WRT that recent video of Grace – she definitely does look different, but I’m hesitant to say outright that her face itself looks worse. I don’t think her teeth look great – I think they’ve done a bad job of those – and I don’t like her washed-out makeup or eyebrows. Her hair is also darker. But the main difference between how she looks in that video and how she used to look (in her face rather than her outfit) is fat gain. That has been one of the biggest changes in her appearance, other than styling.
Her eyes look smaller and more hooded, her cheeks look plumper, her face looks rounder and wider, and that’s just what happens when you put weight on. We are making progress with accepting fat bodies, but I still think we have a way to go with accepting any whiff of fatness in women’s faces. It's still completely socially acceptable to dog on hooded eyes and undefined jawlines, both of which are the reality of (even healthy) weight gain for most of us.
We’re not used to seeing weight gain in the face because the beauty standards right now are split between just generally being thin and between having a super sharp face but a slim body with big boobs and a big bum. We see influencers/celebs all the time with huge boobs and arses and super sharp jawlines and big eyes with lots of lid space (like Doja Cat), but it's not realistic for most of us.
I wanted to get thicker and did, but surprise! I put fat on in my face. My eyes looked smaller, my face wider, and my jawline less defined. I pathologized it because I felt that I should be able to have a thick body and a super defined face. As much as I dislike Grace, I don’t want to think of this this change as her getting uglier. I think it’s important that we see this as a natural part of weight gain and not a sign of concerning, inexplicable change and ugliness, especially if we want to break down unfair beauty standards & fatphobia. IMO, it's concerning that beauty standards now require a set of traits that are nearly impossible to achieve simultaneously, naturally.