For centuries the standards of beauty have been evolving. With every era come new mindsets and ideals on what beauty is. Throughout history we have seen trend on trend on trend, ranging from one dramatic end to another. Just when you achieve the perfect, full hourglass figure, society slides into your DMs to let you know that having a voluptuous figure is out, and starving yourself just so you can see your rib cage and hip bones is in.

Why do we feel the need to succumb to society's ideals if they’re just going to change in five minutes? Why do we go out and make it rain dollar bills at the salon every other week? Where does this desire to conform stem from? These are the questions I ask myself on the daily as I sadly pick eating oatmeal over a dozen donuts. The answer is kind of simple -- we want acceptance. It doesn’t have to be acceptance from the entire world, but in some form or another every person does what they do in order to gain approval.

I know there are people out and about reading this and thinking, “I do it for me,” or, “I don’t do blah-blah-blah for approval,” but if that was true, then you wouldn’t post about your gym progress or how on fleek your makeup is. It’s an intrinsic biological factor going down in our conscience. It is completely and 100 percent A-OK to show off what you’ve got going on, but what it boils down to is beauty standards have always been placed to achieve acceptance.

Let me tell you what, home girls were not cutting off their air supply by using binding corsets in the 16^th century for shits and giggles. We share selfies on Instagram and Facebook to obtain likes because it feels good to know that the efforts we made are applauded, it’s cool! Just know that social media is a powerful force and it’s easy to get lost in the sauce and get caught up with some unrealistic images.

People filter and Photoshop their pictures like there is no tomorrow, and it’s crucial to understand that what you see on social media is not a genuine depiction of real life. Before you swear off carbs and sugars because some Insta-famous account posts pictures of seemingly flawless, gorgeous people, just know that there are apps that made that happen. You can eat Girl Scout cookies and still look cute is what I’m trying to get at here.

Having standards is normal, and having a certain trend that everyone and their grandmothers want to get in on is normal. It’s when people start to venture into unhealthy habits that you know something is wrong. For example, the Kylie Jenner lip challenge. If you don’t know Kylie Jenner or her lips, just know that they’re incredibly full (I’m still unsure if she uses enhancers or if her makeup artists are just cosmetically blessed).

People of both genders and of a variety of ages were taking a shot glass, inserting their lips into said shot glass, and sucking until their lips reach unnatural plumpness. You would think placing an incredibly fragile and potentially dangerous item right on your face is a blatant no-no, but thousands of people took up this challenge. Needless to say, thousands of people wound up with swollen, black-and-blue, and sometimes very bloody lips. I’m not saying that our generation lacks common sense, but I mean, come on guys can we please just start hitting up our brains when it comes to these decisions?

Of course, there have been some other questionable beauty trends -- injecting cement into one’s body to promote firmness, skin bleaching regiments, and contacts that supposedly make your eyes bigger. Never jeopardize your health for the sake of keeping up with the latest trends. I guarantee that there are always natural, and healthier, alternatives to going about achieving the look you desire.

So what is the beauty standard for 2016? There really isn’t a defining trend, because people have developed such individualistic mentalities over the years. In my own opinion, I would have to acknowledge that bold, “on fleek” eyebrows are popular, as well as sharp, clean, winged eyeliner. But you know, who knows anymore. In two days bleached eyebrows can be the new must-have look and women might forgo makeup altogether, or somehow rainbow-colored skin tones are going to be all the rage, but that’s just the world we live in. If there is one thing to take away from this article, it’s that beauty comes from inside -- super cliché, my bad, but it’s true.

No matter your size, shape, hair color, race, etc., as long as you treat others with respect and you have confidence in yourself, no beauty product will ever compare to what you possess in your soul. Referring back to the acceptance I spoke about previously, it starts with you as an individual accepting yourself. As long as you’re comfortable with who you are and how you look, that’s all that truly matters -- your opinion is the only relevant opinion is relation to your body. Don’t let beauty standards create a mold into which you feel compelled to morph to fit. Stay true to yourself and own everything that you bring to the table -- whether it be aspiring to look like the fourth Kardashian sister or dyeing your hair a different color every week. Standards do not define you, nor should they influence you.