Instagram story viewer> @therealnotedited> Posts

No toxic beauty standards 🤍 Psychology of comparison 🧠

@therealnotedited

331

followers

592

following

REAL NOT EDITED
🤍 A place to rethink what we're told is beautiful
❌ no filters. no comparison. no toxic beauty standards.
💄 Beauty industry explained

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

This is your sign to stop trying to be perfect. ✨
We’ve spent way too long hiding behind filters, staged moments, and the constant pressure to look flawless. It’s time for a space that feels real again.
Hello to the real you. Goodbye to the pressure to be perfect. 🤍
Welcome to @therealnotedited
📌 Save this as your daily reminder, and drop a 🤍 in the comments if you’re ready for a more authentic feed. #realnotedited #unfiltered #stopbeingperfect #mindsetshift #selflove by @therealnotedited

54

11

a month ago

Stop scrolling for a second. ✋
Real life doesn’t come with a retouching tool and it doesn’t need one. We’re here to question the standards we’ve been taught to call ”perfect.“
Follow along for real research, honest conversations, and weekly reality checks. 🌿What do you struggle with most on social media? Drop your number in the comments. ✨ #realnotedited #morerealityoninstagram by @therealnotedited

52

18

a month ago

Your mind can be your harshest critic. 🧠💭 The way you talk to yourself, the things you notice first, the standards you hold yourself to…

Understanding why you think the way you do is often the first step toward changing the way you treat yourself. 🤍

You don’t have to love everything you see in the mirror. You just deserve to stop being at war with yourself. ✋🛑

Be curious about your mind. Be a little kinder to yourself.

Save this for the days you need the reminder. 🫶🏻 #realnotedited #psychologyofcomparison #notoxicbeautystandards by @therealnotedited

14

14

7 hours ago

Same coffee shop. ☕️ Two very different Sundays.

One photo is from an actual girls‘ day. 👯‍♀️ The other is from a day I sat alone in a crowded cafe, surrounded by tables full of people who weren’t missing anything, and posted an old photo instead of admitting it.

Being around people and feeling connected to them aren’t always the same thing. Loneliness doesn’t always look empty…sometimes it looks like a full room.

Have you ever posted something that made a quiet day look like a full one? 🤔

Follow for more of what’s actually behind the feed. 🤍 #realnotedited #instagramvsreality #psychologyofcomparison by @therealnotedited

24

16

a day ago

When was the last time you were genuinely proud of yourself without comparing your win to someone else’s? 🤔

Take a moment to answer this honestly for yourself. 👇
Option 1, 2, 3, or 4?

I know, for a lot of us, it’s probably 3 or 4 more often than we’d like.
In the age of social media, comparison is the subtle thief of our peace. We scroll through highlight reels and use them to judge our entire reality.

I want this page to be a space where we choose connection over comparison. 🤍✨
We don’t need to be perfect; we just need to be real.
Your journey is uniquely yours.

Start right now by choosing yourself. Save this post for the next time you feel that urge to compare. 💾✨

Let me know your honest answer in the comments.
We are in this together. 👇💭🤍 #realnotedited #psychologyofcomparison #notoxicbeautystandards by @therealnotedited

24

23

2 days ago

What if beauty became more diverse without actually changing the ideal? 🫣

For 25 years, researchers tracked how women were represented across advertising, magazine covers, runway shows and editorials.

The dataset included 793,199 records. 📈
And they found something surprising:
Representation became more diverse.

But the median model physique barely changed.
And at the highest-prestige levels of the industry, thinness remained overrepresented.

So yes, the beauty industry can look more diverse.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying ideal has changed.
Maybe that’s why a beauty standard can feel completely different from 10 or 20 years ago...
while still quietly rewarding many of the same physical traits.

Progress in representation matters.
But representation and the beauty ideal aren’t necessarily the same thing. ❌

And maybe that’s the question we should be asking:
Are we changing what beauty looks like - or just making the same ideal look more diverse? 🤍 by @therealnotedited

31

35

3 days ago

One day, you’ll look at the photos you almost deleted… and wish you could go back to the moment you took them. 🤍

Not because you looked perfect.
But because you were there. You were laughing. You were living. You were younger than you realized.

And maybe the things you’re criticizing today are the very things you’ll wish you had been kinder to yourself about.
Your body was never the problem. Your face was never the problem. You just learned to look at yourself through a very critical lens.

So take the photo. Keep the photo. Be in the photo.

Future you might be very glad you did. ♡ #realnotedited #dearyoungerme #notoxicbeautystandards by @therealnotedited

33

31

4 days ago

Your skincare routine needs to fight pollution. 👀
But what does “anti-pollution” actually mean?

Air pollution can contribute to oxidative stress and affect the skin barrier. But that doesn’t automatically mean you need another expensive product on your shelf.

1. Pollution can affect your skin. Particulate matter and other pollutants can contribute to oxidative stress and inflammation.

2. But “anti-pollution skincare” isn’t one magic ingredient. Products marketed this way often focus on antioxidants, barrier support and cleansing.

3. You don’t necessarily need a 7-step routine. A well-functioning skin barrier + appropriate cleansing + sunscreen can already cover a lot of the basics.

If you want to address pollution-related skin stress, look for ingredients like:

🍊 Vitamin C - antioxidant protection 🌿 Niacinamide - supports the skin barrier 🥑 Vitamin E - antioxidant support 🌾 Ferulic acid - antioxidant, often paired with vitamins C + E 🍵 Green tea / EGCG - antioxidant properties

And don’t forget the basics: gentle cleansing, a healthy skin barrier & daily SPF.

So next time you see “anti-pollution” on a bottle, don’t just ask:
“Do I need this?”
Ask:
“What exactly is inside and what does it actually do?”

📌 Save this for your next skincare shopping trip. 🛍️ #realnotedited #beautyindustryexplained by @therealnotedited

21

18

5 days ago

Another person’s beauty isn’t the absence of your own. ✨ Pure appreciation over comparison, always. #realnotedited #notoxicbeautystandards #selflove #psychologyofcomparison by @therealnotedited

28

20

6 days ago

We’ve all scrolled past the ”perfect vacation“ posts-flawless lighting, picturesque beaches, and the illusion of effortless happiness. 🌊🏝️☀️

But behind the curated highlight reel or post, the reality is sometimes sunburns, anxiety, feeling lonely in a crowd, and hours spent trying to edit a single image just to match an expectation that isn’t even real.

True connection doesn’t come from perfection; it comes from being real. ✨

Let’s stop trading our peace for a polished feed. 🤍#realnotedited #instagramvsreality #morerealityoninstagram by @therealnotedited

18

16

7 days ago

Maybe you’re not actually thinking “she’s prettier than me.”

Maybe, underneath it, there’s something else:
I wish I felt that confident.
I wish I looked that effortless.
I wish I could feel comfortable in my own skin like she seems to.

Comparison doesn’t always tell you what you want to look like.
Sometimes, it tells you what you want to feel like.

And the tricky part?
We often mistake someone else’s appearance for the source of the feeling we’re longing for.

So next time you catch yourself thinking “I wish I looked like her,” try asking: 🗣️
“What do I think she has that I’m actually longing for?”
Confidence?
Freedom?
Attention?
Acceptance?
Feeling comfortable in your own skin?

That question might tell you much more about you than the comparison ever could. 🤍 #realnotedited #psychologyofcomparison by @therealnotedited

25

26

8 days ago

Who decided what beautiful looks like?

Was it you?
Or was it the algorithm?
The trends?
The ads?
The faces you’ve been shown over and over again?

We’re constantly exposed to the same features, the same bodies, the same aesthetics, the same “ideal” until unfamiliar starts to feel unattractive and familiar starts to feel beautiful.

And maybe that’s the part worth questioning.

Do I actually like this?
Or have I simply seen it enough times to want it?

Beauty isn’t as objective as we’re taught to believe.
And sometimes, the most radical thing you can do is pause before you let the internet decide what you should find beautiful. 🤍 by @therealnotedited

24

15

9 days ago