The red carpet looks like a terrifying place to be at the best times, given just how flawless celebs are expected to look – and from every angle.
There’s no option to ask the paps to catch your ‘better side’, or to request they keep your un-manicured nails out of shot.
Many of the veterans know how to work it, sucking in body parts while pushing out others.
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But there’s one thing that no one can avoid, and that’s the shameful snap that catches you mid-blink.
However, some social media users believe celebs are now doing this on purpose – and for a very good reason.
“Do you know why celebrities and models do the half blink method?” Instagrammer @dress_well_eat_well_ asked in a recent post.
Cutting to unflattering photos of celebs mid-blink, they added: “So they avoid photos like this on the red carpet.”
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Essentially, the theory stems on the idea that, by closing your eyes ever so slightly – on purpose – you can reduce the amount of flashing lights coming into your vision, in turn lessening the risk of a sudden blink at the wrong moment.
“So that they don't get clicked having weird eyes or closed eyelids,” one person commented in agreement.
Someone else echoed: “They prob do it so no one takes a pic of them and catches them with their eyes looking weird.”
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Another joked: “God forbid a celebrity being human.”
A fourth added: “Or maybe the photographers could have the flipping decency to not release blinking photos.”
Preach!
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Of course, while there may be some truth in it, some were quick to point out it’s pretty hard to just ‘not blink’ when there are ‘a million flashing lights’ in your eyes.
In fact, TikToker Hannah Zook also spotted the trend a while back, but reckons it’s less to do with red carpet cameras and more of a bizarre celeb ‘flex’.
“I’ve been seeing this for years, but I feel like in the past three/four months, I have been seeing it everywhere,” she said.
“It’s that mid-blink photo that whenever you saw yourself doing it, you wouldn’t even allow the person who took the photo of you to see it – you would delete it that fast.
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“But, in hot people celebrity flex fashion, it looks good on them.”
She gave several examples, including Sabrina Carpenter and Renée Rap, claiming they ‘all do this constantly’.
Claiming it wasn’t the same thing as ‘bedroom eyes’, Hannah added: “That may be one iteration of the mid-blink photo, but this is not bedroom eyes. This is ‘You caught me off guard but my makeup still looks perfect, so I’m gonna flex it’.
“I think this trend is so funny and so fun, and of course everyone can partake – not just hot celebrities.”
So mid-blink photos are 'hot' now? Phew...
Topics: Social Media, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman