Lori Borgman: Raising a brow at beauty app scores

Lori Borgman, Tribune News Service on Oct 28, 2025

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Pity the evil queen in "Snow White" asking the magic mirror who was the fairest of all, waiting anxiously for the reply. Today, all the queen would need to do is upload an image of herself to an AI beauty analysis app and wait 10 seconds for the results.

Beauty analysis apps score your face “plain, pretty or gorgeous,” or “attractive, average or sub.” One app may score hair, skin, jawline, cheekbones, nose, chin and lips on a scale of 1-10, while another uses percentages to evaluate symmetry and proportion. Yet another uses percentage points to score images for confidence, fun, smartness, trustworthiness and approachability.

Who knew you could tell all that from a simple headshot?

Beauty apps tease users with the lure of self-improvement. After critiquing hair, skin and face, links to products for sale that may help remedy your flaws and shortcomings magically appear. How convenient. Such benevolence.

Of course, these beauty analysis apps are targeted toward young, impressionable girls still maturing, still developing confidence, still getting comfortable in their own skin and changing bodies. Some of the apps require users to be age 16+, but the majority have no age restrictions whatsoever.

I have a vested interest in this phenomenon. Of our 11 grandchildren, nine are girls. Four of those nine girls are teens now. They are flourishing, creating, designing, discovering athletic abilities and cooking talents, devouring books, playing piano, banjo, guitar, fiddle and French horn.

The last thing any of them need is a computer app scoring their faces.

Beauty analysis apps, designed to entice tweens and teens, are one eyelash extension shy of being online bullies. They prey on insecurities.

Maturity is a process that happens over the passing of time. For a young person still in the process of maturing, physical critiques can be devastating. You can work hard and improve your grade in a class at school, but there’s no way to improve a 4-out-of-10 score on your jaw line, change the spacing of your eyes or the shape of your mouth.

Why would we think a software app can define beauty based on preset points of size, shape and symmetry programmed into AI?

True beauty has an abstract quality that transcends the physical. Beauty encompasses essence, being and movement. Beauty shines through kindness, selflessness, heart, mind, spirit and soul.

Perhaps the best affirmation of beauty is knowing you are made in the image of God. That’s a powerful place to start and a wonderful foundation from which to build.