Scroll, Swipe, Repeat… Why Does Everyone Look the Same?
Picture this: you’re scrolling through your TikTok For You Page (FYP), and suddenly, you get the thought: “Wait, is that the same person in every video?” I can totally relate, and no – it’s not you overthinking it. It’s the rise of the “Same Face” phenomenon—a wave of influencers and everyday users chasing almost identical beauty ideals through fillers, filters, and surgery.
From snatched jaws, contoured cheeks, to pillow lips and Bambi eyes, TikTok’s algorithm isn’t just feeding us dance trends and popular makeup hacks—it’s homogenizing how we look.
In this article, we’ll be looking indepthly at how an app that celebrates “authenticity” is quietly turning us into clones.
The ‘Same Face’ Starter Kit: Fox Eyes, Buccal Fat, and the Lip Fillers
Thanks to social media, we’ve come into the era of homogenized beauty, where the desire for the perfect “TikTok face” has turned unique facial features into an artificial downloadable checklist.
This is mostly promoted by viral filters and celebrity aesthetics, and it reduces our individual features to merely something that can be changed via a series of surgical tweaks and injectables.
Below, I further expanded on this trend of having uniform features with everyone else and its cultural implications:
1. The Fox Eye Lift:
The fox eye lift—popularized by celebrities like Bella Hadid—uses threads or surgery to tilt eyes upward, creating an “exotic” almond shape. This trend, rooted in Eurocentric beauty standards, often appropriates Asian features while erasing its cultural context. Critics had argued that this trend perpetuates racial fetishization which to be honest, is not far from the truth.
2. Buccal Fat Removal:
Buccal fat removal is a surgical procedure for extracting cheek padding for an overall “chiseled” look and the trend has since exploded on TikTok, with the hashtag: #BuccalFatRemoval gaining thousands of likes and views even despite warnings about premature aging.
• Celebrity Influence: Former runway model, Chrissy Teigen has been open about her procedure and this perhaps sparked a wave of copycats to follow suit, but plastic surgeons have warned that full cheeks signify youth, therefore removing them risks a gaunt, aged appearance by your 40s.
The tragic phenomenon about getting this procedure is that many patients return looking for fillers to restore lost volume, creating a lucrative loop for plastic surgery clinics.
3. Lip Flip vs. Lip Filler:
There can never be a lip filler conversation/debate without mentioning the influence of Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian’s step sister. The trend of lip fillers dominated the 2010s and now, the lip flip procedure—using Botox to subtly evert the upper lip— has become Gen Z’s “clean girl” alternative.
While the hashtag: #LipFlip boasts thousands of views on Tiktok, dermatologists have warned that its has fleeting effects (2–3 months vs. filler’s 6–12 months) .
Some celebrities like Ariana Grande have dissolved their lip fillers, citing the “overfilled” look as passé. Yet, 26% of Gen Z still consider lip enhancements, driven by the need to have pouty, full lips.
4. Rhinoplasty a.k.a Barbie Nose
The Barbie nose—a slim, upturned tip—is the most requested rhinoplasty style, inspired by super model Bella Hadid and Snapchat’s “Bratz doll” filter.
Patients bring filtered selfies and celebrity pictures to surgeons, demanding an “Instagram vs. Reality” precision. The trend pressures BIPOC individuals to “soften” their ethnic features.
Why the Same Face Trend is More Dangerous
Plastic surgeons are saying this is a Gen Z reboot trend which prioritizes validation over traditional glamour.
TikTok and Snapchat’s beauty filters (e.g., “Bold Glamour”) help normalize edited features until users can’t help but feel some type of way when they see themselves in a mirror. Also, trends like #FoxEye or #BuccalFatRemoval create feedback loops. The more users engage, the more the algorithm pushes similar content, further homogenizing beauty standards globally.
The Science Behind Why Are We All Chasing the Same Look
TikTok’s algorithm is a hype house for homogeneity. The more you engage with a certain look—say, “clean girl” minimalism or e-girl edges—the more it shoves similar creators into your feed. Suddenly, your FYP is a hall of mirrors, reflecting slight variations of the same face.
Watching someone get 10M likes for their new nose tricks our brains into thinking we need one too. If everyone’s tweaking their jawline, staying “natural” starts to feel like falling behind and being uncool.
Additionally, Social media apps like TikTok and Instagram normalize edited features (big eyes, tiny noses) until we forget what unfiltered humans look like.
The Big Question to Ask Now Is…. Are We Doomed to Look Identical by 2030?
Maybe not. History has shown beauty trends cycle fast (remember when everyone wanted Angelina Jolie’s lips?) Now, it’s all about the “clean girl” makeup look. But TikTok’s warp-speed trend machine means we’re rebooting ideals faster than ever. Who knows what next will be in the trend plate?
The Bottom Line
The “Same Face” trend isn’t just altering appearances—it’s rewriting our self-perception. Do we keep letting algorithms dictate our cheekbones? Or do we scroll smarter, diversify our feeds, and redefine what beauty looks like?
A possible solution for this is to good our TikTok feed with images of “real” human faces—crooked noses, round cheeks, laugh lines. And how do we do that? By posting pictures of ourselves unfiltered. After all, the most iconic beauty moments in history weren’t made in surgical operating rooms but in the uniqueness of individualism.
The “same face” look may be trending now, but true beauty lies in embracing what makes us unique.
