The morning I took the selfie ahead, I did not feel good about my skin. It was blotchy and dull, and I had a few breakouts. I attempted to take a Snapchat but immediately deleted it, because the results were not flattering. Since I was into my hair that day (shout-out to Jen Atkin’s line, Ouai, which gave me those air-dried beach waves), I wanted to make it work. So I blended some of Charlotte Tilbury’s new Magic Foundation onto my face, along with Clé de Peau Beauté concealer, La Prairie cream blush, and Benefit highlighter. I was shocked when I stuck my camera phone in front of my mug and was able to snap a photo that needed little filtering (and I can admittedly feel very self-conscious about my #selfies).
I didn’t want to brag – because that’s so obnoxious on Instagram, right? – but I was really excited about how glowy my complexion looked thanks to makeup. Unlike past images, I felt no need to zoom in using apps like Aviary, Snapseed, or Facetune to blur my under-eye bags, red spots, or fine lines. With a touch of brightening, the photo was ready to post. But before I pushed “share,” I wanted to call out that this was a “real” photo. So I dug around the social media tool and discovered that diverse women have been using the hashtag #nofacetune when they shared similar sentiments and images.
The message behind #nofacetune is to shed light on the fact that these close-up pictures were not photoshopped in a popular app called Facetune. Kim Kardashian famously uses a comparable one called Perfect365, while many top vloggers rely on the former. In this essay, I coined the term Botox Instagram Face (aka BIF), which described the flat, matte complexion you often see on influencers. In person, their skin looks very different, but these aforementioned Photoshop Instagram apps can quickly change it with just a few swipes.
#Nofacetune is the antimovement to the BIF. Instead, women are calling out the foundation, self-tanner, and other makeup they’re using instead of Photoshop. And if some skin imperfections show through the coverage, so what? Makeup is not necessarily natural, but it’s a lot more realistic than photo manipulation. Instagram users are also going deeper, bravely revealing their bare skin – sunspots, wrinkles, and all – and philosophies on the matter.
Instagrammer Sarah Woodier writes: “It’s shameful that apps like ‘facetune’ and *ahem seriously* ‘cream cam’ exist, you don’t need a smooth face, no wrinkles, no freckles to be beautiful. What does it do for self confidence adjusting your face to within a inch of recognition? How does that increase your self worth when you’re not being yourself. I would revel in our differences and embrace the ageing process, you are you and nobody else can be you. That’s pretty powerful. Please embrace the you that doesn’t need to look like a generic version of beauty/womanhood. We’re all different and that’s a GREAT thing.”
Her message is empowering – as are these 15 photos shared by real women (including yours truly) incorporating the hashtag #nofacetune. There are even some familiar faces, such as a model made over by Kim’s go-to makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic, and Jourdan Dunn. I encourage you to share your own snap and tag us (@POPSUGARBeauty) so that the world can see your true beauty!