Do you need yet another thing to feel self-conscious about? Are you looking for new unrealistic beauty standards to measure up to? Look no further than the “nose gap” trend on TikTok, which is sparking outrage. Just call it the opposite of body positivity.
What Is The ‘Nose Gap’ Trend?
As if you needed to start obsessing over an innocuous feature on your body, this toxic trend focuses on the space between your nose and lips, which is technically called the philtrum. Apparently, having a smaller nose gap is more attractive (and also happens to be rarer). If you didn’t know what a nose gap even was, now you know – and you should also know that people are scrutinizing the space between their upper lip and nose in TikTok videos.
“POV: You don’t have a nose gap,” flaunted one user in their caption.
“I did not need to see the videos about having a small gap between your top lip and nose today. New insecurity just dropped, I guess,” shared TikToker @peepeepoopooemily.
Some TikTokers Are Blasting The Trend
While some TikTokers are calling large nose gaps “ugly,” others are calling out the viral trend and raising concerns about the problematic aspects of turning a very normal feature into something to be insecure about.
“To all the people saying ‘Oh, look at the gap between my nose and my mouth’ – you’re a human,” said @camilasgreenchancla in a TikTok video. “You are a Homo sapiens. Humans have eyes, nose, mouths. They can differ, but, like, usually there is space between those features.”
Commenters chimed in to blast the trend. “They want to make everything an insecurity now,” wrote one user. “Complaining about how our face features are placed on our faces..What the hell is even that about?” added another.
Beauty Is Not A Template
Someone, somewhere, decided that having a smaller nose gap was a desirable feature – and that thought gained traction on TikTok. Maybe it has something to do with “Instagram face,” the templatized version of beauty that usually requires naturally plump lips or lip filler.
Regardless, it’s important to remember that faces come in all shapes and sizes – and philtrums too. According to FDNA Telehealth, the average philtrum length varies between 11 and 15 mm, which is quite a significant range when you consider the fact that it involves a subsection of the face.
Additionally, a study that analyzed the impact of philtrum contours (how defined the groove in your nose gap is) on attractiveness revealed that most respondents considered philtrum contours more attractive. So, TikTok says that your nose gap should be practically nonexistent, but other people think the very shape of your nose gap is attractive. It makes no sense – just love the nose gap that you were born with and flaunt it with confidence. As one TikToker wrote under a #nosegap video, “We’re all unique and beauty comes in infinite forms. Why would anyone want to emulate an extremely specific feature?”
