The internet is a lie. The sooner you realize that, the happier you’ll be.
The image of themselves that people present online is a carefully curated and idealized one and often benefits from airbrushing, Photoshop, and other digital trickery, to say nothing of more old-fashioned tactics like makeup and lighting. In order for us mortals to preserve our self-esteem it’s important to remember that, under all those layers of makeup and Photoshop, those Insta gods and goddesses are normal(ish) people, with normal(ish) faces and bodies.
Luckily a gadfly Instagram account called @Beauty.False exists to expose the level of digital subterfuge required to make influencers and celebrities look like aliens from Planet Goodlooking. Some of these effects are less of a glow-up than a total remodel.