A THIN LINE BETWEEN ART & AILMENT

With the rise of unconventional beauty trends this year, has the line between celebrating insecurities and glamorising the aesthetic of illness blurred?

- KONIKA DATTA

The 'It' girl of 2023 is defined as someone who has super thin eyebrows, pale complexion, drawn dark circles, hollow sunken cheeks, and an enigmatic, semi-bored gaze - an aesthetic that seems to take a complete departure from the popular 'clean girl' look. American models Amelia Grey and Gabbriette Bechtel are said to be spearheading this trend, while Bella Hadid is also seen dabbling in what is also called 'ghoul girl beauty' from time to time. Nevertheless, it was Angelina Jolie from the 90s who first popularised the aesthetic in pop culture, which later faced major backlash for glorifying an appearance associated with illness and drug addiction.

The reign of this current aesthetic is, in fact, evident in the type of beauty trends gaining popularity in recent times, such as tired eyes, bleached eyebrows, intentionally created undereye bags and buccal fat removal. The Internet, however, is torn between polarising opinions. For some, these trends are finally letting them embrace their existing insecurities, like dark circles and sunken eyes. For others, it's nothing but a pseudo-rebellion against conventional beauty standards and popularisation of an aesthetic that has its roots in the controversial 'heroin chic' era.

A Sickness-Encoded History