Poor self esteem has a horrible way of making some folks feel like they should just give up forever, that the way they are now is permanent and change, if even possible, is meaningless. So sometimes it can be useful to see real life cases of people who endured the slow, incremental improvements until they actually achieved some impressive changes.
The “Pros/Cons of hating me” trend on TikTok is dedicated to people showing glow-ups and wholesome before and after pictures. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote the most impressive ones and be sure to share your own thoughts and experiences in the comments section down below.
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Image credits: jackedgabe
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Image credits: graceyisaverage
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Image credits: glizzychuzzmomma
There's something irresistibly satisfying to see a pleasant "before and after." It's someone's glow-up, a renovated home, or even a de-cluttered messy closet, these transformations dominate social media feeds for a reason. They tap into some fundamental human impulses, about betterment, possibility, and the thrill of visible change, that cause us to click, swipe, and scroll for more.
At its heart, glow-up and before-and-after posts present a "two-frame story". The "before" primes us: it introduces us to the beginning, usually mundane, disheveled, or rough around the edges.
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Image credits: noahryan46
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Image credits: miajaye_2222
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Image credits: bellanezzzz
The "after" provides the payoff: the refined, better, or upgraded version. It's storytelling in its most condensed form, problem and solution, adversity and victory, without needing words. Our minds adore this trajectory. It's the same story structure that we find in myths, movies, and fairy tales, but distilled into something that we can swallow in two seconds.
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Image credits: maddoxambrosini
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Image credits: michaelaotts
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Image credits: asia.hoxhaj
Glow-up content also satisfies our fascination with "potential". Seeing someone transform overnight tells us about the possibility of things, and people, being otherwise. That someone unpoised and overlooked can be transformed into someone dazzling. That a decrepit kitchen could become a fantasy room. These transformations give hope to the audience: "If they could do it, maybe I can too." Even if we never go on the same path, it is possible for someone else to raise an itch for individual transformation and growth.
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Image credits: aidennhull
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Image credits: swolpapi
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Image credits: avaheppner
There is also a strong dose of "visual gratification" that happens. Humans are wired neurologically to notice contrast, and side-by-side before-and-after photos give a startling comparison that highlights disparities. The glow-up is an exhibition of beauty, health, or confidence in a way the "before" makes even more dramatic. The more messy the starting point, the more powerful the reveal. It's like being offered a magic trick, but one we know was a product of time, effort, or imagination.
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Image credits: rosiegraham_
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Image credits: _noratheexplora._
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Image credits: presleymerritt
Psychologically, these transformations also make us feel a sense of "control and order". The "before" feels unfinished or in disorder, while the "after" feels like it's all together and in order. In a chaotic world, it is reassuring to see chaos neatly organize itself into something beautiful. Even if our own lives are chaotic, a scroll through glow-up content offers an immediate illusion that things "can" be organized, be improved, and neatened up with a bow.
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Image credits: ggtalb
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Image credits: mhazziqj
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Image credits: user3518629490
There's also a "social dimension". Glow-up posts reflect resilience, discipline, or creativity. It's not just about looking better, it's about showing the work put into it, whether that is visiting the gym, applying makeup, or studying design. When an individual shares their transformation, it's both aspirational and relatable: aspirational because we wish to be like the outcome, relatable because we know starting from a "before." This contrast helps in creating connection and interaction online.
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Image credits: rgrac3414
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Image credits: ccallaaaa
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Image credits: donkafit
For others, there's also a splash of "self-reflection". When we see someone else's glow-up, it gets us thinking about our own: What would "my" before-and-after saga look like? Could I achieve the same if I invested the time, money, or effort? That internal comparison can motivate us, even if at times it brings up a poodle of envy.
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Image credits: gymguychronicles01
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Image credits: lifeaszeph
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Image credits: lcopperwheat
Interestingly, glow-ups are not necessarily about vanity. They are about growth. A "before" picture can stand in for insecurity, struggle, or stagnation, while the "after" stands in for confidence, resilience, or liberation. By doing so, glow-up material is a reaction to something in all of us: the desire to develop into the better version of ourselves.
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Image credits: conomycookie
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Image credits: joaopinto__
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Image credits: kirbstomp05
Short, glowing, and spectacular before-and-after content is thus so popular because it delivers a neat bite of story, contrast, and motivation. It tells us what can be done, reminds us that it is possible to change, and assuages our appetite for tidy, visual accounts of transformation. Amidst the modern mess, here is refreshing evidence that things can indeed get better if you work at them.
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Image credits: maja.mio
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Image credits: matthillfit
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Image credits: niickniick10
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Image credits: collby.crisp
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Image credits: secretlifeofrory
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Image credits: mayvampp
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Image credits: oscargarcia21
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Image credits: kmcc243
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Image credits: iluvlexxx9
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Image credits: klaryna_zimmer
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Image credits: lake_walton
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Image credits: miketantillo
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Image credits: isabella.milne
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Image credits: skylifts18
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Image credits: drina..lynn
