Are the 'luteal uglies' a real thing?
This article explores the phenomenon of the 'luteal uglies,' a term used on social media to describe the physical and emotional changes women experience during the second half of their menstrual cycle. Experts explain that hormonal fluctuations, specifically drops in oestrogen and rises in progesterone, contribute to symptoms like bloating, skin issues, and mood shifts.
Why it matters
It highlights how social media trends are driving public discourse around women's health and normalizing conversations about hormonal cycles.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ella Kipling Getty Images "Is it just me or am I the ugliest person alive?" a woman in her early 30s asks the camera on TikTok, accompanied by the caption "POV: Girls in their luteal phase."
The video has 2.4 million views and hundreds of comments.
"This is literally me," one woman writes. "I'm angry at how accurate this is," another says.
There are thousands of videos like this one on social media, lamenting the "luteal uglies" - the changes in appearance and mood that women say appear during the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle.
During this phase, which occurs in the second half of a woman's cycle and ends when she gets her period, women experience a huge drop in oestrogen. So are the "luteal uglies" a real thing?
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