Daisy Ridley has an empowering reminder for her fans: Don’t believe everything you see on social media. Yesterday the Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress, 24, shared ” target=”_blank”>an Instagram selfie with the sentence “I woke up like this #nofilter #nomakeup” across her forehead. In the caption, though, Ridley clarified the obvious—”3 of these statements aren’t true”—and took the opportunity to start a discussion about the toll social media can take on your self-esteem.
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“Social media is great, but also a bit scary,”Ridley wrote. “[W]hat people post is the most filtered, most carefully chosen and cleverly edited moments of their lives.”
She added that despite what her own Instagram page may suggest, her life is not always picture-perfect: “My skin isn’t great so I don’t post no make up selfies, much as I’d like to; I have a trainer urging me on in workouts and don’t include all the times I say ‘I can’t do it’ and I don’t smile all the time but I like to share the pictures where I am.”
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Ridley’s message: Take what you see on Instagram with a grain of salt. The Star Wars actress joins a growing group of stars (including Chrissy Teigen, Vanessa Carlton, Lily Allen, and model Stina Sanders) who have recently used social media to come clean about the less glamorous side of their lives.
“I actually do love myself, I try to think good thoughts always and am surrounded by the most wonderful people,” Ridley said. “[S]o I’m keeping it balanced (like the Force, obvs).”