Ashley Anderson of Levittown, New York

Newburyport, Mass. — Love your face in its purest state, and you learn to love yourself.

That’s the message that Suzanne Lee hopes to share through a social media movement she’s launched on Instagram called PureFaceLove. 

Lee, a Newburyport native who recently returned home after eight years of first attending college and then working in South Carolina, said the photo-based movement is designed to inspire women to “show some love” for their natural beauty by posting unedited images of their faces without makeup.

Launched in early May, the PureFaceLove Instagram site has already attracted more than 270 followers and posts from women and girls across the globe.

‘Wipe it off, and show it off’

The inspiration came to Lee after she’d spent a “ridiculous” amount of time tinkering with a photo she’d taken of herself, a selfie, to post to her Instagram account. As she applied various filters to the image to create her “best self,” she started to feel deflated by the process. She began to think about how much our culture, particularly the millennial generation and younger generations, use social media to gain approval. Comments and “likes” to selfies, she said, equal self-worth.

“It is easy to portray yourself differently through social media by choosing what you want to share, selectively posting dolled-up photos, edited to make you look (what you believe is) the most likable version of yourself,” said Lee, who earned her degree in anthropology from the College of Charleston.

“The fabricated portrayal is reinforced by approving comments from followers, friends and maybe even people you don’t know,” she said. “It made me wonder, how much is social media playing a part in the confidence of middle-schoolers and high-schoolers who have not known a world without social media and selfies?”

That’s where PureFaceLove comes in.

“The movement is designed to inspire and empower others to feel confident by sharing no-makeup, nonfiltered selfies through social media,” Lee said. “The goal is to create an empowering, self-loving community of people who feel confident whether dolled-up or au naturel.” 

To participate, women and girls are encouraged to “wipe it off and show it off,” she said.

Participants can post their unedited, pure face photo to Instagram, the movement’s core network, and use the hashtag #purefacelove. Lee will then share the photo with what she calls the PureFaceLove alliance.

There is already a growing trend for celebrities to post natural face photos to social media labeled #nomakeup or #nofilter. Lee said she found 15 million posts with the tag #nomakeup on Instagram alone.

PureFaceLove gives everyday women and girls a place to participate in a positive social media trend that she hopes will counteract the dangers of fishing for self-worth based on doctored images.

Smart, strong and bold

Suzanne Dubus, CEO of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, home to youth development organization Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area, supports Lee’s efforts.

“In today’s society, the media bombards girls with countless stereotyped images of women with their perfectly airbrushed bodies, flawless skin and fabulous clothes,” Dubus said. “In an attempt to emulate the countless media images they view, girls often take drastic measures. Many end up with very low self-esteem, some with dangerous eating disorders.” 

Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area, an affiliate of the national Girls Incorporated, is guided by a mission to inspire local girls to be smart, strong and bold. One of its core education programs is media literacy, where middle school-age girls gain awareness about the scope and power of the media and its effect on how they view themselves.

“As a society, we need to provide a positive role model, and I applaud Suzanne Lee for starting the PureFaceLove movement that inspires confidence in others by encouraging no-makeup selfies,” Dubus said.

Lee said she hopes the movement will make a difference.

“PureFaceLove does not aim to change the desire to beautify yourself, or share photos when you are looking and feeling phenomenal,” she said. “What we do support is realizing the value of your beauty in any state.”

Find PureFaceLove online

Instagram: www.instagram.com/purefacelove_

Facebook: www.facebook.com/purefacelove

Twitter: @purefacelove

Newburyport Daily News correspondent Alyssa Aiello reported this story.