Being a part of this 9 page, front page New York Times Magazine piece on social influence & beauty culture has me thinking even more deeply about my examinations of culture for my lecture series, The Beauty Mastery.
“Jonquille Chantrey, a cosmetic surgeon in London, describes Instagram face as having a sort of heritage pastiche: smooth forehead and wider eyes, or, if the eye hikes up at the end, “fox eye”; fuller lips, with the height of the top lip equal to the bottom; tapered nose and chin; and a very, very high cheekbone. These may be characteristics of different ethnicities, but they are rarely seen together in one real face. Instagram face — an averaging of many possible inputs — is not one that exists among humanity. It may not even exist among Kardashians.”