The vanilla girl is supposedly effortless. Her skin is blemish-free and her makeup is blended seamlessly. But it’s important to remember that most of the images and videos we see are filtered in some way, through clever lighting, distance, or even retouching. Perhaps the vanilla girl doesn’t even look like her true self. Dr. Ana Mansouri, a cosmetic doctor and skin-care expert, recently told R29 that it’s helpful to look at images and videos with a critical eye, “mainly to protect your mental health,” she stressed, but also to prop up healthy beauty standards.
