Skin vs Filters

When you see photos of women and men online, pretty much everyone is using filters to look perfect. But in real life, that’s just not what they actually look like.

Because of this, so many people end up feeling totally down about their skin, even though they look completely fine in person. The link between your mind and your skin is so real. People get obsessed with how they look, staring at filtered photos or old pictures, trying to live up to something that isn't real. Then they look in a normal mirror, get super anxious, and that exact stress just makes their skin flare up with more breakouts and inflammation.

When someone walks into a salon feeling like this, you have to be totally honest with them but also really kind. We have to remind people that skin is alive, not a flat piece of glass. It needs pores, it moves, and it has bumps. The goal needs to stop being about looking perfect and start being about just having healthy, hydrated skin.

I really want to know what other therapists think about this. How do you handle it when someone comes into your salon totally depressed because they don't look like their filtered photos? What do you say to help them see reality without making them feel bad?