Right now, I’ve got about 33 unread pitches in my inbox all containing the phrase “slim arm summer” in the email body or subject. My For You Page is inundated with arm-obsessed humans feverishly cleaning their houses in wrist weights in attempt to tone. My IG is pretty much an endless scroll of influencers hawking tightening creams and treatments. And I’m just wondering...can we give it a rest already? I mean, it’s past Labor Day and I’m still seeing this “slim arm summer” nonsense everywhere. It’s really just a cute new moniker for a decades-old body-shaming mindset. As a beauty editor with a history of disordered eating, I’m so over it.
Like, we’ve come so far in the beauty industry...so why are unattainable standards like this still trending? Why does the internet cling to these hyper-specific ideas of perfection?? When will we all stop having this sick human nature to change everything about our bodies??? I digress!
I have to remind myself that trends like slim arm summer—which, by the looks of my current FYP and IG feed, isn’t going anywhere as the temperature drops—largely exists to sell us stuff. Cosmetic companies, influencers, plastic surgeons—they come up with a trend, disguise it as a problem, give it a cutesy name, and shill us a solution. Capitalism 101.
Unfortunately, it’s how the beauty industry I know and love works (for the most part) too. The latte makeup craze made bronzer sales spike, and the Brat girl summer trend made me a green eyeshadow convert. Slicked-back buns led to a bajillion new hair cream launches, followed by gels and pomades and waxes that all promised to do it even better. But this whole slim arm thing feels kinda cruel, no? Not only does it prey on our wallets in the form of pricey (and generally ineffective) slimming creams and fat-melting procedures, but it feeds on our insecurities too. Beauty trends should be fun and experimental...they shouldn’t make you want to skip lunch.
At my core, I know this whole tiny arm obsession is bullshit, but I’m still not immune to it all. I’ve got a pile of creams that promise to sculpt my arms in a drawer, and I own not one—but two—at-home body microcurrent devices to help tighten my arm skin. I’ve gotten sucked into multiple-part series about arm liposuction on TikTok. I’ve found myself—more than once—glamorizing arms that probably couldn’t pick up a full 40-ounce Stanley. I’ve silently scolded myself for not wearing my Bala Bangles while I cleaned on Sunday, missing an opportunity to slim and tone. I’ve booked (more than one) consultation for Morpheus8, the extremely painful (but highly effective) microneedling with radiofrequency treatment to boost collagen and tighten my skin.
Eventually, I snap out of it—but the cycle is hard to break. The hopelessness of already feeling shitty about yourself, spending a ton of money and time on a buzzy treatment or product that promises results, and then it just doesn’t work for you. Now what? you have to ask yourself, heading back to the drawing board once again feeling like a piece of a garbage. A vicious cycle of insecurity, then a little glimpse of hope, followed by dread. It’s pretty f*cking agonizing.
So pls, I’m begging you: Can we just stop? Don’t post the TikTok about how big you think your arms are. Delete the drafts about your arm lipo plans. Because what’s the point, really? Feeling less alone when someone else commiserates that they also hate their body? All that does is reignite this whole pattern again.
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I just wanna be able to open my inbox and not have to censor it for weight loss treatments and toning products and the like. I much prefer the beauty trends that don’t make me wanna scream.