Lately, I have been seeing more photos, videos and blogs about “body contouring” than ever. I’ve read things like, “Why pay for plastic surgery when you can contour!” and “It's socially acceptable if you actually manage to get a streak-free finish.” Like, wait, for what? I know bodies may look like a piece of art, but I didn’t think people actually took that literally and started to paint on theirs. The saddest thing I read was, “This will help you create a body no work out can sculpt.” What kind of message are we sending to women, even men? That we now need to draw on our perfect body and forget about actually working for it?
Don’t get me wrong, though, I love make-up and everything about it. I will be the first one to say what brand my fake lashes are and I will be the first one in line when Ulta is having a sale. But that is because I think it’s fun. I am not trying to reshape my face or fool anyone into thinking I am perfect because no one is perfect. It a fun expression of myself when I get to put on my makeup and feel amazing and beautiful. There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting on a little something, but when I can wash your abs off with makeup remover, we have an issue.
Where did all this body contour stuff even come from? We have 14-year-old girls looking like they have double D boobs because they know how to apply make-up. I never thought the “Take your girl swimming on the first date” joke was funny, but now it just seems necessary! Girls are contouring their breasts, abs and even the back of their neck? Sometimes you have to fake it till you make it, but this is getting out of hand. If you are wearing an outfit where you feel the need to draw on abs, just don’t wear the outfit. Go to the gym and work for your abs; it’ll be a lot less expensive than your makeup palette and brushes.
Like I said, I love makeup and I am all about it, but this is sending a really weird message to people. Girls can’t even work for their perfect body anymore because now they need to know the skills of how to draw on their perfect body. And whether you’re trying to impress yourself, other girls or even guys, literally no one can even touch you. Your setting spray may be amazing, but the minute you get out of those clothes you just have a bunch of lines drawn on and that is not cute.
Maybe this is just a trend or maybe body contouring is here to stay. Are all of us girls going to be a generation of grandmothers drawing on their lips, abs and shaping our breasts by contour? Hopefully not, let's make this weird trend stop.
