“You Look Disgusting” – Beauty Vlogger Bares Herself to Abuse

A powerful short film of a woman revealing her acne-scarred face and the cruel abuse she has received online is starting a much-needed discussion about beauty and self-worth.

Em Ford is a London-based beauty vlogger who suffers from acne, and many of the makeup tutorials on her “My Pale Skin” YouTube channel show people how to cover up blemishes. Three months ago, she started posting images of herself without makeup on social media and collected some of the 100,000+ comments she received.

In the video, Ford faces the camera with her face bare while abusive comments surround her on the screen: “I can’t even look at her,” “Gross,” “You look disgusting,” “Seriously, has she ever washed her face?”

The comments change after she applies a full face of makeup – “You’re so pretty,” “That lipstick looks great on you” – but quickly turn ugly again as people accuse her of “false advertising” and wearing too much makeup. “Respect yourself damn slut,” one commenter says.

Ford said she wanted to create a film that showed how social media sets unrealistic expectations on both women and men.

“One challenge many face today, is that as a society, we’re so used to seeing false images of perfection, and comparing ourselves to unrealistic beauty standards that it can be hard to remember the most important thing – You ARE beautiful.”

The video was posted on July 1 and within two days was viewed over 2.8 million times. She has invited people to join the discussion with the hashtag #YOULOOKDISGUSTING.