The Get-Hot-Quick Scheme
A quick rant about how glowing up is a pyramid scheme all in the pursuit of one's higher (hotter) self.
Chief Keef, in his 2013 song “Gotta Glo Up One Day,” accidentally coined the phrase used by self-improvement, clean girl influencers for the following decade. The creation of the “glo up” is a word play on the common sentiment that you have to “grow up” one day. Keef seems to acknowledge this but instead asserts that you have to “glo up” and bloom into who you are – a process seemingly independent of growing up.
I first saw the phrase on YouTube when vlogger Alivia D’Andrea announced the arrival of a new series on her channel – The Glow Up Diaries. It was a blatant departure from D’Andrea’s fitness content on the platform, drawing millions of new viewers. The concept of glowing up enamored people, and I was not immune to its pull. The concept of a multipart series where you watch someone become their best self and consequently follow in their footsteps is a genius idea, because it has unlimited sponsorship potential.
The idea of a “glow up” is a series of cosmetic procedures or simplistic habits that promise lasting physical change, which results in various streams of external validation. Or as I think of it, a hotness blueprint. Though D’Andrea was the first person I saw to create this glow up content, thousands of influencers had followed suit. Simply because within the pursuit of hotness, there is unlimited ways to commodify it. Some influencers may choose a more internal glow up, allowing them to take a Better Help sponsorship, while others seek something more severe, opting for a publicity trade with a local injector.
Famously, the results of the glow-up are expressed in two phases: the before and after. But, the influencers who post glow-up content never post just one transformation. Rather, the process does not promise an end; instead, it encourages patrons to be constantly aware of their bodies and their relation to new procedures, workouts, or diets. How one looks is no longer a complication of acceptance, rather it is now a journey to the latter. Though one may alter their nose, get lip injections, or try a crash diet, there is always something else that they can control and change.
Despite the smaller changes being able to be expressed in two phases, the actual big glow up consumers is marketed to can never be expressed in the same two-fold way – simply because the glow-up tactic works because it is impossible to achieve. Additionally, the side-by-side comparison completely negates the time which existed between the two photos. To achieve this new life, one devotes more and more of themself to this pursuit and at the end, they cannot save themselves from the destiny of being the new before photo. Suddenly, one looks away from the mirror and realizes all they’ve lost for vanity’s sake.
When the results are finally visible, one can finally see the beauty they fought. However, the intention of the glow-up is to impart lasting results, but oftentimes, when the routine breaks, the results shatter with it. Simply because to glow-up, is to focus attention on your outer appearance all the time. It is ritualistic, repeated each day in front of the mirror, on the treadmill, and at the dinner table. Patrons of glowing up naturally exhaust themselves and fall back into comfortable habits instead. The truth is that most people do not have the time to care for their look’s multiple hours a day.
In fact, a sentiment I often hear from men who love watching Victoria's Secret fashion shows is that supermodel bodies are realistic because models have them. The reality is that Models’ looks are directly tied to the number in their bank accounts. Unfortunately, many cannot afford to get 20,000 steps a day, work out with weights, and eat a healthy (but in the past monitored) diet. Having Adriana Lima or Candance Swanepoel tacked on your wall as glow-up inspiration will leave many feeling discouraged. Few people can look like a Victoria's Secret model while working a nine-to-five. Maybe it is true, I could be hotter if I tried. But why would I devote eighty percent of my day in this pursuit, to be marginally hotter, and eventually land back to where I was originally.
The reason that glowing up is something still culturally relevant is startlingly simple and annoyingly predictable – it makes money. Despite being associated with influencers, big brands also benefit greatly from the phenomenon. The glow-up sells a lifestyle in addition to the look. Everything from face masks to workout materials to even designer soaps and candles is all branded with the idea that your best self would use it, and you want to become her – right? It is entirely good marketing that an account can trick you into thinking that you can achieve perfection by following their set of instructions or outlines. Marketing that allows them to take shady sponsorships from laxative teas or promote unhealthy eating habits for the sake of quick results. Pay attention to who you consume media from, and even more, pay attention to what they want to sell you.
Most women acknowledged that they were not insecure until something was pointed out to them. Culture shapes insecurities, and insecurities shape spending habits. Glowing up is a quick fix and a quick buck for influencers. The hardest part is not allowing oneself to be seduced by a get-hot-quick scheme and instead focus on the acceptance that brings long-term happiness, rather than the pursuit of it.