Artificial Beauty

You called me a natural beauty and I stopped in my place,
A phrase I've longed to hear with a bittersweet taste
The beauty I hold is not that of my own,
It’s molded and formed,
Grown and worn,
Created from a thing called colour theory,
Studied through Fashion Magazines and Anonymous Pages,
Manifestations and Nutrition Labels memorized better than a math test,
Calories are counted on the fingers left on my hand,
Posture and movements filled with grace formed by tears streaming down my face
Photos snapped with manipulated lights and rotating angles into the right place
With a click of a button there's a new face
Powders and blush, toners and gloss
Mold a new face, refreshened every hour
I drink a lot of water.
Anything with caffeine as long as it has zero sugar, gives me all the energy I need to walk a little farther.

So maybe I’m pretty but not without effort
A beauty so fake and easy to replace
An artificial type, with a plastic aftertaste.