Appearance has always been an important issue, especially in our society. There’s lots of pressure on us to look perfect. For example, adverts encourage us to use make-up to cover every spot or imperfection and only use “perfect” models who look really thin with shiny hair and dazzling white teeth to sell other beauty products too.

But there’s something you need to remember about ‘beautiful people’ in the media. A lot of their beauty is fake. Make-up artists remove every blemish and magazines use ‘airbrushing’ to ‘touch-up’ or change the shape of bodies to make the perfect person. Have a look at how they do this by watching on the video below:

It’s no surprise that people feel they don’t measure up and it’s no surprise that people get the feeling that any kind of physical difference is “strange” because they don’t get to see anything but the perfect face and body in magazines and on TV!

But we are all different and we don’t have to look the same!!

From an early age, we are ‘brainwashed’ to believe that looking beautiful makes someone good, and that looking different means someone is not nice or fun to be with. Fairytales often have beautiful heroes and heroines fighting against villains with disfigurements. It’s a habit that filmmakers, television producers and novelists can’t shake off. If they aren’t shown as bad, people with disfigurements are often shown as people to feel sorry for.

So it’s no surprise that some people can be suspicious and uncertain of people with physical differences and some people can judge you unfairly and treat you differently because of how you look.

But it’s also important to know that it is human nature for people to feel suddenly uncertain and unsure when they see something different, or out of the ordinary. This is the case when a person sees someone with an unusual appearance and can lead to some of the reactions you may experience from other people (staring or a shocked look).

We’ve done a lot of research to see how the way we look affects what people think about us.

We know that when we meet people for the first time we form a first impression and we try and guess what type of person they are based on their looks….are they nice, dull, clever, friendly, nasty. Anything that is different about our appearance can put us at a disadvantage. If you have speech problems or changes in facial expressions due to nerve damage or scarring it can be especially difficult. But we also know that these are only first impressions and they don’t last long. They can change very quickly when we get to know a person better. Face IT can give you tips to help manage first impressions.