How Have Social Media and Changing Beauty Norms Shifted Expectations?
The Filtered Reality
Social media has rewritten the rulebook on beauty. Scroll through any platform, and you are bombarded with flawless skin, symmetrical features, and impossible standards. These are filtered images or real-life fillers/Botox.
There is a chase of an unattainable ideal. A pressure to look a certain way can be exhausting. And here’s the truth: perfection is a myth.
Do edited images of people make us feel worse?
It’s well documented that high beauty standards have put pressure on women. These days, men are also under scrutiny for how they look.
There has been a rise in "rich face". Social status signalling has shifted from luxury fashion to cosmetic enhancements. Procedures like injectables and fillers are increasingly viewed, by many, as standard maintenance.
At Friendly Soap, we understand the pressures to conform to mainstream societal pressures. But we believe in authenticity - real skin, real textures, and real people. Our handcrafted, cold-process soaps are made with our ethics in mind. We are committed to creating products to nourish your skin, not mask it.
#BodyPositivity ...to 'Fat-jabs'
Here is the good news: a quiet tide is turning. More and more, people are pushing back against social media expectations. Over recent years, movements like #SelfLove and #BodyPositivity have gained momentum. This has reminded us that beauty isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s about embracing what makes you, you.
We support movements centred on loving the body - of course, we do. But we can see that this line of thinking is still very much about appearance. We're questioning if it is the thing we need to free ourselves of?
The growth of 'fat-jabs' (Maunjaro and Ozempic) has created a pendulum swing. And we're hearing whispers of ‘thin is in’ dialogue. It's left us thinking - could we place less emphasis on what we look like? How about we focus more on our integrity and values? And our physical and mental wellness?
We’re all about kindness here. Kindness to the planet, kindness to others, and, most importantly, kindness to ourselves. Our soaps are packed with natural, nourishing ingredients. No harsh chemicals, no synthetic nonsense in our bars. There is just pure, plant-based goodness that works in harmony with your skin.
How have Beauty Standards shifted over time?
Have you heard of the new concept of the ‘Well-Ageing Movement’? Unfortunately, this doesn't mean ageing well with health and vitality... This 'movement' is a response to the online pressure to look perpetually young. It focuses on aggressive "anti-ageing" to preventive "well-ageing". And it pushes (often pricey) ingredient-led skincare products. We’re questioning this perpetual need to look younger. We're wondering how to change the phrase ’ well-ageing ’ to a more positive meaning. How can we achieve love and respect - even celebration - for our ageing faces?
Recently, a member of the Friendly Team was in her local Oxfam shop. She was buying a second-hand Ordnance Survey Lake District map. A woman in her 80s served her. And as she paid, the woman’s eyes lit up as she recounted her walks in that area. There was a passion in her stories. There was no filter, no pretence - just a life lived fully. She had a kindness that seemed to shine through her skin. She wasn’t trying to be anything other than herself, and it was genuinely beautiful.
That’s the kind of attraction we celebrate at Friendly Soap. Natural, unfiltered, and radiant. We believe in our natural soaps being handmade (beautifully imperfect). And we'd like to celebrate our skin and bodies in the same way. Our soaps, like our bodies, should be natural, long-lasting and useful. When your skin is nourished and cared for, it doesn’t just look good, it feels good. Surely that’s what truly matters.
The Myth of Perfection
Let’s talk about the myth of perfection. Beauty dialogue is often centred on erasing or hiding flaws. It can also promote an ideal that’s been airbrushed into existence. But real beauty? It’s in the imperfections. It’s in the way your skin glows after a long walk in the rain, or the way your hands tell the story of your life. It’s feeling confident and believing you’re enough. It's knowing you're not a renovation project which needs endless products to help fix you.
Our cold-process, natural soaps are a celebration of this philosophy. Each bar is handcrafted and unique. We don’t believe in covering up or changing what’s naturally there. Instead, we focus on nourishing, hydrating, and caring for your skin so it can be its healthiest, happiest self.
A Call to Authenticity
So, what do we think here at Friendly Soap? We think it’s time to ditch the filters and embrace the real you. We think beauty norms should be as diverse as the people they represent. And we think that the best way to care for your skin is with products that are as kind and authentic as you are.
