There’s something quite infuriating about the phrase “I’ll see you next time” when it comes from the glowing face of a beauty influencer, staring into a lens, speaking as if directly to you. But they won’t see you next time. They didn’t see you this time. They never do. You’re on the other side of a one-way mirror, watching, absorbing, admiring, while they never have to meet your gaze.
Most beauty content is built on the illusion of intimacy. That someone’s bathroom is your sanctuary, that their routine is your roadmap. But the truth is more sterile. You’re an unseen observer, never a participant. And yet, you’re expected to feel grateful for the access.
Beyond the false intimacy, there’s also the entitlement. The way some creators confess they’re already late to a real-life appointment (a client, a friend, a service, a commitment), but still pause to film a “quick” tutorial or ramble-filled get-ready-with-me. They announce it like it’s endearing. But it’s not. It’s dismissive and says: My self-expression is more important than your time. And it seeps into beauty culture. Because when we watch someone treat time and people as expendable, we start to wonder if that’s what confidence looks like. (Spoiler: it’s not.)
Makeup is already a layered performance. It’s part ritual, part armor, part billboard. But the distortion happens when those who have influence forget that real people are watching. Real clients, viewers and humans with faces and feelings and places to be.
That’s what really hits a nerve: beauty should be about seeing what’s emerging on your own face and to help someone recognize themselves more clearly instead of becoming more watchable to others.
In this space, where mirrors are everywhere, literal and metaphorical, I crave more mutual reflection and awareness that beauty doesn’t exist in a vacuum or on a ring-lit pedestal. It exists in relationships. Between artist and subject. Between self and self. Between who we are and who we’re becoming.
So no, you won’t see me next time. But maybe, if we’re lucky, I’ll see you.