Instagram vs. Reality has been a hot topic lately. With so many people working their butts off trying to make it as influencers, it’s fairly common that some of them seek a competitive edge by altering their appearances. Gotta reach that wider audience. However, what are the dominating social media beauty standards these wannabes are trying so desperately to reach? Well, blogger Cassey Ho might have the answer to this question.

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Image credits: blogilates

“For 2 weeks I analyzed the top 100 most followed female Instagrammers and came up up with 22 attributes for each woman to be judged on,” she wrote presenting her study. “After a couple of weeks of gathering data and categorizing data, I can tell you that there is most definitely a formula and a very specific beauty standard that the Top 100 most followed women on Instagram adhere to. It’s fascinating, but also incredibly eerie in a time when you would think social media has evend the playing field for women of all body types, sizes, ethnicities, and skin color.”

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

The attributes that Cassey looked into were lip size, nose size, hair color, hair length, neck length, face shape, chest size, etc. “I wanted to see how the beauty standards of today’s era have changed, if at all.”

“I think that when you start seeing someone with a ton of followers look a certain way, and then you see a bunch of people with a ton of followers look a certain way, you begin to associate popularity, fame, and like-ability with that look. So, it’s only natural for someone to also want to look that way if they want to gain more followers, aka our generation’s currency for success,” Cassey told Bored Panda.

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

“I find it interesting that being blonde and blue-eyed is no longer the desired beauty ideal, according to Instagram,” she said. “But I also find it interesting that in the era of the most body-positive positive revolution, only 5 of the top 100 most followed female Instagrammers were plus-size. And in the top 10, zero.”

After crunching the numbers, Cassey decided to take it a step further. She teamed up with a few experts and became the ideal influencer, one whose looks were in accordance with her research findings. Of course, shopping for clothes and applying makeup wouldn’t cut it, so she turned to the magic wand internet fakes just can’t live without – Photoshop.

“Actually, it was pretty fun dressing up as an ideal influencer! The most technically challenging part was photoshopping my body to match the ideal standards.”

Step 1: clothes and accessories

Image credits: blogilates

Step 2: make up

Image credits: blogilates

Step 3: photoshop

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Image credits: blogilates

Watch the video below to see exactly how Cassey did it

Image credits: blogilates

Cassey said she doesn’t have anything against someone that uses facetune, filters, Photoshop or has had plastic surgery done. “I just think it’s dangerous to create this facade that your body is natural when it’s not,” she explained. “It gives other girls and women a false sense of insecurity. So if you got plastic surgery, don’t be afraid to share that info if someone asks. This will help fight the promotion of unrealistic body ideals.”

“Also on another note, the more that we women can focus on our skills, our talents, and our minds, then the less we will become obsessed with our looks. True, unmatched beauty comes from confidence radiating from inside of us anyway!”

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