Jaclyn Hill, beauty mega-influencer and makeup CEO, has had a rough past few weeks. The high-profile controversy surrounding her namesake makeup line, Jaclyn Cosmetics, has really taken a toll on her health.
Hill wrote a long, honest post on Instagram, detailing how the stress of the lipstick scandal caused her to gain 20 pounds — and how she's dealing with this change in her appearance. Spoiler: It involves Regina George's wardrobe.
Hill got real on Instagram about gaining weight.
"I have gained 20 pounds in the last 7 weeks," Hill wrote after sharing two photos herself with her boyfriend, Jordan Farnum. In the first image, she's jumping into his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist, like every contestant date on The Bachelor. Hill explains that she's "being transparent" and discussing the issue because folks have commented on her weight gain in her videos and social media posts.
"Sweatpants are literally the only thing that fits me right now."
"Sweatpants are literally the only thing that fits me right now & ive had to go up 2 sizes in my jeans," Hill continued, referencing Regina George's "hot" body sabotage caused by unknowingly consuming a ton of fictional high-calorie Kalteen bars.
She goes on to thank her boyfriend for his support.
"But this guy @farnumgrindtime still tells me how beautiful I am every single day & still picks me up and makes me feel like the most special girl in the world," Hill wrote, and added: "He speaks to my heart everyday & I genuinely believe God himself blessed me with him."
Hill says that her fans may notice her changed appearance.
"Side note: you’re going to notice in my future videos…. my face is bigger, my arms are bigger, my entire body is bigger," she wrote. Still, we hope her fans remember that criticizing someone's body, especially if they have insecurities, health conditions, or disabilities, is never a cute look.
Appetite change is a well-known side effect of stress.
It's totally normal to have an increased or decreased appetite during periods of major stress. Harvard Health Publishing notes that short-term stress can curb hunger because the body is running on adrenaline. Longer-term stress — like Hill's, who's dealt with the lipstick controversy for the past seven weeks — can cause levels of cortisol to increase in the body. Cortisol is the hormone that makes you want to eat an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's after your on-call Tinder fling wants a "break."
Fellow MUA Rebecca Seals voiced her support.
Seals, best known for her fire red hair and fantasy makeup transformations, left a kind comment on Hill's post.
"I can’t even imagine what it’s like to have people comment on something as personal as your body," she wrote. "… On a serious note though, you look beautiful and incredibly happy here and that’s all we hope for."
Meanwhile, it's no one's business whether or not Hill wants to stress-eat.
It's so refreshing that Hill is getting real about stress-eating. We've all downed a Slurpee (or four) during moments of extreme craziness, like dealing with an awful coworker or going through a breakup. If anything, it's proof that the lipstick controversy really affected Hill in a deeply personal way, and it reminds her followers (and detractors) that she's an actual human, like all of us, and needs hamburgers when she's bummed.
