“I’ll Never Feel Pretty Again”: 55 People Share Their Honest And Real Glow-Downs

Apart from creating connections, a large part of social media is about gaining validation. It’s why you will likely see a flood of “glow-up” posts on your timelines where people proudly showcase their caterpillar-to-butterfly transformations.

But in recent years, the exact opposite trend has emerged: glow-downs. Instead, people are now showing how they’ve “declined” physically over the years. These people from TikTok took part and shared past photos from when they felt they were in their prime physical self.

If you’re learning about glow-downs for the first time, scrolling through these photos may help you understand why they became such a hit.

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The “glow-down” trend began in April 2020 when TikTok user Gabrielle McDonald issued a challenge. She admits to having physically peaked at 18 in high school, and she wanted others to share photos of when they were at their “hottest” and compare them to their current self.

Her video racked up more than 150,000 engagements and mixed reactions from commenters. Some felt the challenge fit them perfectly, while others didn’t appreciate the “negativity.”

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While McDonald’s challenge was likely out of curiosity and to defy the social media status quo, it quickly became viral. Many people, mostly women, shared past and present photos of themselves.

A lot of them were comparisons from when they were in their teens, while some were photos after giving birth and going through different stages of life.

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On the surface, the glow-down challenge may signify a negative transformation. In fact, it is a way of showing the reality of daily life, without the makeup and filters.

Naturopathic physician Dr. Heidi Lescanec compares it to cooking videos with neatly prepped ingredients, hiding the chaos behind the scenes.

“The truth? A truly delicious meal, like personal growth, emerges from the disarray: trial and error, adjustments, a pinch of salt here, a squeeze of lemon there, until you taste it and say, Wow, now that’s it,” she wrote.

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Experts recognize that the glowing-up trend does more harm than good. But for social psychologist Dara Greenwood, media portrayals and Hollywood are to blame for glorifying unattainable beauty standards.

“As long as A-list celebrities and social media influencers who attempt to critique the beauty myth don’t actually disengage from it themselves, young girls and women, and indeed boys and men, will not get the message,” Greenwood wrote.

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Now, we’d like to hear from you. What do you think about the glow-down trend? Does it help encourage people to be proud of their natural selves despite the “decline” with age? Or does it carry a negative message? Share your thoughts in the comments!