No filter?

We’ve all used corrective f ilters on social media to the point that they’ve become addictive…but what’s their real influence in the beauty market?

- MÉLANIE MENDELEWITSCH

Opening the front camera of your phone is a tough test of self-esteem – the appearance of our raw reflection, complete with that double chin and dull complexion hurts the eye, which is now accustomed to excessively retouched photos. Facial filters have been adopted by the selfie generation en masse, but they’ve also led to new kinds of mental evils in the process. Omnipresent and constantly evolving, these tools have taken over our daily lives. You see yourself with smooth, pore-less skin, a refined nose and plumped up lips – a controversial, fantasised image that is accused of promoting the use of cosmetic surgery, encourage body dysmorphia and low self-esteem issues (to an extent where filters like FixMe and Plastica had to be banned from Instagram).

Playground of youth