The world of influencers is one that's grown faster than any of us could have expected. They've become celebrities in their own right, are held in a different regard, and get paid to make us all think that their lives are close to perfect.
But if there's anything that the past year in particular has taught us, it's that that couldn't be further from the truth. James Charles' empire came close to ending due to allegations of sexual harassment and social climbing, Jaclyn Hill may be selling contaminated lipsticks, and internet famous couples who appeared to be perfect are splitting left and right.
We sometimes forget that they're humans just like us, and recently it seems that they themselves forgotten, too. Just ask Cristina Szeifert, an influencer who's under fire after a Reddit thread alleged that she's been lying about her painting skills.
Influencer Cristina Szeifert has more than 37,000 followers on Instagram.
The blonde bombshell and Romanian model whose content consists of fashion, travel, family, and art appears to be living the ideal influencer life. And when the clinical psychologist isn't healing the minds of many, she spends her time painting what appear to be strikingly beautiful canvases of nature, people, and abstract wonders.
But recently, the validity of her painting skills have come into question.
Why? Because the wooden easel she poses with in her Instagram photos of her paintings are always exactly the same. Same paint stains. same colors, same everything.
"In the last picture, you can see the first two paintings under the easel but the canvas of them looks oddly flat as if it’s a photo of a collection of canvases edited in. Or she found a photo set featuring those three paintings and just edited herself in," a Reddit thread mentioned.
But it wasn't just the easels that were questioned.
Even the places that Szeifert claims she does her paintings seem a little suspicious.
"And isn't the rug she is painting over about $2000 or more dollars in value? If it were real painting, she'd be at risk of ruining an expensive rug. I just cannot imagine that a real artist would do that," someone noted.
Even real artists added their expertise.
"Also a real artist wouldn’t use that palette, they’re really hard to clean. I’ve always used a sheet of glass with cardboard duct taped to the back, super easy cleaning," an artist commented.
"I spent 4 years in art school and am still active in local art communities and have seen [an easel like this] being used maybe twice and in my experience it's just because there are much better options. My main point is that, that's what people who aren't artists think painting looks like (and on the rare occasion it does!) which would explain that she's just doin' it for the 'gram."
But hey, maybe she is really just doing it for the gram.
Influencers are no strangers to staged photos, so the chances that she paints elsewhere and under different circumstances doesn't seem far-fetched.
"Who knows, maybe this instagrammer also uses yoghurt lids, but that isn't very 'instagram' so she grabs this palette to take pictures? That is the most favourable explanation of this picture I can think of," someone said in her defense.
But the situation brings more than just paintings into question.
Do influencers have real lives?
"I used to really really dislike this kind of stuff but now I just feel sorry for these people.
Their life lacks any sort of real meaning so they fill their vacous life with fake pictures to get a pat on the back from their social app of choice. Time will go on and they will fall out of favor as they get older and their popularity weins. That little voice in the back of their heads grows louder and louder, reminding them that they didn't really do anything this whole time. Eventually they will look back and their boring, fake life and wonder what would have been had they actually put the effort in rather than faking it but it'll be too late," someone noted about social media's constant emphasis on the unreal.
Szeifert saw the viral scandal and surprisingly responded.
"Even if I am in London I am very active," she wrote to Instagram. "I just wanted to clarify that due to the negativity going around in the last days. All my paintings are made by my self as this one.
I don’t always use a palette as I don’t have one in London. I love painting and it will always be my passion. I want everyone to cherish creativity and do something constructive and positive for the world instead of spreading hate and negativity."
And something tells us that's going to be that on that.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
