Hey ladies, just a reminder: looking human is totally normal, okay?
Not long ago, I was hanging out with a few girlfriends in one of their living rooms. We were lounging on the couch, sipping tea, and covering everything from revisiting childhood traumas to breaking down the patriarchy. Then the conversation shifted to lighter stuff—like how hard it is to deal with the cold, but also the heating: “My skin is completely dried out!” one of them complained.
“I was just looking at this collagen-hyaluronic mask,” another pulled out her phone, “because my face feels so dehydrated!”
And that’s when things got wild
Needing a bit of extra hydration? Totally normal. Probably every woman over 30 has said that at least once, and honestly, winter calls for a little extra moisturizing for everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if almost every woman over 30 has muttered “I need a good face mask” at some point—usually after 10 p.m., cream in hand, with a little existential anxiety on the side.
But then things spiraled fast
Ten minutes later, we were deep into discussing why someone’s eyebrows just aren’t "right"—yes, those two little hairy arches above our eyes, meant to keep sweat out, but somehow in 2026 they’ve become an aesthetic and moral battleground. Because of that, we’re ready to pluck, redraw, shape, tattoo, or spend a small fortune on a tiny jar of cream promising thicker growth. Just so there’s something to pluck later.
Another friend admitted she really hates her cuticles. “Look!” she shoved her hand under my nose. “See how they are?” It was like the flaw was so obvious she didn’t even need to explain. And honestly, once I looked, I felt that same cringe wondering how anyone could live with those.
That’s when the real realization hit me: of course she thinks that, because I think the same about the pores on my nose—pores that probably no one else even notices, just like her cuticles. And probably neither of us actually has anything wrong. It’s just that magazine photos are so heavily retouched that none of these details are ever in focus, and we’ve bought into the idea that if we don’t see them there, they don’t exist—or if they do, something must be wrong.
Because the idea that some parts of our bodies just exist naturally—as humans—is apparently impossible.
Somewhere along the way, we accepted that an “okay” look means smooth, shiny, hydrated, firm, symmetrical, hairless, poreless, and ideally a little glowing. Like a photoshopped glam ad where the model, who actually has perfect genetics, is paid to eat well, work out, and treat herself with the latest skincare before professional makeup artists take over—yet even she doesn’t look like that, because no one does. What we see in pictures isn’t real, but if we don’t match it—well, we exist, so something must be wrong with us.
The problem is, this list never ends. Fix the dehydration, and pigment spots show up. No spots? Then dark circles. Remove those, and suddenly your lips are “not full enough.” If lips are full, then your hair is “too flat.” If hair’s good, then your skin is “too textured.” There’s always another detail to tweak, refine, or “optimize,” like you’re ticking off flaws in a never-ending Excel sheet of your body.
Meanwhile, we lose sight of the fact that these aren’t flaws—they’re signs. Signs that we’re alive. That our skin reacts to weather. That our hands work. That our faces express emotions, not just reflect light like a glossy magazine page.
So I just want to leave this thought here, in case it helps next time you look in the mirror: ladies, looking human is completely normal. You don’t have to look like the model on a magazine cover. Especially since even the model doesn’t look like that on the cover…
