Humans have pores, and skin has texture and beauty creator Ankush Bahuguna isn’t letting anyone forget it. In an exclusive chat with Hook, Ankush opened up about the unspoken pressure to appear perfect online, especially for celebrities constantly under the public gaze. He explained how filters and photo editing, while often criticized, have become a default survival tool in a world obsessed with flawless appearances.
Ankush’s candid take sheds light on the reality behind curated images, challenging unrealistic beauty standards and urging people to embrace imperfections, because real skin isn’t supposed to look airbrushed.
Ankush on celebrities using filters
In an exclusive chat with Hook, Ankush said, “See, I think public figures go through a lot of scrutiny—about their looks, about their skin texture—everything. So, I don’t use filters on my own posts, but I get why celebrities sometimes have to do it.”
However, Ankush also added that seeing smoothened skin online messes with our ideas of beauty.
He added, “Every now and then, there should be a reminder that these pictures are filtered or heavily photoshopped. I talk about this a lot in my content, that a lot of photoshoots that you see on social media are heavily edited. We just need to have enough people talking about what real skin looks like, what texture looks like, what good makeup looks like.”
Ankush further spoke about how he feels that a lot of people do not know what is good makeup.
“I don’t think a lot of people truly know what good makeup looks like in reality, because they’ve seen it filtered on social media. And, you know, so many people are great at makeup, but they see themselves in the mirror and they’re like, ‘No, I’m not good at it,’ because they see all the skin texture and all. But, I think skin texture is very normal,” Ankush concluded.
Even Zendaya spoke about it in 2015
Even Zendaya talked about this in a 2015 Instagram post, sharing unedited photos from a shoot and revealing how her body had been digitally altered and emphasising the importance of honest, unfiltered self-love.
In a long Instagram post she shared the unedited pictures and wrote, "Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have," she wrote alongside her Instagram. "Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it."
More power to you, Zendaya!
