Column | How unsexy can beauty really be?

Covered in red body paint and 30,000 Swarovski crystals and dressed in a red gown and beaded skirt, pop superstar Doja Cat made a grand entrance at Schiaparelli’s Paris Fashion Week show a few days go. For lack of a better term, to me she looked like something out of Guillermo del Toro movie, which is the best way I can think of for saying “monstrous, but in a good way”.

The makeup, by the iconic Pat McGrath, took about five hours to complete and was meant to evoke the feel of a live sculpture, according to reporting by ELLE. I would say they did a stellar job. She looked ugly, and beautiful all the same time. Welcome to the era of “ugly” or “unsexy” beauty.

The trend, described by some as a rejection of palatability and the male gaze, more specifically, is predicted to be one of the biggest in beauty for 2023. Doja, alongside one Julia Fox, has emerged as the poster child for a trend that has actually been bubbling under in the corners of Tik Tok for a long minute.

Doja herself sent social media timelines into a tizzy when she went live on Instagram shaving her own head and eyebrows. She was ridiculed, called crazy, ugly and everything in between, but it seems the American artist of SA heritage was actually on to something. Similarly, Julia Fox was seen in a Tik Tok video claiming that she bleaches her eyebrows because it triggers her son’s dad. According to her, it’s a man repellent because expressive makeup — which this is, in the bigger scheme of things — is something men absolutely hate.

I’m quite convinced men hate makeup in general, so I guess the more makeup and the more unconventional it is, the better for anyone hoping to keep them at bay.

Arguments abound as to why ugly and unsexy beauty are trending. Some say it’s because of Gen Z and their thirst for individuality. Others say it’s about women trying to escape the male gaze. I’m all for the latter but I’m not so convinced about what “individuality” means anymore in a world where every second young person seems to be working overtime to look different, only to be looking the same as the rest. All that aside, however, I can only hope predictions from the likes of WGSN hold true. I’m just not holding my breath.

Forecasters over there seem to believe we are well within an era of “hyperrealism” that will spawn a movement towards embracing the “ick” factor and brands will respond accordingly with products to address those issues.

As an acne sufferer myself, this sounds great but I’m not holding my breath about brands going any further to actually normalise said “unsexy” beauty. What this would look like for me is having models who actually have acne, in their campaigns. But do I expect that this will change because of the mainstream’s embrace of “taboo” topics such as acne scars, boob sweat or a concerted effort to look unattractive?

Sure, a few small beauty brands embraced the skin-positivity movement of yesteryear but it’s really been a blip on the radar. Major beauty brands will always default to pretty models with great skin, because that’s what the market responds to.

So, as sexy or ugly as beauty trends can go, it will remain the purview of people who can wear “ugly” and be “unsexy”, only to take it all off when it becomes convenient.