There's No Such Thing As #NoFilter Anymore

Why the bare-all hashtag can make us feel so bad about ourselves… and how we can retrain our brains to see past perfection.

- Olivia Muenter

For the longest time, I was fascinated by celebrities’ hair, nails and skin. It seemed impossible to me that every famous person had zero pores, the thickest, longest hair possible and, oh yeah, perfectly shaped, extra-long stiletto nails, too. I had pores and zits. Thin, fine hair. Nails that chipped and broke.

As many times as I tried to achieve that celebrity flawlessness, I would fail. Instagram only made it worse. I’d feel deflated swiping through #nofilter posts from celebrities and influencers flaunting their cascading hair, glowing skin and shockingly long eyelashes. I told myself I just wasn’t as naturally beautiful.

It took until my early twenties and a job in the beauty industry to realize there’s nothing wrong with my skin and hair. Turns out, apps like FaceTune and Photoshop almost always have something to do with those flawless #nofilter looks.

Plus, these pics don’t show the work many influencers have done behind the scenes (facials, fillers, teeth whitening, hair and lash extensions and on and on…). There are so many ways to edit your appearance these days both digitally and cosmetically—and all of them are aimed at making flaws undetectable. The result? A “so real” image that’s not very real at all.