TikTok’s Beauty Filter Has People Freaking Out



One of the gifts of your late 40s is fully embracing your face in all its glory, but one woman was surprised to find that the longer she used a beauty filter on TikTok, the more homely her real face started to feel. It basically gave her plastic surgery, Botox and a Photoshop airbrush to boot. As overdone as it might have been, looking in the mirror after making her video using the beauty filter triggered some insecurities about her real face that she didn’t know she had. Women are sharing how the hyper-real filter is breeding and fueling their insecurities, which is the last thing you need if you’re already fighting body image and beauty standard battles. Video filters in general can be a lot of fun, but creating an illusion that's so perfect can have a very real impact on one’s self-image. Experts have started sounding the alarm about augmented reality filters and body image issues, warning parents to talk to their kids about the psychological impact beauty filters like these can have, and to encourage them to stick to ones that turn their faces into horse heads or make flowers fly out of their mouths instead. It’s up to them to make sure their kids understand that filters are phony and that their real faces are just fine the way they are.