More Than A Trend: The Obsession With Glowing Skin

Is our love for flawless, glowing skin making us overlook real skin positivity?

- KONIKA DATTA

Last year, supermodel and Rhode founder Hailey Bieber gave us what could easily be touted as one of the biggest beauty trends in recent times: Glazed donut skin. With time, more such iterations of the OG glass skin trend popped up all over the internet – some examples would be dolphin skin, dewy dumpling skin, and mirror skin. But if we notice, the beauty industry’s current boom of glowing skincare trends seem to feature skin that not only has an otherworldly glow, but is also free from any acne, blemishes, facial hair, visible pores, textures, small bumps, and other extremely normal aspects.

Is it truly possible to achieve such flawless, glowing skin, or are we promoting an unattainable beauty ideal, dispelling all the progress we have made with skin positivity and skin neutrality over the years?

What To (Not) Expect

“As a dermatologist, when I refer to glowing skin, it means skin that looks and feels healthiest,” says Dr Anjali Mahto, dermatologist and author of The Skincare Bible. “However, there’s now a tendency to link it with perfect skin. Sadly, perfect skin doesn’t exist.”