Like many other makeup lovers, I reach for my coveted bottle of Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter every day. With one swipe, everything looks a little brighter: glowy, smooth, and effortlessly put together. Within seconds, my skin is void of blemishes, polished, and perhaps most unfortunately, just a bit too perfect.
Life at Boston College, in all of its glory, is a lot like Flawless Filter.
On the surface, BC shines. We have our gothic brick buildings, the carefully curated Instagram posts from every corner of campus, and the constant busyness that makes everyone seem like they have it all figured out. Much like Flawless Filter, there’s a glow that’s real—community, tradition, school spirit—but there’s also a glow that’s applied. A sheen that I layer on every morning before trekking up the Million Dollar Stairs.
At BC, perfection can feel like the unofficial dress code. We strive to be involved, impressive, well-rounded, and well-liked. We fill our schedules and our resumes strategically, maybe too much. And the pressure to look “put together” doesn’t stop at appearances. It seeps into academics, friendships, internships, and even how busy we appear while walking across campus with our AirPods in.
But, anyone who has tried Flawless Filter knows a secret: The glow doesn’t come from the product itself—it comes from what’s underneath.
The real beauty of makeup and of BC shows up when the layers aren’t doing all the work. It’s the quiet coffee in O’Neill before an exam. The late-night laughs with your roommates in your common room. The conversations with professors and mentors that make us question who we want to become. The moments when we’re overwhelmed, unsure, or imperfect, and then someone shows up for us anyway. That’s the real foundation, the real highlight.
Maybe the trick is this: Flawless Filter works best when you don’t rely on it to hide anything, but to enhance what’s already there. BC is the same way—the glow is meaningful only when we allow ourselves to be real beneath it.
So, in full transparency, I’ll keep using my Flawless Filter every morning. But I’m learning that life at BC is less about the perfect finish and more about what’s authentic underneath. And maybe, just maybe, we don’t need quite as much glow to be enough.