I can spot a “low maintenance” flex from three scrolls away. It sounds like, “I don’t really do much, I just drink water and use SPF,” said by someone whose calendar looks like a freaking NASA launch schedule. Brows. Nails. Hair. Skin. Pilates. Therapy. A little red light mask moment. A little peptide moment. Nothing crazy. Just effortlessly existing, like a woodland creature with a blowout.
Somewhere in the bizarre world of social media, “low maintenance” became a status symbol. Not because it’s actually low effort, but because it signals you have the resources to make effort look non-existent. Vogue called wellness “the new status symbol,” and pointed out how “time-saving” beauty and wellness products are getting marketed as low-maintenance solutions that still deliver results. That’s the fantasy. You wake up glowing, calm, and hydrated. No effort needed.
TikTok helped industrialize the whole thing. The “high maintenance to be low maintenance” trend is basically a confession booth for expensive shortcuts. Shape described it as investing in treatments like lash lifts, microblading, and laser hair removal so you can do less day-to-day. The Financial Times framed it as a “cheat’s guide to looking effortless,” built on long-lasting procedures and pro-level grooming that supposedly saves time later. In other words, you do a bunch up front so you can claim you do nothing. It’s girl math.
The exhausting part is that “low maintenance” doesn’t stay in the beauty lane. It leaks into personality. Into dating. Into being agreeable, easygoing, unbothered, and never needing anything or being “too much.” The internet has been recycling this archetype for years, from Gone Girl’s “cool girl” critique to modern “chill girl” discourse. Vogue has written about how pop culture teaches women to perform emotional detachment as if it’s maturity.
Then you get the relationship version of low maintenance, where basic decency gets treated like a luxury upgrade. Verywell Mind’s breakdown of “bare minimum” versus “princess treatment” makes the point plainly. Having needs doesn’t make you high maintenance. It makes you human.
So yes, the new flex is being low-maintenance. It also requires planning, money, time, and emotional self-editing. If you feel tired, it might be because the brand you’re maintaining is “effortless.” And that brand has a higher upkeep cost than anyone wants to admit.
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