This clean girl trend has turned out to be more than just a fad with 86.1k posts tagged on Instagram, fanbase of which is only growing as we speak. It gained momentum with Hailey Bieber and Bella & Gigi Hadid’s off-duty model looks and their much popularized #CleanGirlBun and #CleanGirlSkin. It’s turning out to be more of a lifestyle than just a passing trend, veracity of which cannot be guaranteed in this digital age where lines are gradually blurring with what’s real and what’s not. While you may want to inculcate a part of it or make a full-fledged routine out of it, it’s worth knowing what exactly is this #CleanGirlAesthetic
What is The Clean Girl Aesthetic?
How you smell makes or breaks your vibe. A clean girl’s scent is feminine and fresh. You want to choose a fragrance that is not too overpowering, but something so effortless and natural that would make heads turn. You want to have a minimal, glowy base, with flushed cheeks for a sunkissed glow. Your makeup should look as skin-like as possible, and when that is achieved, top your lips up with the glossiest glosses and lip oils you have at your disposal.
Now, on your nails, Hailey bieber’s glazed donut nails are the trend you want to be following in 2023; no matter whether it is for the clean girl in you or for the girly girl in you. The keywords are french nails, lip gloss nails, a perfect minimal mani, whatever that means for you. When it comes to your hair, you don’t want a single strand of hair out of place. Think perfectly slicked back buns, ponytails and braids in their shiniest and straightest self.
You can’t do a “clean girl” without a perfect outfit. Your clothes should be stylish but understated. They should give off an effortless, off-duty model vibe. Instagram influencers who have been using #thatgirlaesthetic on their lifestyle photos have taken the trend up a notch by inculcating it in their lifestyle, from waking up early, drinking matcha, iced coffees and green smoothies, journaling, doing yoga, meditating, making pretty breakfast bowls, and most importantly having a killer skincare routine.
Why the Clean Girl Aesthetic is questionable
You might like a lot of what an average Clean Girl portrays and you might as well pick some of these tips to follow in your real life. But let’s get real now, shall we? This emerging trend is more problematic than it is pretty and awe-worthy. According to many users online, the clean girl trend sways one to go out of their ways to overperform femininity. In reality, each of us have our own bunch of problems and hence, achieving flawless skin with minimal products is kind of a task, let alone living a life in today’s world as organized as it seems on the clean girls’ grids. It counteracts the very core of everything looking “effortless”.
Is it actually effortless, or just pretend- effortless? Something to think about!
While conforming to all of these so called standards of beauty, you need to appear as if the effort to do so took you ironically no time at all. The clean girl aesthetic is also more white-girl friendly; in fact only a few colored women have taken up on this trend, when in fact the idea of slicked back oiled hair originated way back by black women and they were shamed for being “dirty”. The clean girl aesthetic is setting dangerous examples of class, body image, money, age and culture, feeding, rather unhealthily, to youngsters how beauty should look like. Above all, this idea is unattainable for most people with a job or a child to look after.
The clean girl aesthetic may look harmless at the first glance, but at a slightly deeper look at it, we know it’s only worsening the conditioning of the generations to come, influencing them to have more set standards of what’s beautiful and acceptable, and what’s not.
