Beauty Standards all over the world: what are they?

We think we know what beauty is and how it is defined, however for all its own! 

Here is a little fun summary of what we have found out about beauty standards around the world!

Five beauty gurus break down beauty standards around the world from Sweden, Pakistan, South Korea, and beyond.”

This is a great article from 

We all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder; this old adage, however, takes on a more literal meaning when we consider the diversity in opinion about what makes a person “beautiful” around the world. Culture to culture, physical features are emphasized and cared for in different ways, and people (particularly women) experience different pressures to appease standards—and often different restrictions on self-representation—depending on where in the world they find themselves. To brush up on the variance and similarity in beauty criterion around the world, we turned to the experts: five women with roots everywhere from South Korea to Chile and back.

Here is a Little Summary:

Anaa Saber, Pakistan

She explains, that since most areas are quite conservative, there is pressure to dress modestly and be well-groomed at all times. Plus, In Pakistan, since there isn’t a lot of ethnic diversity, the yardstick for what is ‘beautiful’ is fairly homogenous. Plus, Many women have this obsession with being fair; lightening and bleaching is a multi-million dollar industry.  The author mentions, that It’s a taboo subject that bothers her the most because all skin colors have their own beauty.

Charlotte Cho, South Korea

She mentions that the Korean people really value a skin-first philosophy, which is figuring out the root of the condition instead of covering it up with makeup. As a result, the priority is hydrated, healthy, youthful-looking skin. Also, a very huge difference with the other societies is that In Korea, having a beauty regimen is almost like a lifestyle. Plus many people start incredibly early as children. It’s all about taking action before problems start. In Korea, caring for skin is taken for granted as a part of one’s overall health, like brushing your teeth. Usually, it is a multi-step routine which often includes an oil cleanser, a water-based cleanser, toner, exfoliator, essence, serum, sheet mask, eye cream, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

Susanne HolmsäterSweden

According to her, Sweden is really progressive when it comes to considering the environment in the production of beauty products. Not only do they see great products that are good for the environment, but these products have not been tested on animals and the brands remain responsible throughout the entire production chain. And for her, a beauty routine is about finding time to slow down and take care of both my body and soul.

Ignacia Uribe, Chile

According to the author, Chile is very diverse: I love that we have faces with mixed blood from all over the world: Spain, Italy, Croatia, Haiti, Germany, Polynesia, and more. She is also mentioning that the rest of the world can learn from Chile is that beauty is to be happy, healthy and unique. And that taking care of yourself is part of taking care of the world.

Natasha Sumant, India

The author mentions is that she thinks that everyone aspires to be fair-skinned and thin. In India as in the middle east, being soft and hairless is a pretty common beauty norm. Having perfectly threaded eyebrows, and waxed arms and legs. She also writes that very often, women feel they need to be skinny, tall, light-skinned, and have long, thick hair. Skin bleaching is really common and there’s an entire industry of lightening creams. She even mentions that Indians are discriminatory towards each other based on skin tone; there is an acceptable level of brown you can be. Light skin supposedly means that you are superior and wealthy because you don’t have to work in the sun.  Of course, this thinking is a product of colonialism and is perpetuated by Bollywood, which idolizes light women.

I hope you like this little summary!

My conclusion:

This is all incredibly interesting and my 2 cents are that we are all different and this is what makes us so unique and fun and incredibly beautiful! If we were all the same height, skin color, hair etc, it would be soooo boring. If we were all ‘perfect’, whatever that maybe, we would also be so boring and then we would be looking for something different to define as the ‘beauty idol’… So thankful for all these amazing beauty all over the world in various sizes, colors, proportions and thoughts!

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