photoshopped 'hotter' to asian beauty standards

[@hazell1304]

Ok but that first person being like "I don't feel comfortable editing your body shape" is an icon. Not useful for the experiment, but still an icon 😅

[@shouldbewritig]

I’m Chinese-American and I totally was expecting some skin lightening with the amount of colorism in society throughout the wide array of brown groups. I thought it looked like two of them made your skin darker which was very interetsting.

[@hannahk1306]

I was wondering what would happen if she asked an editor to darken her skin (with no other changes) and then send the darker skin tone pictures to other photo editors? Would they then lighten her skin more or leave it as is?

[@crossgame9479]

If she had sent photos to an Indian person they would have definitely made her skin lighter.

[@raapyna8544]

I think the Indian ideal might be caramel colour skin, not 'as light as possible'? Maybe her skin colour is already pretty close to that. But I know some Indian models' pictures get made lighter.

[@kittysunlover]

@@crossgame9479 I did kind of wonder how much the editor's own race / internal biases might have played a part in what they chose to do with skin tone. Just asking someone to google images of a beauty standard from a race or culture that is not ones own isn't going to automatically override internalized assumptions and biases. I wasn't particularly surprised by the skin darkening because I feel like it's a common thing amongst western/white beauty standards for "tanning" to be popular. (Like... be white, but darker? I guess?) There might also be some color theory thing I don't know enough about that makes it easier to smooth out skin towards the darker end of the skin's natural color palette vs the lighter end.

[@v1626]

@@raapyna8544 god, if only. The lighter you are, the better. There's a whole white woman that's a popular actress in Tamil movies because only fair women are pretty, apparently 😭

[@merlyncharlesnieto]

I actually much prefer the unedited version of the first edit. It just looks like you, and incredibly beautiful ❤️❤️❤️

[@Cascadeis]

Came here to say the exact same thing! Shaaba, you look soo beautiful in the unedited version. ❤

[@idic7067]

Agree! The edited version makes you look generic.

[@changelingchild4299]

The photoshopped ones are all very uncanny valley creepy. She looks gorgeous in the originals!

[@hellaSwankkyToo]

had to leave a comment saying exactly that. the edited photos just don’t…. look all the way natural, or human. Shaaba is objectively gorgeous + attractive as she is. it’s weird to see the edited ones.

[@DaniTheET]

Same here, the edits feel so uncanny to look at!

[@JokesInBase13]

It's usually not that difficult for most people to clock a retouch if they are specifically looking for it, but I think the danger of that is that when we're scrolling social media or magazines, we DON'T scrutinize photos in that way. We are self-conscious by nature (or rather nurture), so we immediately jump to comparing ourselves to the photo, without stopping to evaluate the photo itself.

[@GriffinStitches]

Yes, this! I agree that if you are LOOKING, you can probably tell where retouching has happened, but not in passing bombardment or scrolling.

[@Struudeli]

You can train your brain to consider this more. When you see a picture just stop for a moment, look at it and remind yourself. Slowly you will learn to just go past them thinking "it's not a real picture anyways, I don't need to feel any way about it" and then you don't even have to think that, you can just scroll past unless it's something that interests you for other reasons.

[@catbeara]

I think it's also impacted by the phenomenon that even if you know something is a lie, if it's repeated often enough you start to believe it a little bit. We may be able to spot the fake photos, but that doesn't stop the constant barrage of them from normalising certain beauty standards in our minds.

[@Roozyj]

Plus the fact that you usually see photos with make up and good light, but you see yourself also when you've just woken up and look in that one mirror with the terrible light that highlights all your pores and pimples xD

[@angiejohnson3656]

I prefer your original photos. Don't get me wrong, the edits were good, but you are such a beautiful lady, and you are such a positive role model for young teens, such as my daughter. As the saying goes "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." ❤

[@Whateverhasbeenmynameforyears]

Yeah I think her original photos would be just as pretty with some good color grading or toning.

[@RiverofDelta]

Also, I think that what the edits (at least the first two) lost, was the character of the picture, which actually gives it its life and makes it vibrant. The retouched versions, reminded me of posters for Disneay Channel, not real pictures.

[@shaaba]

you are BEYOND sweet 🥺💛 Thank you for sharing, I'll always do my best to reflect the positivity I want to see! Hope you and your daughter have a lovely weekend x

[@cuetherantics9572]

This made me realize how much I don't like photoshop in the context of detailed photos because I've grown to love the natural flaws and beauty marks of each human being.

[@missnaomi613]

This right here!

[@Struudeli]

The little "flaws" are what makes the person real. I often love the features of people that they don't like themself, because usually those are what are different about them and tells them apart from other people. I love a big nose, strange ears and a nice belly, birth marks and moles, scars, wild hair and all so to say ethnical features (like middle eastern noses! So pretty! African hair is amazing and native Americans have often such a beautiful face shape). I suffer from pretty bad face blindness so it's really hard for me to tell apart people I don't know and it can take me minutes to recognise someone even if I knew them once. Its what makes people so beautiful as exactly as they are. Beauty standards are boring. People who follow them look all the same. I love to have a wide variety of different looking people around me, it brings me joy to see all that distinctive, individual beauty.

[@edenstar196]

My heart actually dropped a bit when you said you look objectively unattractive in the first pic… you look so pretty in that picture :) like you wouldn’t look good edited either if you didn’t look good to begin with !

[@sleepy.timaeus.arts.]

my heart also dropped. i dont think it's very easy to say someone is "objectively" unattractive when everyone has their own biases, which is inherently *opinion*-based!

[@rebeccagiraffe225]

Shaaba thinks she looks like a disney princess in the changed version, but we all know she looks like a disney princess always

[@haveaballcrafting8686]

As an anglo person with very fine, thin, slow-growing hair I can say thick hair definitely is a western beauty standard. There has never once been a hairstyle aimed at me in any hair magazine I have read. I have been dismissed and insulted by so many hairdressers that I literally haven’t been to see one in 12 years. I just pull my hair to the front and trim it myself, roughly every second year. I get about half a teaspoon of snipped hairs. I can encircle my whole ponytail with my little finger. It’s pretty hard to “add volume” to get the “normal” look, I generally don’t bother. Tough luck to anyone who’s offended that I don’t “make the effort” to meet their expectations.

[@NicoleDelvilleBurke]

as a fine haired person, I 100% agree. sometimes I can make my hair look voluminous in photos but that's only because you can pull it forward and fluff it up and you don't see the fact there's none in the back lol. I try to feel better about it but it's hard.

[@bossyboots5000]

I agree and I think that's why hair extensions have become so popular - not just for length but for volume. And we have so many "volumizing" shampoos and styling products.

[@TheLadycaramell1995]

That may be an unusual thing, but I really like fine hair in people. It usually feels much nicer to the touch and reminds me of fairys. I have a beautiful friend with very fine hair, which fits her overall appearance so very well. Naturally thick hair looks good on people but naturally thin hair does look good, too. It has a more tender and fragile attractiveness but that doesn't make it less beautiful. I like fairyhair.

[@monty7131]

@@TheLadycaramell1995 That’s such a nice comment o///o💕

[@Elspm]

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a hard time with hair dressers, that's really not ok. It speaks to their lack of skill if they can't work with fine hair. I would agree, thick hair is a western beauty standard - but only worn the "right" way. Too much curl/too big, too "unkempt" is also deemed unacceptable.

[@amethystrocks6433]

What I realized is that I never want to have a photo of me retouched like that! Lol I have enough of a challenge thinking positively about how I look as it is. The fact that you, Shaaba, felt worse, is a bit shocking to me. I like the originals much better than the "idealized" pix. 🙂

[@SlothDaan]

I have a friend on snapchat who only uses filters. And I hate them because they don't make me look like me. But she loves them, because they don't make her look like her

[@Hiforest]

Yup, same- and I've been thinking I was going to before watching lol.

[@Amozon28]

"Im still feeling some kind of way about these photos, and im feeling some kind of way about feeling some kind if way" honestly my fave line in this whole video. Self love is such a long non linear journey, but honestly, getting to a point where you are aware about the feelings u feel being brought out. Bc then once u know those internal thought are still living in you you can finally address them and start unlearning them again

[@notquiteresplendent8617]

i also come from a mauritian family!! and colourism is such a huge thing. my mum was made fun of by her sisters growing up because she was significantly darker than them. and she told me once that she’s glad me and my brother are a lot lighter than her, which is really sad because she’s so beautiful the way she is

[@christinalinadingdong9566]

exactly!!! i’m very light skinned and we live in England compared to my mum

[@RCZeta919]

This is such a fascinating experiment, and you're so brave for taking this on! As an artist and an asexual, I'm so used to looking at humans just how they are and just accepting them, so it was really weird and uncanny to see someone I'm used to seeing unmodified in such a photoshopped way! I'm chubby and I am very accepting of my body and all my own "imperfections", but I do not think I have the guts to try an experiment like this.

[@shaaba]

there's so much love here in the comments section, I'm beyond grateful 🥺🍑✨

[@RandomPersonOnTheWeb]

I have to say I prefer the og photos to all the 3 edits you showed. Because the thing about "standard" beauty is that it takes no account to what makes an individual beautiful. In your case it's your smile and your personality that really shines through in the og photos, but in all the edits the smile looks fixed and the personality is just... gone. Really helps remind you that the pictures on magazines etc are unachievable by default, because they aren't "real", and not even the models themselves look like that!

[@snowflowerwork]

What you're describing at 8:12 is probably what a lot of models/celebrities feel like when they see themselves on magazine covers, etc.. Those pictures are always edited and it's a relief to remember that we are comparing ourselves to sth. that doesn't even exist in real life. 😅

[@raincloudrat6970]

its kinda refreshing to me to hear you mention nonbinary people in a way that's so casual and integrated into your sentences, because a lot of the time they are an afterthought. like "men, women, ... oh and also nonbinary people too I guess." It's just nice to be acknowledged in a way that's nice and not awkward.

[@athenasolives]

Beauty standards by culture are such a fascinating topic while also being sad to contemplate too much! Thank you for such a thoughtful exploration of the subject.

[@hannaverlie6747]

I know it probably just sounds like something one would say to be nice, but I just wanted to say that I genuinly think real you looks more beautiful. The edited ones are beautiful too, but I would prefer real you over them. Super interesting video!

[@lasphynge8001]

I grew up with both parents working in visual marketing, therefore I knew about photo editing very early on, and was able to do a convincing job on my pictures or those of friends ever since I was a teenager. So I tend to notice immediately if a picture is edited, they are EVERYWHERE, and... it gets boring because everything tends to look the same in the end (nothing wrong with the features deemed conventionally attractive themselves, I'm talking about the over representation and over glorification at the expense of more diverse types of beauty). To me, the curve of your nose (I've got kindof the same thing going on and hated it as a teen) is totally one of your most attractive features, like those lines under your eyes, as well as the roundness and plumpness... look, you just look like a delicious cupcake, don't change a thing!

[@bossyboots5000]

I'm with you on how BORING everyone looks bc they're trying to reach one ideal. It's the same skin filters, the same waist filters, the same exact hair style, the same makeup, the same poses. It's so uninspiring and dull.

[@leporid257]

I'll look at those magazines and sometimes it'll take me a whole minute to recognize the celebrity they edited to look like someone else.

[@bboops23]

To me, the most attractive people are the ones with a really distinctive look. Because of globalization and general easier access to shared media, everyone started doing the same stuff with their make up and hair. There are beauty trends that everyone starts to follow and I just get tired of everyone looking the same. But it's more than that. Most people get braces so everyone tends to have very straight teeth. So many people reject wearing glasses so we don't see a lot of people who embrace their eyewear and it's sad because some people just look better in glasses, myself included. I get tired of everyone looking exactly the same. I had a friend/former coworker who was so beautiful. She wasn't conventionally attractive, but that was a big part of why she was so beautiful. She was a woman of color and she had these stunning green eyes, a smattering of freckles, and she had a gap in her front teeth and this wide, infectious smile. She never thought she was ugly, but I remember her saying that none of the things that I thought were so pretty about her were things that made her attractive, they were just kinda there. But to me, it's the unique features that make someone so attractive. I try not to Photoshop my own pictures beyond minor touch ups because I'm definitely not the most attractive person, but I'm uniquely me and if I edited my pictures I wouldn't look like myself.

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

100% agree on how "same-y" the results of these globalized beauty standards & high degree of image manipulation seem. When I scroll through a page of various Instagram 'influencers', they all look to me like plastic dolls from the same product line?

[@nikkipackham2234]

Wow, the photos were a lot more subtle than I thought. I’m trans and I wonder what an idealised photo of me would look like? I feel it could be a slippery slope as we have enough issues and regrets but I do wonder if they would mirror my own mental image of myself.

[@jasper_onfire]

i love your videos!! my boyfriend introduced me to you and Jamie, and not only have you guys helped me accept myself as trans, but you’ve provided so many laughs and lessons along the way ♥️ you guys are awesome!!

[@OwLisDoodles]

as I have had an apprenticeship in graphic design and am currently finishing about my bachelor (plus working in this field for 10+ years) I do see more easily whenever people have edited their photos. And this extend is what my tachers called the "ironed skin" and "magazine cover" edits. I always love the before pictures more, as they feel more genuine and it's absolutely wonderful to see that others agree. It's very much terrifying how well filters have gotten and how much they get under the "skin" of anyone using Social Media, feeling like they are "not okay" or "wrong" the way they are. (I'm taking gender dysphoria out of the equation here, of course) There are ways to make beauty and skin edits less seen, but that also means there won't be actual physical changes. I love to see when people I have photographed wanted little editing (maybe a pimple or colour correcting to match the lighting and such) and felt comfy with the pictures I made ;W;

[@maxiescarlet]

I’m much older 64 and have found massive freedom in Not needing to be beautiful. I can still dress up but I am in no competition. I just enjoy. I love to see beautiful young people and have a much more diverse idea of beauty than I had when young!

[@ems4238]

I prefer the unedited photos of you you look stunning!! Strong!!! And real!!!! I’m saddened that you prefer the photoshopped but just know that there are others with other views!!! 🥰😍❤️

[@shaaba]

you're so sweet, thank you 🥺 appreciate you sharing, and definitely learning a new found appreciation for the originals 😊 x

[@PokhrajRoy.]

South Asian Beauty Standards? I have a thesis on this because it’s ridiculously complex.

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

Yeah. The colorism seems to be ubiquitous, but I feel like one could write completely separate theses on e.g. Indian beauty standards vs Korean ones, just to cite two examples that are very influential due to music & movie industries?

[@I2345-t9e]

You look more natural (not the "no-make up looks better" kind of natural, but more natural expression and posture etc.) and comfortable in the original, which I personally find more aesthetic.

[@melsie6718]

This video was soooo interesting!! You should try this with Jamie, reacting to edited couples photos. It'd be super interesting to see how the other person reacts to their partner's edits, whether they notice it as much, etc. I don't know if I'm just really bad with faces (I am) but I didn't notice the changes made THAT much. I would've definitely been one of the people that scrolled through Instagram and thoughts they were unedited (at least the first and third, the middle one was pretty obvious). Also as a sidenote, I absolutely LOVE the original version of that first photo, you look stunning!

[@scoutlaceharding]

I have to add my voice to the many saying they love the first photo, completely unedited. I feel like we sometimes prefer "perfected" photos of ourselves but unedited photos of others. We're more likely to be critical of tiny details of ourselves but others, especially those we love, we take in as a whole. Even if we think someone is attractive, I think we frequently aren't breaking them down into individual body parts the way we tend to when being critical of our own appearance. I also think that when you like or care about someone, you prefer the images of them that you're used to. In the first photo, it looks like Shaaba, and I really like her (and, of course, she is an attractive person, too), so I like the photo.. I don't know who the person in the edited photo is. Like she said, the Disney Princess version of Shaaba. I don't think the edited one is bad or anything but, subjectively, I just prefer the one that looks more like the Shaaba I know.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

5:28 Of course who can forget the dance recitals where one shade of foundation was used on everyone which made some people look like ghosts.

[@wegotthechoccies]

The photos that aren't unrealistically edited are always going to look better, but those photos also hold memories, and that's why they're so beautiful

[@merlyncharlesnieto]

With the second edit, I’d argue that the unedited picture is not the best reflection of how you look, because the lighting isn’t “flattering” whereas the lighting is on point in the edited one

[@francheesecake]

Something I noticed about myself is that when you read the list of edits, my mind started questioning immediately if I have like "chubby" hands, soulders, arms... It's like, even if I am a different person, I'm very sensitive to things pointed out as not that beautiful. In any context. My journey to self-esteem and self-love is long lol

[@andysartz]

The moment I read this video's title, I was OUTRAGED, I was like "How dare they?? Shaaba is already gorgeous!!" I thought someone had tried to bully you or something. Glad that wasn't the case at all, haha! I was ready to throw fists! That being said, this was a really interesting experiment. Quite bold of you to subject yourself to that, I can see that being a blow to anyone's self-esteem, no matter how much we love ourselves as we are. So thank you for doing that and for sharing it. And hope you know deep down that you're much more beautiful than any Photoshopped picture could ever be. Because you're real and you're YOU. ♥

[@PokhrajRoy.]

4:44 This feels like that one episode in ‘Ugly Betty’ where this character is stretched and pulled on Photoshop.

[@hello_its_jo9951]

This reminds me a lot of this AI photo challenge that everybody did on instagram a while ago. Can’t remember what the IA was called but you’d feed it photos of you and it would generate essentially cartoon images but some looked hella like edited photos. Apparently we all need to be thinner, taller and more square jawed. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@heatherduke7703]

The thing with unedited photos is that even they are not accurate representations of what you truly look like due to the way the lense distorts things (or lighting, body position, etc). Sometimes very small tweaks can actually capture someone's appearance better

[@llsilvertail561]

I'm not surprised that none of the photo editors did it, but colorism is definitely a big thing in South Asia. One of the major Indian beauty brands used to be called Fair & Lovely. Like, I'm currently visiting family in India and, despite this, I was somehow still shocked by how much importance people put on skin lightness. I'm not gonna give any specific examples from this visit (something, something, my aunt commenting on how dark her skin was even though she's just a little bit darker than I am and I've been told it's possible for me to pass as white, my cousin commenting about how she'd gotten tanner), but I will say when I was in high school I used to be in our marching band. This meant that, for about a month in the summer, I'd spend about 7-8 hours outside, under the sun, which meant my skin got significantly darker. At some point after I had tanned, I went to an event with a bunch of Indian people, and I remember at least two people remarking about me having gotten darker from the last time they'd seen me. No one outright *said* that made me less pretty or whatever, but you can tell lmao. Even my mom, who's much *much* better about things like this than a lot of other people who grew up in India, has (once or twice) been like, before an event or something, "oh you should use this thing. it'll make your skin look nicer." When I looked at what it was, while it wasn't bleach or anything, one of the uses was skin lightening. My dad has much darker skin than me, my mom, and my sister have, and he's commented before (once or twice) that he's glad me and my sister inherited my mom's skin tone rather than his. So yeah :/. I'm personally not bothered by the comments directed at me (especially cuz they're only occasional), but I wouldn't be surprised if that's mostly cuz my skin *is* lighter so I don't really have anything to be bothered by, and if I was darker skinned it might've been a much bigger issue for me. Although, clearly it's been a bigger issue than I thought considering I remembered all this lmao.

[@kj7067]

Knowing your face from your videos, I can definitely tell that there has been editing in all three pictures - and I honestly think you look a lot more beautiful in the original pictures. The edited versions just look sort of eerie, and it seems like the edits have removed all the real joy from your face, and thrown off its naturally lovely proportions.

[@giantschick21]

I appreciate how vulnerable Shabba is in this video. I would not have the courage to do this and I wish I did. More of this!

[@kiryanna]

This is really interesting. I agree that you look beautiful in the original pictures, and that the changes that have been made are mostly unattainable things. I think your skin winds up looking a little darker in all of them, which is unexpected but a pleasant surprise that they didn't lighten it. Sadly not at all surprised that they all made you skinnier. I had airbrushed makeup done once, and thought it was really pretty and natural looking until I took it off later and was confronted with the actual imperfections in my skin. The skin retouching really puts me in mind of that experience, and it wasn't a pleasant one. Maybe it's the change in hair colour that throws me off, but I feel like the second edit hardly even looks like you anymore. They've changed the face so much that even side by side with the original I struggle to find you in that one.

[@nicholeayt509]

This makes me glad I'm roll modelling natural beauty to my kids and minimizing their exposure to social media. The other day my daughter saw her brother's grad photo with the skin smoothed (standard edit.. Did not request it). Her reaction was immediate... She's like, they changed his face, it didn't look like my brother. I thought that was really sweet but also sad. She loves his face, blemishes and all.

[@lapatti]

I worked as a graphic designer for an agency who had quite few fashion brands as their clients. I remember one of the photo shoots we had to work with to make a catalogue had, as models, a real professional model and her celebrity boyfriend. They were both gorgeous but still, we didn't have much to do on the professional model because she just knew how to pose (I remember one particular pic where we only had to delete some flyaway hair), while her boyfriend was a "mess" in that sense. Thank goodness photographers take hundreds of pics (especially when they're dealing with a beginner) because so many were unusable. So my point is, no matter how beautiful or confident you are, you'll always going to get retouched in a fashion photoshoot if modeling isn't your job so don't bash yourself up because the main reasons why you don't like how you look in a pic are that you don't have the perfect lighting, a good professional photographer and you'll probably wouldn't know how to take advantage of them even if that was the case

[@bethanywhite2950]

I think a big part of the look in the second one is the lighting - they make it look like it's shot in a studio with professional lights rather than in a house lit by a domestic overhead light, and that alone really changes the impact of an image even without the changes made to you. You are stunning, don't let those edits get to you!

[@amandamcquade1272]

🩷 Lovely Shaaba, I do hear what you're saying, and I appreciate your courage in waiting to see the edits until we were online with you. I so agree with you that the smoothed, mono-colorized skin made the end result look rather cartoony! Me, I much prefer and admire you, the 👑 🩷 💛 ☀️ Original Shaaba 💛 🩷 👑 Beautiful Peach you are! 🍑 PS Sorry if that sounds like a compliment from Yoda...but it was sincere! 😊

[@heather9130]

I love to draw people of lots of shapes and ages. What really helped me to accept my own face and figure was to draw myself a lot. When you break the face down to its basic shapes and structure, you start to see that your nose is a strong feature, not an ugly one. Or your jaw line might be round, or your ears stick out more. Round shapes in character design usually symbolize fun or kindness. Square shapes are reliability and sturdiness. All shapes really are beautiful, and if we all carved ourselves to fit the "standard of beauty" we would lose that diversity and character we each have. I think of myself as if I were describing a character in a book. My nose is like the prow of a ship. My face is round and kind with smile lines. I'm tall and broad and sturdy. Self love is nonlinear like you said. It's important to keep reminding yourself that character is in every feature, and it's beautiful.

[@Sophie_Cleverly]

I think the backgrounds were pretty awesome! I especially like the bi flag aesthetics of the second one. I feel like it would be cool for comparison to see your actual photos edited onto the backgrounds with no body editing, just lighting etc. I think a thing that has massively helped me in dealing with beauty standards has been watching KZbinrs talk about historical fashion and beauty, as it's helped me understand how much things change over time. Like it was helpful to note that when everyone made their own clothes or had them tailored, size wasn't really an issue as your clothes would always fit, and therefore the beauty standards were based on having the fashionable silhouette of the time. Whereas the introduction of off the peg fashion and standard sizes mean we are now often trying to change our bodies to fit into clothes. Idk I just find that really helpful to remember!

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

Taking a very long historical view on these things really helps! And so can looking at the ideals across many different cultures. It very much brings to the fore how subjective & fleeting these trends can be. And how extreme & ridiculous! (Looking at something like Italian women's super-high-plucked hairlines & comparing that with something like BBLs, for example...?)

[@willowwinkle]

This is why the road to hell is paved in comparisons! We always feel worse when we're comparing ourselves to something else. Even if that something else is an edited version of us. Shaaba is GORGEOUS, stunning and prettier than the edited versions! The photoshop versions seemed to reflect a lot of Western beauty standards too: skinny/elongated/lots of hair...

[@abbasturd]

As a Filipino who’s been constantly told by my own parents that I’m fat or have dark skin, I’ve always wanted to try this out. I’ve always wanted to know how I’d react when seeing myself in those beauty standards.

[@user-jh7nq9hx7f]

Seeing the edits, I just couldn't recognize them as you. You're face is so familiar that it genuinely seems like the edits are someone else!

[@nelsonkaiowa4347]

The only thing I can say is that ridiculous beauty standards have existed for centuries, so I think there is more to the self image issues people have nowadays than just to be surrounded by edited pics. I do think it was a great experiment and I liked the approach. I subscribed to your channel.

[@hellaSwankkyToo]

just as a cool FYI, thinness is not a universal standard, blv it or not. Jamaica for example still holds heavier, larger bodies in high regard thanks to a leftover belief from long ago that thinness = poverty, not having enough food to eat, etc. + fat = wealthy. the roots of the belief….not great. but i do love that larger bodies are appreciated somewhere in the world. LOL 🖤✊🏾

[@thehamofficialart]

This video reminded me, I have such a weird relationship with editing my own photos. I used to try things like changing my face to be more "attractive", but then I would feel like absolute trash afterwards. Turns out I was changing my face to look like what I was attracted to, but not how I wanted to look. The trash feeling was dysphoria, OOPSIE 🤡.

[@Lindsay423]

Wow, it’s so brave of you to do this experiment. It would be so hard for me to see myself in an edited picture like that. I agree about the first 2 looking cartoonish from the retouching. The third person did a much more natural edit. I would know the first two pics were edited if I saw them, but maybe not the third one. Very thought-provoking video. Kudos to you for being able to do this and thank you for sharing it with us.

[@giveemelle7862]

shaaba your smile in the unedited 2nd pic is so much better! looking at you in that pic makes me automatically want to smile back at my screen lol, you can really feel this infectious, bright, authentic joy that's completely missing from the edited pic. it's a little unnerving to see them side by side. where did that go o:

[@Princess_May]

The edited photos look almost cartoonish in their perfection. The original photos look more real. More like you and that makes them even more beautiful.

[@PanicOtter]

I think all the original photos were better, althought the third edited one was a good edit in a way it looked realistic. But still I wouldn´t go for thinner edit for obvious reasons, there´s nothing wrong with your body. The first and second edit were pretty much unrecognizable, overedited, and cartoonish like you said. I way preferred your original photos, your natural rounder face was also much more beautifull in those ones. I always feel more attracted to the unedited pics of other people. But I also understand from experience how edited pics of myself seem more attractive to myself. We always critizice ourselves differently and more ruthlessly. This was a really interesting test to see, and I´m also happy to see that your skin colour wasn´t lightened.

[@olivetomatopizza]

I read the comments before watching the video fully, sort of not understanding what they meant. However I genuinely agree that you look so much more authentically beautiful in the original, unedited photos! I think it's because I tried to stop immersing myself in the world of beauty standards a while ago, and I just didn't realise how much easier it is for me to healthily and genuinely consider someone beautiful and appreciate real beauty rather than society's ideal version of beauty. I think comparing yourself with the edited version actually highlights your natural beauty and utter gorgeousness :) It's easy to forget this when you're looking at yourself and critiquing your own appearance, but I genuinely think you're one of the most beautiful people out there

[@PokhrajRoy.]

8:37 Yes, it almost looks like a different person and not in a good way.

[@AZebraReads]

It's so messed up how beauty standards have just screwed with our self esteem. I'd love to look like you Shabba, you're gorgeous! I also find I look back on old photos where I felt fat and ugly at the time but looking back I'm like "fuck, I wish I looked like that now" cause my brain was warped to think I was too fat etc.

[@nishapan1376]

This was a very interesting video for me to watch and think about how beauty standards apply to me as well. I am half Caucasian and half East Indian, and for a long time I didn’t really think about what that really meant because I look white. However, I still have some of the features that would be considered Indian, like the bump on the top of my nose (which I am actually quite proud of), the hourglass figure, bigger eyes, etc., but because I don’t have darker skin, they don’t really make sense to people (me included). I have started to reconnect with the East Indian part of my identity and that includes changing the way I look a little bit to look a bit more Indian. I don’t mean in my skin colour, since no amount of anything is ever going to change that, but doing certain things that are of Indian cultural significance, like getting my nose piercing, growing my hair longer, and wearing a bit more Indian jewelry or clothing. That does start to bring up anxiety of being accused of cultural appropriation if I wear Indian clothes, because I look white, but I guess it’s a process. Either way it has made me more aware and proud of my whole identity and all its aspects.

[@p-h-a-n-t-o-m]

i really appreciate your honesty when looking at the before compared to the after. i think it’s completely natural to still be affected by beauty standards while continuing to practice self love 💗

[@Ecto_42]

One thing I noticed especially with the second photo was that the lighting was edited to be like dead-on and directed at you, and that's something that in real life would wash you out, which is why the skin looks lighter. The advantage a lot of media personalities have now is that they also manage to use a lot of direct, soft lighting and that's how in a lot of photos you really accent things like the hair and the eyes... Or in cases like mine, the glasses most of the time and it's really annoying lol

[@johannawurschlop4457]

I think a decent part of what makes the retouched pictures more attractive is also just the higher contrast and less busy backgrounds which makes them pop more.

[@bumbley.umbley]

I totally agree that there is a cartoonish quality to the edited photos. honestly there is a bit of an uncanny valley effect happening for me. your unedited photos look so much more human in the best way possible, with real emotions being shared through your lovely expressions!

[@dovestone_]

7:89 NO! That is so sad because the untouched photo is genuinely so much more beautiful 😞💗 This whole video makes me sad because you’re gorgeous and I’d hate for this to make you feel bad about yourself 💗

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I like when we see you exploring new things in videos.

[@sabaducia]

This was really confronting in terms of how subtle some of the edits are, and how without an original it's impossible to scrutinise when scrolling! 😵‍💫

[@caileyrookids]

I just want to say something connected: I actually feel this way when I wear makeup! I feel beautiful without it most of the time, but as soon as I take it off after the rare occasions I do wear it, I feel incredibly unattractive.

[@MossyBear]

I remember the first time photos of me were edited was in high school- the school photo company for the yearbook "retouched" photos without my consent. Got rid of my freckles and made me somehow even more pale 😭 so violating

[@orangepeelz3579]

i had been watching a video right before this one and had the thought of "wow jamie and shaaba are both so beautiful, i wish i was like that" and seeing this immediately after, i realize how im not the only one who struggles with slipping into those thoughts despite trying so hard to be positive about how i look. how even people i consider beautiful experience this too. it's a lot less lonely knowing that! also as another south asian person, i was really surprised by the lack of skin lightening too! my sister's friend is a model who is already v lightskinned and consistently gets photoshopped to be lighter in professional pics, which she tries to never do in the ones she can control the edits of. i wonder how much of that change was avoided consciously by the 3 specific editors to not engage w colorism and how much was just it not seeming like an important beauty standard aspect to those three. i also want to say i feel like my brain had an automatic preference for your unedited photos when the edits and originals were side-by-side. i wonder if it's just easier to tell what's been edited and that we prefer what looks more natural?

[@kailyncorey8267]

The original photos are STUNNING, the first original photo is literally breathtaking

[@PokhrajRoy.]

5:02 Idk why but the background reminds me of the cover of the book ‘Palace of Illusions’.

[@Akalilly]

Your smile in photo 2 is so much prettier than the edited version. There's so much more character

[@skylengilliland5546]

I came to this video thinking that someone did this without your permission, so I’m so glad that wasn’t the case. You are so naturally beautiful and I hate that you like those doll looking pictures better. Your one of the only influencers I follow that can pull off no makeup, no filters, and still be confident. I love that so much

[@neverice9047]

I genuinely prefer the original pictures because you look like a real person, the edited versions dont look like real people you look, as you said, like a cartoon and I much prefer your real face. youre beautiful exactly how you are and thank you for doing this so we can see the difference in beauty standards and how unattainable it really is 💜💜

[@afineblueline]

We didn't just learn about beauty standards. We also learnt about the lack of realism in a lot of places on the internet, and most importantly self love and how hard it sometimes is, but that's what makes it even more relevant. Thank you ❤

[@DevaNeeramanii]

Growing up in the Caribbean (Trinidad) where our female beauty standards have not been significantly influenced by American "White" standards (not until recently with the advent of Social Media) that original picture of you would have been considered quite beauty-full. (The edited versions were tastefully done so that the changes weren't at all drastic). We absolutely love and appreciate our fuller-figured, "thick" women. Our darker and mixed/cosmopolitan brown hues. And it's very similar for our men. I'm 52 yo and I have to say that while I've seen many local persons male and female use on-line editing to suit Social Media standards, they're usually much younger (in their 20's) us more mature, adult folk...we "relly doh ha' time fuh dat foolishness". We're not out there trying to impress strangers or looking for likes and compliments. We're too busy "adulting". I will add...and this is just my viewpoint...when we truly look at ourselves objectively it's never about looking at/finding the "faults". There are no faults in an honest and objective appraisal, only truth. Faults are the sustenance of the Subjective on-lookers.

[@MsHoneyBBQ]

“Comparison is the thief of joy”…. Thievin bastards 🤣. It’s SO easy to fall into this… I agree with u. Ur SO pretty this was a really good experiment.

[@rachelhamilton8669]

10:12 I’ve been preferring the unedited versions so far! Don’t undermine yourself, Shaaba- you are gorgeous!

[@kadenlogghe752]

In all the photos I honestly preferred the original aesthetically and the only thing I “preferred” in the edits was how with the skin tone changes it was like the saturation had been turned up and the world was brighter. You are beautiful.

[@smurfetteSar]

I prefer the unedited versions, they look genuine, happy and free. They have captured a magical moment in time that can't be edited in hindsight. Really beautiful original photos ❤️. Perhaps something to do, something that maybe is worth doing for yourself and others is making this a bit of an ongoing thing, however, do beauty standards throughout history. Look at different places and time periods etc. I think that we will all see that societal beauty standards are ever changing, but being true to ourselves and learning to love who we are is something that has probably been struggled with throughout history?

[@lizhart81]

I think the last one is the most worrying and eye-opening one to me, because it still looks like you. If you posted that on social media, nobody would clock that it had been edited. It's subtle, and reminds me of every celebrity magazine spread. I would seriously consider asking the second artist to make you another render with just the lighting corrections and new background, but with none of the hair/skin/body alterations. The lighting work they did is great and I think you'd end up with a gorgeous image of your actual real self looking fab, except this time, not in a kitchen 😂.

[@Rei-invented]

Body dysmorphia is something that you can work on but still deal with throughout your life!! I feel like our society actively trigger, encourage and require it.

[@salepien]

When i see the photos i don’t really feel they have reduced the waist that much but rather smoothed out the shape. Like in the first photo there’s that bit at the waistline having a small bulge outwards that seems to me to be mostly bunched fabric from moving around and stuff. They to my eyes mostly smoothed that out. Though yes inward rather than outward but yeah more smoothing with a tendency to use the inner line than active reduction. Basically the things you can do with clothes fitted for that purpose without discomfort in a bit more exaggerated way.

[@salepien]

And elongating the waist that is definitely the more significant change in waistline.

[@blackk_rose_]

I think the last one really shows what we often see on social media: editing that is not immediately obvious. And I definitely never thought that your original picture was ugly or needed fixing, but you're right, some things that were changed did feel like an improvement. The second one especially just looked fake though. Sure, it might've been more perfect and glossy, but I would never look at a photo like that and actually believe anyone looks like that. Of course the obvious background changes in the first and second photo didn't help making them seem real, but even aside from that you're right with the cartoonish look. I think the third one is the scariest because it looks the most natural and real. I wouldn't have picked up on it had you not shown the original picture, at first I didn't even realise you were showing the edited photo at all even though I knew what this video was about. And that's one reason why we have these unrealistic standards. We see unattainable beauty everywhere and don't know how much was changed and in what way. It's getting harder and harder to notice when someone looks actually real. However, I'd much rather see scars and wrinkles and bags under people's eyes and crooked noses than perfectly smooth skin and everyone sharing the same features. It's boring. I also wonder what the outcome would've been if you hired someone who regularly edits pictures of South Asian people for a South Asian audience and if they would've done things differently because it sounds like the people you asked weren't already familiar with South Asian beauty standards.

[@Druklet]

You are so gorgeous! I get seeing the photoshopped versions and thinking ,'Oh, doesn't my waist/skin/hair/whatever look better there,' but, as you said, it just makes people look like what we've been trained to think of a beautiful, and it takes away the spark. You look so radiant in the original photos, but the photoshop made you look more doll-like. It so often seems to take away expression and individuality from people. And apart from you looking stunning, those outfits are so gorgeous!

[@LittleMissTotoro]

If I scrolled past that final edited photo on your Instagram I wouldn't have questioned it at all. But when I compare the photos of course I see some difference. It's kinda scary!

[@salty_pearl]

Hey Shaaba! While I was getting my BFA in pictorial arts, I spent a lot of time working with nude figure models for live drawings. Personally, I find photos that have been edited to fulfill these kinds of "beauty" standards don't truly live up to the originals because in doing so they're bypassing what makes sense anatomically, proportionally, and even with lighting. While the end product might be "ideal" I think the eye can always sense that something is a bit off. That being said, I'm also mixed (Chinese & Jewish) with extremely hooded eyes. Even I've been guilty of photoshopping my own photos on occasion. If I smile or raise my cheeks in any way, my eyes tend to just pull into straight lines, erasing any eye makeup or shading. My expressions often fall flat because of this, and it tends to bum me out that people looking at my photo won't properly perceive how I feel or what I'm expressing in that moment. I tend to adjust my eyes so they have slightly more expression, maybe a little wider, but I try not to adjust anything else. I think we've all got things we wished we could change about ourselves, but the real thing is always better IMO. 😅

[@bigbluelemon3476]

hope this doesn't sound creepy but i swear i remember clicking on one of your videos for the first time and being just, stunned by how pretty you are. it's scary tbh how much pressure we get in terms of how to look and how even after a lot of time spent on coaching yourself out of thinking that there is something wrong with not being magazine-cover standardized doll it's extremely easy to slip back into feeling awful about yourself. It seems unbelievable that we as a society not only ended up in a place where literally not a single person in the world can feel cover-worthy just as they are (because, seriously, not a single cover goes out without some sort of retouch, human bodies just dont do that naturally) but still somehow keep upholding it because ?? idk beauty industry doesnt want to go out of business or sth i guess.

[@isabellarp3303]

I found interesting that they all made you taller. I’m brazilian and here the beauty standard it’s actually the opposite! for brazilian society the smaller you are, the prettier you are (if you are a woman). I’m 5’6 I think (1.73 centimeters) and people have always told me that they prefer smaller women and that it’s difficult for tall women to get a boyfriend.

[@jofawkes]

I appreciate that you did this. It's one thing to logically know how editing can impact you when you are looking at it. I am feeling so emotional. It is so commendable to me that you still were just so open and honest and human... thank you 💕

[@SomniiLinn]

I feel like the two first edits would have been cool if they were Disney-filters or something x') But the last one was definitely best. Super happy to see that they all went with slightly darker/ warmer skin tone, because all colors are beautiful and should be celebrated! Also, you are a gorgeous woman hun!

[@nemomagnum]

I used to dislike my eye bags (the ones right under the eye that become more apparent when you smile, not the ones you get when you're tired or older) until I got into kpop and noticed how many idols have them and wear makeup that accentuates them

[@PirateBug59]

Strangely enough, I recently watched a video about food marketing and how certain things have been done to processed foods to make them appear more appealing to our brain despite their lack of nutritional value. One of those things was color correction - the visual presentation! Specifically, contrast and vibrant colors that really *pop* (this playing on the instinct of our brains to find foods and/or recognize dangers). While watching this video, when you mentioned instantly being a bit drawn to the edited photos.. I wondered how much of it was due to the color correction aspect - there was more contrast and the colors were just slightly more vibrant than they ever could be in real life or in an untouched photo. I wonder what your reaction would be if you *only* had a photo color "corrected" photo without the body manipulation.

[@moo_chick8736]

Only on the first retouch and I think you look more beautiful and ethereal in the unedited version. The edited version feels more glamorous but that has more to do with the vibrancy of the colors.

[@felicityhollis4613]

The first picture is great and doesn't need to be edited. The second one you already really look great, but it reminds me of something that you would send back home to family you don't see much or like if you wanted an extra special photo for like your birthday or something. Overall I think your photos looked awesome and I'm glad you reminded us that this much editing happens to basically cheap photos. Can you imagine what big ad companies pay for the already oddly perfect to be edited into, so toxic

[@johanneshalberstadt3663]

The captions say: "I have South-Asian heritage, I come from Russia, so technically I'm African..." What?!?😂🤣

[@kaid030795]

Yeah, this has me very confused as well.. I'm not sure if the cc and I both hear it wrong and she is actually saying something else. I saw a different comment asking if maybe she said Persia, or Tunisia.. which would make more sense than Russia. So I listened again but I can only hear Russia haha

[@Yaeka]

I believe there is something else you should take into account: while you look amazing in them, I feel like the quality of the original photos doesn't fully do you justice. I am so certain that if you had a whole shoot with a good pro photographer, you'd also see a big difference, without any edits to your face or body. Have you thought about trying something like that ? It's very fun and I think can really change how you see yourself, but in a good way ♥

[@kayleeschaber3642]

This was kind of wild to watch. I'm not sure if I would do this myself. Just like you said, beauty standards are not achievable