Scrolling through the millions of images of immaculate makeup on Instagram, it's very easy to lose sight of what's real. Thanks to apps like FaceTune, BeautyPlus and Photoshop to name but a few, erasing breakouts, fine lines and pores from pictures before posting them onto the grid has become second nature for a lot of makeup artists and beauty brands.
But Urban Decay is embracing 'real' skin and it isn't going unnoticed by their 9.8million followers. Recently, the brand has made it their mission to showcase the work of makeup artists who haven't edited their pictures to perfection, instead, showing off their pores, wrinkles, moles, spots and peach fuzz, because no, these things aren't imperfections - this is what skin actually looks like.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Famous for her bold beauty looks and pictures where her pores and stray brow hairs haven't been erased into oblivion, self-taught Instagram makeup artist Meg, AKA @glowawaymeg, was one of the first to make it onto Urban Decay's page, having fashioned a striking eye makeup look with their new Born To Run Eyeshadow Palette, £39.50 - and it wasn't long before Urban Decay's followers took to the comments section to praise them for choosing to feature her picture over something so edited.
"I love it when makeup companies show skin unedited", wrote one Instagram user. Another said, "LOVEEEEE TO SEE PORES & makeup look is beautiful", while another wrote in agreement, "It’s refreshing! And a good reminder of what skin should look like. It looks healthy and REAL!"
Known for embracing her freckles, makeup artist and beauty brand founder Linda Hallberg has also popped up on Urban Decay's Instagram page, and the comments are just as encouraging.
"Urban, I feel like you’ve really been listening to your commenters and started showing us REAL artists again, not over filtered, Photoshopped nonsense. Super inspiring to showcase real talent! Love the diversity and humanity," wrote one. Another simply said, "I just love the bare skin".
Refreshingly, Urban Decay aren't the only beauty brand moving away from unattainable beauty standards and making a case for real skin, as beauty giant L'Oreal Makeup has also recently been applauded for featuring an unedited model in one of their Instagram ad campaigns.