“The Clean Girl has overtaken my social media feeds. She is everywhere: from countless ‘Day in the Life’ reels to ‘Clean Girl Amazon must-have’ infographics. The Clean Girl lurks behind every scroll, reminding you that it is two in the afternoon and you have still not gotten up from bed…”
The Clean Girl has overtaken my social media feeds. She is everywhere: from countless ‘Day in the Life’ reels to ‘Clean Girl Amazon must-have’ infographics. The Clean Girl lurks behind every scroll, reminding you that it is two in the afternoon and you have still not gotten up from bed when the Clean Girl has already gone to the gym, had a green juice, reorganised Her entire house and launched successful self-love/motivation courses for girls like you (girls who wish to be like Her but cannot figure out where to begin) already! The Clean Girl is the ideal girl. She is always ready, has Her life together and Her makeup is so sheer one would be hard-pressed to find a single hint of it not just being Her naturally perfect Clean Skin.
If this intro sounds jealous, that’s because it is. Clean Girl content seems specifically designed to annoy me, and oh… how well it succeeds! Over time, I have developed a love/hate relationship with the Clean Girl – I admire Her from afar, but I cannot ignore how She highlights my own ‘UNClean’ skin and UNClean room or desk. She reminds me of all those tasks diligently written down in a notebook and then immediately forgotten, of all the things I know I need to do but choose to remind myself I have the free will of just not doing them instead. The Clean Girl is the day to my night, my exact opposite, my natural enemy – and you know the saying ‘know your enemies’? I think it is time I get to know the Clean Girl, and, by extension, crack the mystery behind Her presence online.
“ Unfortunately, I did not find any Clean Girl conventions around Dublin, so I went to the tried-and-true gathering place for all the interesting people I’d like to get to know – TikTok. “
My search begins with the question ‘Who is the Clean Girl?’. I would like to get to know Her intimately. Become friends with Her even. Learn Her ways so I can be a propagator, not a hater of the Clean Girl culture. Unfortunately, I did not find any Clean Girl conventions around Dublin, so I went to the tried-and-true gathering place for all the interesting people I’d like to get to know – TikTok. At the moment of me writing this article, the search ‘Clean Girl Aesthetic’ on TikTok has 47.6 million views, or the equivalent of the entirety of the population of Kenya, an amount of eyes I cannot even begin visualising in my head. The top videos shown under the search bar share a certain ‘look’ – neutral/white/off-white colours, ‘minimalist’/basic clothing items and light makeup, all clad by girls with a well-trained physique it would take me (and pretty much any other average person) months of hard work at the gym to achieve. The videos give off a sense of luxury, cleanliness (where the name Clean Girl derives from) and lightness, giving the girls a ‘perfect’ surface. The Clean Girl is the girl I thought adult me would be – successful, beautiful, corporate. I’m sure I’m not the only one – I believe a large portion of the millions of viewers are just like me: vicariously living through those whose looks or lives you yearn for.
Soon into my research, I realised I could not figure out whether the Clean Girl is a ‘social media aesthetic’ or ‘lifestyle’. Is there more to Her than what, quite literally, meets the eye? She seems to be more than just a fashion choice. On social media, the Clean Girl ‘aesthetic’ extends beyond personal style to daily activities – from going to the gym to shopping for kale (a few of the common examples of activities seen on social media). In the traditional sense, ‘aesthetics’ concern outward beauty. However, in the context of internet culture, the second (less used) form of the term, defined as ‘a set of principles underlying a particular artist or artistic movement’, is the one that comes to mind when hearing the word. This ‘set of principles’ in the case of the Clean Girl movement could be the different brands and fashion items She promotes (quiet luxury, neutral colours, brands such as Comme Des Garçons, Lululemon, etc.), the makeup – particularly skincare products – She wears (Dior, Glossier, Avène…), as well as the activities She engages in.
The Clean Girl transcends the common understanding of aesthetics and becomes nothing short of a lifestyle, complete with Her own rulebook. Her life, every facet of it, is beautiful to look at, truly aesthetically pleasing. However, unlike other social media ‘aesthetic movements’ (think ‘coquette’, ‘IT girl’, ‘coastal grandma’, ‘twee’ or even ‘VSCO girl’ for my fellow 2019 survivors), the Clean Girl is not solely focused on material items and branding, but a certain way of living your day to day life as well. In my personal life, I have often equated the Clean Girl to ‘gym bro’ men on social media, who make their lives (at least online) all about drinking protein shakes, counting macros, and a never-ending montage of bicep curls and deadlifts. While making an aesthetic, visual choice to be ripped and associated with athleisure and gym equipment, the ‘gym bro’ becomes more than that through his daily life becoming linked to his visual appearance.
So is the Clean Girl an aesthetic or lifestyle trend? Are the two mutually exclusive? A personal aesthetic can easily lead to a lifestyle, and while it is not the case for most aesthetic trends as most aesthetics only extend to the visual appearance of their ‘user’, never affecting their life choices and decisions, the mutuality of the two is observed in the Clean Girl phenomenon.
“Oh, and, dear reader, if you’re a Clean Girl yourself: I may joke a lot, but, deep down, I am in deep awe of you.”
Finally, what did I learn in my ‘know thy enemy’ quest this article not-so-subtly doubles as? I suppose it is not difficult to be an early bird, in shape, excelling in your career, have clear skin and the most aesthetically pleasing flat and wardrobe when you can crop it all into a fifteen-second video – which makes me feel I am only a TikTok account away from becoming a bonafide Clean Girl myself. Maybe not all is lost for Average Girls like me after all! Why be a hater when I could be a Clean Girl content creator? Oh, and, dear reader, if you’re a Clean Girl yourself: I may joke a lot, but, deep down, I am in deep awe of you. Keep excelling, and keep inspiring me to clean my room whenever I stumble upon your ‘day in the life’ videos – that is seriously the biggest motivator of all and I will forever be grateful for your life-changing work.
WORDS: Agne Kniuraite
