14 DAY TRIAL // Em Ford is a makeup artist from London, one of the many who have taken up vlogging makeup tutorials for a living. Her latest video is also about makeup, but delivers a powerful message on how it leads to online bullying.
As of the time of writing, the video, called “You Look Disgusting,” has almost 1.4 million views in less than 2 days after it was posted. Once you see it, you will understand why.
With or without makeup
The idea behind the video is that women are damned if they do and damned if they don’t when it comes to makeup.
If they don’t use, they’re criticized for looking “gross” and being “ugly,” especially if they’re unlucky enough to suffer from adult acne, as Em does.
If they do use it, they can either expect warm praise that enforces their conviction that they shouldn’t step outside without their game face on, or they’re viciously attacked, which is yet another powerful hit at their already low self-esteem.
Em knows this first-hand, because for the past 3 months, she’s been posting plenty of photos of herself without makeup up, just to gauge the kind of reactions she’d get. She included some of the comments in the now-viral video, and honestly, some of them are beyond cruel.
You are beautiful no matter what others say
Em’s message is a positive one, despite the mean things some commenters told her.
She doesn’t want to tell women that they should do this or that when it comes to makeup, or that men and other women should react this or that way. She just wants to tell others like herself that they have to find beauty inside, independently of what others might say of them.
She’s also gunning for the idea that perfection is real and, as such, can be achieved. Open your eyes: it can’t.
“I wanted to create a film that showed how social media can set unrealistic expectations on both women and men. One challenge many face today, is that as a society, we're so used to seeing false images of perfection, and comparing ourselves to unrealistic beauty standards that It can be hard to remember the most important thing - You ARE beautiful,” she writes on her personal blog.
She seems to have found the confidence she lacked because of her skin problems, so maybe she will be able to reach others so they can too.
I wasted so many years of my life chasing perfection, and you know what I found? A hollow empty shell of myself when I looked in the mirror. ππππ Perfection isn't real, but progress is. Don't hunt perfection, for you'll never find it. π Focus on becoming the best version of you that you can be. ππππ I started my life all over again after nearly losing it 4 years ago. π If I can do it, so can you. Step by step, little by little... You may not see the changes now, but when you look back, you'll amaze yourself. ππ xxx A photo posted by Em Ford (@mypaleskinblog) on May 20, 2015 at 12:59pm PDT