insta-beauty

Many of us were probably on Instagram or Facebook over the recent holiday, posting our own pics and viewing pics of friends and family.  I found myself flipping thru Instagram during a lull in dinner on the 24th, and when a cute pic opportunity arose, I was online and posting it almost immediately, then obsessively checking how many people liked or commented.  

But, while I love social media, I tend to dislike Instagram almost as much as I like it.  That's partly my fault and partly the fault of of the skewed glimpses of life social media like Instagram provides us.  

Being a makeup lover, I tend to follow beauty-centric Instagrammers who post looks of the day or close-ups of eye makeup.  And what's started to happen is that I'm inspired less and less and bummed out more and more. 

While there are some Instagrammers who post diverse, age-appropriate looks that are beautiful without being showy (ie the lovely Pixiwoos), I've taken to following too many 20-somethings who have tons of time, MAC cosmetics, camera filters, and pouty MySpace-esque duck-lipped photos that become grating on my self-esteem.  I'm 32, I work full-time, I barely slap on some powder before I leave the house, and I can't take a iPhone pic of myself to save my life.  I don't feel particularly ugly or inferior in my daily life, but I get dismayed when I look at a stream of online pics of unlined, acne-free 20-somethings who somehow perfected winged eyeliner before they left the crib.  And while I may be missing something, I'm not seeing Instagrammers on the popular page who contribute pics featuring, say, "Simple looks for busy, tired women who have 10 minutes to beautify before leaving for a long day at work."   

I've cleaned up my "following" list a decent amount and tried to weed out the posters most crushing to my esteem who provide little in the way of inspiration.  Yet even with a scaled-back list, I have to remind myself daily -  these are filters; these are angles and shots I've not taken the time of effort myself to perfect; these are limited, skewed glimpses of life.  These women aren't posting daily pics of their scraggly brows or faces upon waking.  They're posting carefully-selected, perfected shots that showcase their best face forward. 

Then I post another picture of my dog, slap on some powder, and leave for a long day of work. 

Beautifully Simple,

Nicole @ Vanity Cosmetics

I'll never make the popular page