Gone Glow

To most, the crux of self-improvement lies in a drastic makeover montage, but is the desire to better oneself as innocuous as it appears? Vogue Singapore examines the growing phenomenon that is the glow down; a movement trumpeting the purposeful diminishing of conventional attractiveness.

- EMILY HENG

A perfunctory skim of beauty YouTube says it all: a revolution is underway. Amid a gaggle of skincare hauls, make-up tutorials and product reviews emerges a new genre—the glow down. Summed up as a deliberate regression to one’s natural, unenhanced state, its focus lies in subverting the need to constantly upgrade one’s physical appearance.

‘Reversing my glow up transformations’, one video title reads. ‘No lash extensions, removing my veneers and dissolving my fillers’, another states. Then there are the videos that are more pointed in nature, hinting at the insidious nature of jaw-dropping physical transformations. ‘How glowing up ruined my life’ is the subject of Internet personality Alivia D’Andrea’s now-viral minidocumentary, garnering 5.3 million views and 23,000 comments since it was posted six months ago.

The apex of the 25-minute chronicle features D’Andrea lying in a foetal position on her rug, head buried in her hands. She details her struggle with maintaining her newfound appearance. “It was easy to be kind to myself when I was at my ideal standard,” she rasps. “But as soon as I wasn’t, it would trigger negative thoughts and I’d start to shame myself.” The next scene is of D’Andrea staring blankly at a mirror, hair pulled back and barefaced. “Okay,” she says. “Let’s try to say something nice about yourself.” The lengthy silence that follows speaks volumes.

Before and after