Great article, thank you for saving it from the trash heap of the unarchived internet!
This article also makes me think about how photo filtering has permanently altered how we think about skin texture. So many filters remove any hint of skin texture, reducing a person's face to a single homogenous tone. As response to this ubiquity of photo filtering, there are social media accounts that will post unaltered photos of celebrities where it is possible to view famous faces with their true skin texture, maybe for the first time. I used to follow one such account, and the effect was often one of normalizing, even humanizing, these famous faces. Look, Margot Robbie has pores! But many of the comments on these accounts seem to suggest that the act of publishing these unaltered photos is insulting to the celebrity. That people who run accounts publishing unaltered photos are somehow being mean or cruel. We have gotten to the point that even acknowledging online that everyone has textured skin is taboo. Thus I do not find it surprising this push towards wanting glass skin. We are constantly being told online that such skin not just exists, but is everywhere, so why not you?
I spent decades of my life on set making sure actors did NOT look like glass donuts, so I have always sideways glanced at this trend with somewhat of a smirk and a large dose of confusion. Thanks for rescuing this post from the past, I think it’s timely!
Glass skin reminds me of the trend of shaving the peach fuzz off of one’s face, particularly cheeks, which I’ve always found really strange and off-putting. I like my translucent peach fuzz (though I do still pluck stray coarse hairs); if we’re talking aesthetics, it’s a natural blurring filter, and of course those hairs have the same function as the dead skin mentioned in this essay, to provide moisturize and protect the skin cells below. What kind of skin is shiny and smooth? Scar tissue.
Great article, thank you for saving it from the trash heap of the unarchived internet!
This article also makes me think about how photo filtering has permanently altered how we think about skin texture. So many filters remove any hint of skin texture, reducing a person's face to a single homogenous tone. As response to this ubiquity of photo filtering, there are social media accounts that will post unaltered photos of celebrities where it is possible to view famous faces with their true skin texture, maybe for the first time. I used to follow one such account, and the effect was often one of normalizing, even humanizing, these famous faces. Look, Margot Robbie has pores! But many of the comments on these accounts seem to suggest that the act of publishing these unaltered photos is insulting to the celebrity. That people who run accounts publishing unaltered photos are somehow being mean or cruel. We have gotten to the point that even acknowledging online that everyone has textured skin is taboo. Thus I do not find it surprising this push towards wanting glass skin. We are constantly being told online that such skin not just exists, but is everywhere, so why not you?
If I were going to be glass, I’d want to be Murano blown glass with a million colors, or a Tiffany lamp, or a kaleidoscope…
Bless you, Jessica, for your writing and content that continuously rings true to my human heart, skin, and body, and that also makes me laugh so much!
I spent decades of my life on set making sure actors did NOT look like glass donuts, so I have always sideways glanced at this trend with somewhat of a smirk and a large dose of confusion. Thanks for rescuing this post from the past, I think it’s timely!
Excellent as always ❤️❤️❤️
Glass skin reminds me of the trend of shaving the peach fuzz off of one’s face, particularly cheeks, which I’ve always found really strange and off-putting. I like my translucent peach fuzz (though I do still pluck stray coarse hairs); if we’re talking aesthetics, it’s a natural blurring filter, and of course those hairs have the same function as the dead skin mentioned in this essay, to provide moisturize and protect the skin cells below. What kind of skin is shiny and smooth? Scar tissue.
Ok glasslike, poreless or in my mom's time " so & so has such beautiful porcelain skin. I like it.