35 Toxic Beauty Ideals We Should Stop Promoting

Beauty standards vary across cultures and generations, yet some trends seem particularly baffling to many people. When someone asked online, "What is a typical beauty standard that never made sense to you?" people came forward with their thoughts on the most puzzling expectations society has set. Here are some of the most common and thought-provoking responses

Beauty standards have always existed, but many of them make little sense when examined closely. What’s considered attractive changes over time, and what’s trendy today might be outdated tomorrow. As people become more aware of these unrealistic expectations, the hope is that society will move toward a more accepting and diverse definition of beauty—one that values individuality over conformity.

#1

Image source: RLS1822, Kateryna Hliznitsova The early investment and over reliance on fillers and Botox. I am concerned that 20 year olds are doing this way too soon. Jackster7917: Lip fillers or fillers in general make people look much older than they are. I know not everyone is a natural beauty, but distorting your face to look completely different looks worse.

#2

Image source: babygirl7106, KoolShooters Full heavy makeup that makes you unrecognisable. PercentageClear: Especially weddings, I just don’t understand wanting to look that way on your big day especially if you’re naturally gorgeous. Im crossing my fingers for when natural/lighter look comes back in style. Im chronically ill and dont even wear makeup besides doing my eyebrows (terribly) so it’s really just my own person two cents.

#3

Image source: Tsarinya, Marlen Stahlhuth The long nails I honestly don’t know how you can be hygienic with them on.

#4

Image source: TerribleLunch2265, jendestiny114 Caterpillar lashes.

#5

Image source: twoburgers, Getty Images I never understand why some men are so ashamed to be bald or think shaving their heads is just a sign of giving up and that they look old now. Bald men are hot.

#6

Image source: Itsnotrealitsevil, broookIynn Those brushed up glued soap brows. I haven’t seen a single person, not one, that it looks good on.

#7

Image source: 0chrononaut0, Getty Images "Bouncing back" after you've given birth. I hate the lack of appreciation for post partum bodies and the expectation you go back to having a flat stomach and peak fitness when you've literally been through the most extreme thing the human body can do.

#8

Image source: Charming-Drive-5950, SHVETS production Dark skinned people being sold skin whitening products and light skinned people being sold skin tanning products.

#9

Image source: BigNefariousness4294, Anna Shvets The fact that women’s bodies go in and out of ‘fashion’ has always been highly disturbing to me, as well as the lengths some go to achieve it. I feel sad about it.

#10

Image source: anon, Getty Images Why do people use tanning beds? Skin cancer is not pretty.

#11

Image source: ArtofAset, Italo Melo In my culture, I’m Indian, light skin. I always thought all skin colors are beautiful & dark skin is equally as beautiful as light skin.

#12

Image source: ohmaggie408_86, Free-Researcher8717 Eyebrow trends. Especially when people make trendy eyebrows permanent like over plucked 90s shape and they don't grow back, or tattoo ombre in the 2010s. Every decade they change it up but the decade is just stuck on someone's face.

#13

Image source: SpecialistAd1954, SpecialistAd1954 Overly whitened teeth. I find it really unappealing. I've merrily dated people with uneven or yellowing teeth, and as long as their oral hygiene is good it's fine. Over whitened teeth makes me think about cavity pain idk why.

#14

Image source: harmonyxox, Olga Guryanova Breast implants (and I say this as someone who had them).

#15

Image source: the-skintessa, OPJesseVeronie The new beauty standard that's emerging where everybody looks the same- is disturbing and does not make sense to me. cactuar44: I really miss big and unique noses :(

#16

Image source: GreenMountain85, Anita Jankovic I don’t know if this counts but- wrinkles. I like them. I feel like they give your face life and character.

#17

The bleach blonde with grown out roots look always leaves me feeling extremely confused. To me, it gives the impression that you fully committed to a color, and then completely forgot that that was what you were doing for the last couple of months. I feel like this has been puzzling me for over a decade now. Image source: gooseberrypineapple

#18

Putting on your foundation with a literal paint brush. I get there’s been massive strides in formulations but I see people put in layer after layer of concealers and foundations and I just can’t imagine having all that product just sitting on my face all day. Do these people not itch their nose? Rest a hand on their chin? How does this makeup look after a full day? It just seems like…… too much. Image source: whereverilaymyphone

#19

Eyelid surgery in Asian countries, your eyes are very pretty. Skin bleaching, your skin looks beautiful, sunny and rich. Straightening Afro or curly hair, the big curly hair is literally to die for I love it. Irish girls giving themselves skin cancer on tanning beds to not be pale, your dark hair and Irish skin are so striking. Nose jobs, everyone’s noses are so cute before. Any surgery or alteration to colouring etc is just wild to me. Also anti-aging, wrinkles are beautiful, and greying hair im excited to have grey hair it’s so cool, natural hair dye. Image source: Maplecottontail

#20

Image source: Sakurah0, DR00NKR47 When people over line their lips and cover their Cupid’s bow. Pap3r_Butt3rfly: Yessss!!!!! The only people who I've ever seen look good when they cover their cupid's bow are legit the people who didn't have one/it was barely there to start with. Otherwise, the dip in your lips makes it look so bad!!!

#21

Image source: gizmob27, Kaboompics That having any visible body hair makes you “dirty”.

#22

Image source: Franklyn_Gage, Andres Ayrton Any trend that makes the body a fad. Everyone has a different body type, composition, weight etc. To imagine that you can diet your way into having a Kim Kardashian figure without surgery is unrealistic and its dangerous. She doesnt even have that figure without surgery. All you have to do is eat better and be more active and dress for your body type. Also Veneers. It doesn't look natural to have bright white 8x10 teeth. You can 1000% tell when its not natural.

#23

Image source: ResponsibilityAny358, Getty Images Extreme thinness, is a health risk and the person ends up looking sick and mind you, I'm not talking about naturally thin women but rather those who clearly have ED.

#24

Looking bored, dead eyes, never smiling in photos. I’m so over that look. Image source: anon

#25

Image source: anon, Gelmis Bartulis Thigh gaps - people’s hips are all different widths.

#26

Tattooed eyebrows ?. Image source: shakilashakila4

#27

Image source: Successful_Name8503, Alena Darmel I find my fiance, the father of my two beautiful children, INCREDIBLY attractive. Every day. Regardless of how much or little sleep he's had. He's gorgeous. I sometimes weird him out by how much I stare at him with ? love-heart eyes. He's never worn makeup in his life. If I don't wear it, I feel like I look like a literal man, and not an attractive one. I get that it's very much subjective to a point, but I do blame "society" for instilling this (incorrect, I know) idea that a woman's face isn't complete or attractive without it having been augmented in SOME way, even if it's just a dash of mascara.

#28

BBL's I know it wasn't always typical and it seems to be dying out slowly, but it is just ridicilous! I get wanting to have a bigger a*s, I do too, but I workout for it so that the rest of my body matches. Some BBL's out there look scary bad and I just don't understand why someone would do that to themselves. Image source: flamingopickle

#29

Image source: slytherins, Sam-is-Anxious Getting rid of hooded eyes for purely aesthetic reasons. They are so normal, and there are countless female celebrities with hooded eyes who are ubiquitously considered gorgeous.

#30

That blondes are prettier. Image source: Ok-Double-7982

#31

The obsession with anti aging, thigh gaps, buccal fat, body hair, jawlines, noses, and pale skin. Image source: lunar_vesuvius_

#32

Image source: Annual-Duck5818, Sayan Majhi Eleven-year-olds that think they “need” retinol. I’m not talking about kids with acne who are miserable, I’m talking about kids buying harsh actives with their mom’s credit cards because they saw them on TikTok. I can see playing with makeup or a fun mud mask - we definitely did that in the nineties - but these absolutely lovely girls are going to ruin their skin, not to mention the Sephora experience for the rest of us. Madison (and Madison’s mom…) please stop buying Drunk Elephant, Glow Recipe, and that awful red treatment from the Ordinary….

#33

The online asian trend of glass skin and hair that, for some reason, influencers are trying so hard to achieve. If you don't have good lighting and filters following you around, you will look greasy. It's obvious this trend was meant to only look good on camera. I've seen it in person a good handful of time, and it has never looked good. Image source: karenthe7th

#34

Image source: Waste-Snow670, K8 Hair extensions. They are so disgusting to me and also usually sourced in very questionable ways.

#35

Purposely removing buccal fat, like why? Image source: Dance_Medicine976