Latvian Photographer Explores the World's Most Uncomfortable Beauty Gadgets 

Evija, who lives in Scotland, explains the story behind her evocative project. ‘I was working on a project about beauty and identity for college. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was about but then I started to collect these devices.’

As most of these products ship from Korea or China, the epic wait time for her items to arrive gave the photographer time to figure out what she wanted to do with the gadgets.

In the end, she opted to take neutral, yearbook-style portraits of her subjects, completely normal other than the fact that each person photographed would be wearing one of the primping tools like it was a must-have accessory.

The result is some truly haunting portraits that are as beautiful as they are disturbing, and really feel as though they are a call to action for our generation.

Among the treasure trove of oddities Evija has photographed are a ‘smile maker’ that promises to keep your lips permanently grinning, a ‘head belt’ meant to shape and sculpt your chin to chiseled perfection and an ‘eyelid trainer’ offering a $7.99 alternative to a pricey ‘double eyelid’ plastic surgery procedure.

The images are a much needed reminder not to let society dictate our appearance, and that we are all enough just as we naturally are.