me.
Image source: Purples_A_Fruit, Sam Moghadam Khamseh
#4
Butt implants. Just looks nasty as hell.
Image source: PureDeidBrilliant, Vanessa Blaylock
#5
Excessive makeup. When people put so much c**p on they look like they are wearing a mask, not a face.
Image source: TheQuarantinian, Ahmad Ebadi
#6
Stupid eyebrows that look like perfectly angled stencils is a shade way too dark for their complexion. Like blond girls with 2 black geometric boomerangs on her forehead.
RelevantLie-2297:
Thick eyebrows, like caterpillars crawling across your forehead.
Image source: montanagrizfan, Marco Verch Professional
#7
The fact that a huge portion of the world’s population has successfully brainwashed itself into thinking that the Kardashians/Jenners are the epitome of beauty to the point that many are willing to imitate whatever moronic thing they do to their bodies is just wild to me.
InsomniacYogi:
It’s called the ‘Instagram face’ and it’s a legit phenomenon that is being studied by psychologists. It’s doing so much harm to people’s self-esteem and self-concept. We aren’t all supposed to look the same.
Image source: Tough_Stretch, kardashians
#8
Any plastic surgery that makes random women look like they’re all related. At one point we’ll all start to think thin lips and big noses are hot solely because they’ll stand out in a sea of copy/paste people.
Image source: Intelligent-Guide-48, AFAR AHMED
#9
Men that have soo much muscle. Obviously it’s very attractive to be in shape but I’m just not attracted to men that have arms the size of two watermelons with the fattest veins ever popping out of their arm. And I also feel like men with a lot of muscle tend to look shorter.
I think men that still have like some abs and some muscle but aren’t looking like the Incredible Hulk are the most attractive.
Image source: Pretend-Ostrich-9602, Aaron Brogden
#10
My wife works at a tanning salon. She has a few customers that literally get a tan every day. One of them has already gone through cancer treatment, that didn’t stop her from continuing. I’m convinced a few of them are dealing with mental health issues.
Image source: PM_ME_YOUR_ART_PLZ, Marco Verch Professional
#11
I’m from Stockholm. A lot of girls, particularly from rich areas, like to use so much fake tan that they are orange, and bleach their hair from what was usually dark blonde to platinum blonde. Then they style it to make it voluminous (which is easy to do because their hair is dead from all the dyeing) and apply lots of make-up, which typically includes black mascara or fake lashes. So, a lot of girls here bear a striking resemblance to Miss Piggy. There’s nothing wrong with looking like this, I just don’t understand it.
Image source: WhereMyEelAt, Jess Loiterton
#12
Overlined lips. Stop. We can see where you’re lip really is. It just looks really unfortunate.
Image source: SunflowerSeed33, Ali Pazani
#13
Dentist: So what shade of veneer would you like?
Veneer patient: I’d like refrigerator white please.
Image source: OkFinanc, Anna Shvets
#14
Those grossly buff guys on all dating shows. They all look like Gaston from beauty and the beast and I hate it so much I don’t even watch those shows but the lack of variety is appalling.
Image source: toedplatypus, Arthur Edelmans
#15
Fake breasts. Especially the super large ones.
Image source: bootycakes23, Jernej Graj
#16
Contouring noses until they look like a line and a dot. Will never make sense to me.
Image source: eldritchangel, Aidette Cancino
#17
The overly sculpted beard trend. You known when the beard is trimmed and looks like it was outlined in concealer? Neatening up is nice but a sudden pale line as a border around your stubble… looks like it was airbrushed on and not touched up.
Image source: hecatemoonshadow, Brock Wegner
#18
Ski slope/button nose. they are cute but not everyone’s face is meant to have that type of nose and it doesn’t look good on everyone and it sucks seeing so many young girls on tiktok get nose jobs and all have the exact same nose.
Image source: DepressionBarbie_, Columbia Pictures
#19
Super skinny My favourite part of my wife, (besides the obvious) is the small push out of baby fat on her waistline just under her belly button. She’s had two kids and that little piece there to me is absolutely dynamite.
Image source: unconformities, Karolina Grabowska
#20
Idk if I’d call this a standard but the hair style of “shaved all around with like six inches in a small patch on top” has never looked good to me on men or women. It’s not a hair style I really understand.
Image source: IAmThePonch, Maksim Goncharenok
#21
Moustaches on men are popular now, I think they’re ugly especially on young men.
Image source: W3dnesdayAddamsStan, cottonbro studio
#22
People in India will choose an unattractive fair skinned girl over a darker skinned girl who’s objective beautiful. This is why they get better treatment in Hollywood than Bollywood. Fair skin is a MASSIVELY inflated beauty standard and people ruin their perfectly good skin over it.
There are some things that are objectively beautiful based on studies: Teeth, Specific Facial Features, Leanness, etc. There isn’t much evidence to support that fairer skin is more beautiful.
Image source: NotTooShahby, cottonbro studio
#23
Clearly photoshopped pictures and weird posing angles.
Image source: chemistryofacarcrash, Anil Sharma
#24
Buccal fat removal.
loxagos_snake:
Ugh, this one makes me physically cringe.
Like, you are literally removing a baseline later of fat that is supposed to be there, and AFAIK it’s f**king permanent.
I understand being overweight and wanting to get rid of excess fat, but a little roundness around the cheeks is generally considered attractive and makes you look youthful.
Image source: Groundbreaking-Duck, Ron Lach
#25
People who wear clothes that are too small. Just wear clothes that fit. You’ll look a lot better.
Image source: Stunning_Patience_78, Alena Darmel
#26
Liked in my case, but foot binding in china. Insane amounts of lifelong pain inflicted on children from a young age, just to have the hope of marrying into a better family.
Image source: Horse_F*cker666, Roland Belgrave Vintage Photography
#27
Laminated, combed-up, thick a*s eyebrows. Why.
KrustyKohn:
Yes! This is the one I was going to say. It is such a strange beauty trend to me that I’ve noticed in the past couple years. Granted, I do come from a time where eyebrows were plucked into a high arch. I think people should just leave their eyebrows be for the most part. I can understand plucking, waxing, or trimming very bushy eyebrows or a uni-brow, but combing the hairs straight up and plastering them to your forehead just doesn’t look good.
Image source: comoshnyee, Stephanie Lima
#28
Overly perfect veneers.
HeathenHumanist:
One of my Facebook friends already has good teeth but then she went and got veneers. Now her teeth are just…too big and too BRIGHT.
Image source: doublexxchrome, Kamal Hoseinianzade
#29
The entire face filled drastically to eliminate all wrinkles, making a person’s face look like it belongs to a body that weighs 50 pounds more.
Image source: Scott43206, Vlad Egorov
#30
Circumcision…….a gross and unethical thing that needs so stop
And this should count because in the U.S. most are done purely for cosmetic and not religious reasons….. not that either excuse should be considered reasonable
Image source: Ban-Circumcision-Now, Anna Shvets
Follow Us
