Call it a phoenix rising from the ashes, call it a Dua Lipa summer, call it the light shining out of your literal face. Whatever you want to call it, The Glow Up is a right of passage. Symptoms may include: Main Character Syndrome, clear skin, choreographed dance performances, and seeing 11:11 on the clock every damn day. Sometimes The Glow Up starts with a monumental blow up (the bigger the blow, the brighter the glow) and sometimes, it’s just getting bangs. Impossible to plan for and even more impossible to look away from, these shining moments are usually well deserved. Being the subject of one is so bright it’s downright blinding, but it’s been said a Glow Up bystander may contract second-hand glow.
Read on as 11 veterans recount their glow ups and who knows, maybe you’ll catch one of your own.
Kareem Rahma
I've had three monumental glow-ups in my life. The first occurred when I stepped onto my college campus and went from Phat Farm and Lil' Jon to Ralph Lauren and Vampire Weekend. I felt very cool. My second glow-up occurred in July 2014. I walked into Oak (rip) on Bond Street dressed like a guy who just moved here from Minnesota and walked out in head-to-toe black. Full turbo hypebeast mode. This was my fuccboi era. My third glow-up occurred in the form of an epiphany on my 33rd birthday when I decided to embrace the cringe rather than run away from it.
Madelaine Turner
It’s 2009 and I, at fourteen, had clawed my way into a Forever 21 dressing room with denim in hand. High off a fresh Obama election, with I Gotta A Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas playing 24/7 on radio stations, the Love Spell scented world felt ready for change. “High-Rise”, the tag had said. My interest was piqued. Still, I anticipated the worst. A low-rise trauma of the early aughts had taught me to loathe all lower-half purchases. However, as I slid into these jeans, I could tell something was different. The high-waist. She gave me a shape…and legs. I felt everything change that day. Low-rise denim would be for repurposed purses only. Perhaps it was a personal glow-up, but I like to think of it more as a collective glow-up in the name of (our lord and savior) high-waisted jeans.
Sam Reece
For most of my life my hair could be described as “tried to draw book 1 Hermoine from memory.” Forehead? Five fingers tall and ready to be sunburned. Layers? We didn’t know each other. Curls? Spirit of Halloween wig at BEST. On my 30th birthday, I walked into a curly cut salon and demanded (politely requested) “cool haircut everyone has on Instagram please???” and THREE HOURS LATER, yes three, I walked out feeling incredibly hot and absolutely 3 hours late to lunch with my dad. Since then I’ve glown-up (??) even further, adding hot girl bangs and dying it hot pink. Ironically, looking back at the photos, that first cool haircut didn’t take me from Hermoine to Hot Girl, I actually went from Hermoine to Professor Snape if he was a hot girl. Anyway, I swear I don’t talk about Harry Potter this much in real life.
Marlowe Granados
I was trying to think of a classic story of a "breakover" (the break-up makeover), but I don't think I've done it in any drastic kind of way. Personally, I love when I really get my makeup RIGHT. Nothing can compare. I grew up with a bunch of no-makeup girlfriends (You know the kind, you ask for makeup at their house and all they have is a sad, dusty eye pencil), so I taught myself by trying to mimic beauty editorials when I was a pre-teen. I remember when I finally mastered the smoky eye (this took longer, only in the last few years), and let me tell you, that night I was DANGEROUS.
Taylor Lorenz
I pull out my hair when I’m nervous, so for years it’s always been thinner than normal. A few years ago, I finally did therapy (watched YouTube videos) and broke my long issue of having weird bald spots on my head. I used to go to garbage hair salons because I was so embarrassed of the way my scalp looked, but after I beat my issue, I paid for a $300 haircut and grew out my hair. Now, it is the longest it’s ever been, and I get compliments on it constantly. I still get such satisfaction from running my hands through it.
Ben Jenkins
Not to be too philosophical, but I feel like we’re all always on the cusp of a glow up. Which is to say glowing up is more about an energy than a situation. Every situation has the potential to become a glow up, even the most embarrassing of them. Tripping on crutches, for example, felt particularly humiliating. When I fell on my crutches, I knew that everyone around me was freaking out, so I got embarrassed and tried to pretend like I didn’t need help. Then I realized if I saw someone fall on crutches I would be concerned and even laugh. Why should I try to pretend I was totally fine? It was much more fun to get in on the joke. Getting inside the joke and appreciating a funny situation—even if the situation is really shitty to you—is the most sure fire way to glow up in 5 minutes or less.
Aaron Vazquez
I hesitate to say “glow-up,” but I did go through what I would describe more as a “grow’n-up” (which is maybe the stupidest word put to print). I tried to do a bunch of things with my style when I first moved to New York, but they all ended up looking wacky and tragic in hindsight. Camo button downs, trendy haircuts, unfortunate joggers, goofy catchphrases, etc. I never got into a groove because as it turns out, I didn’t like my face. Back then, I shaved my face every day, which made me look like a young boy wearing sale items from Spencer’s Gifts. But let me tell you something, once I stopped shaving and figured out how to grow a beard, your boy became handsome real quick. I donated all of the nonsense in my closet and began with a fresh new face.
Marcus Brown
A wise man once said, “My main goal is to blow UP and act like I don’t know nobody,” and as much as I agree with the attitude and charisma of Mr. Riff Raff, there is something to be said about the direction our aspirations take us. I have been focusing on UP lately, especially given the overall NYC collective consciousness that makes us constantly aware that this is the place of UP. UP with the rents, UP with the trends, and UP with the overall absurdity of what people are willing to do to go UP. All of this looking UP, your neck remains a fixed position, and blood stops reaching your head. You can quickly lose consciousness and the reasons why you were looking up in the first place. I say, there is no UP, the belief that UP exists comes from the anemia-ridden people who spend their lives looking UP and inevitably get FuckedUP. With all the time you spend looking up, you could look down or around! Take it in! Once you give UP, you can give in, you can start appreciating the eloquence of the mundane, those around you, and yourself in general. Once I realized that I glowed UP, everything became UP.
Sammie Scottie
Last summer I finally conquered my fear of the slick down bun. In the 6th grade I vowed to avoid the style until the end of time after an embarrassing incident with coconut-scented grease…but finally went for it when I got desperate between protective styles. The process was more involved than simply taking my braids down every morning: I had to get the perfect edge wax to Eco Styler gel to water ratio and make sure to tie my scarf tight enough to set the bun in place but not so tight as to trigger a migraine. My sharp middle part and waves (on swim) became the center of attention, making the rest of my look effortless: cool pants, an oversized button down, red lip, gold jewelry and go. A glow up.
Aemilia Madden
I recently had the humbling experience of being served a featured photo on my iphone of me deep in my side bangs era. I’d swept 75% of my hair over to one side of my head, my part just over my right ear. I can’t name the exact day, but at some point in 2010 I came to my senses and made the small but vital decision to reassess the way I distribute my hair, switching it to the middle. The shift was immediate. Suddenly my face looked symmetrical in photos and i was no longer stuck sweeping errant locks out of my eyes. Ever since, I’ve stood steadfastly by the middle part, the only sane way to arrange hair.
James Harris
Hopped up out the bed, turn my swag on
Took a look in the mirror, said, "What's up?"
Yeah, I'm gettin' money, oh
Turn my swag on
It's my turn, now turn it up
Yeah, yeah
I put my team on, then my theme song
Now it's time to turn it up
Yeah, yeah
I got a question, why they hatin' on me?
I got a question, why they hatin' on me?
I ain't did nothin' to 'em, but count this money
And put my team on, now my whole clique stuntin