The 20-year-old student was shocked to see there were thousands of “disturbing and nasty” comments about how different she looked in the two photos, and about her acne.
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The Instagram account @Makeupbydreigh has a ton of before and after photos, which the makeup artist obviously uses to demonstrate her work.
A Texas college student named Virginia, who was presumably one of Dreigh’s followers, copied the side-by-side comparison and posted it on Twitter (virtuallyvivi) to express awe at the makeover, writing: ‘I don’t understand how people can do this and I can’t figure out how to hide a single pimple on my face’. “Over time though, I think she’s learned it doesn’t matter what people have to say about you”. She also hopes her story might encourage anyone suffering from online bullying or cyber harassment. I…woke up one morning, opened up my Instagram, and saw my face. But there are real people in those photos, including in the vulnerable “before” shots.
VanPevenge has responded on YouTube, saying how the taunts affected her confidence.
Ashley VanPevenage had no idea her photo would be turned into a meme, shared by thousands, subjecting her to a barrage of hurtful comments. But then, she said, she made the decision not to let those comments define her.
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Beauty blogger My Pale Skin created a video to powerfully demonstrate the unfairness of this double standard, in which she was called “horrible” and “ugly” with her natural skin showing and then told “you wear too much makeup” and “this is false advertising” when she covered her blemishes up. I didn’t like going out in public without makeup or without my hair done, but I realized that that isn’t the person I am, and people’s opinions don’t matter to me, and they shouldn’t matter to anyone. Everyone should feel handsome in their own skin.
