One of Daalmans’ master’s students, Ela van Duffelen, worked at a national beauty chain and was frequently asked by mothers to explain to their 12-year-old daughters that certain day creams are harmful to young skin. Daalmans explains: 'Ela had to tell these young girls that such creams are not intended for skin at such a young age and can even cause considerable damage. These girls had seen influencers demonstrate products on social media and wanted to try them themselves.' These experiences, together with growing media attention from dermatologists concerned about this content, led van Duffelen to choose this topic for her graduation research, which was supervised by Daalmans.
Homogenised face
It has long been known that young girls are confronted with images of the ideal body on social media. 'What is relatively new,' says Daalmans, 'is that current videos show how a ‘perfect’ face can supposedly be created.' This, too, creates unattainable expectations. 'The girls in our study are aware that they cannot achieve this ideal, but they still desire it.' While the girls stated that videos featuring perfect faces did not make them feel insecure, they did fear that other peers might feel that way.
For the study, the researchers interviewed sixteen girls aged between 13 and 19 about the content they encounter online and their thoughts when viewing beauty videos. 'We found that even when girls are not actively searching for such content, they are still exposed to facial beauty videos—particularly via TikTok. They unknowingly end up in a beauty-focused algorithm.' Once exposed, the girls generally appreciated the videos. 'They enjoyed watching them, describing them as beautiful, interesting, and sometimes simply entertaining.'
To help
The girls’ evaluations of the videos were divided. A large proportion believed that the creators made the videos primarily to help viewers. At the same time, they recognised that the expectations portrayed were unattainable and did not believe they could ever look like the creators. They also thought that other girls might become insecure and feel compelled to imitate the influencers. Additionally, after watching the videos, the girls reported feeling more inclined to purchase certain products and try out beauty routines.
Daalmans concludes: 'All in all, I find this quite worrying - both as a researcher and as a mother. The beauty algorithm is so omnipresent that it is almost impossible to escape, and the image of the perfect face is extremely homogeneous. All the creators look the same, without a scratch or blemish - completely unattainable. Girls cannot avoid this content and feel pressured to strive for the same perfect face they see in these videos, even though the standard being presented is entirely unrealistic.'