Beauty Filters: Are They Impacting Our Mental Health?

By Audrey Tan

If you’ve used a beauty filter on social media before, you’ve probably seen the magic it can do. With the rise of artificial intelligence, beauty filters have become advanced editing tools that can significantly alter one’s facial features and body. With names like “face slimmer”, “top babe look”, “perfect face filter”, and “bold glamour filter”, you can get a supermodel makeover in an instant.  

So, is this technology and our overreliance on it causing harm to our mental health? Let’s find out. 

Dangers Of Beauty Filters On Mental Health

It’s all fun and games until you overhear your 11 to 15-year-old nieces discussing which plastic surgery procedures they would get if they were allowed to! 

Beauty filters, especially those that promote beauty modification, are becoming a massive cause for concern. Studies have found a correlation linking social media use to heightened body image insecurities and low self-esteem. Even more alarmingly, it’s been shown to affect children as young as six years old. 

By giving you a “perfect face,” beauty filters create an illusion of perfection that we struggle to live up to in real life. They make people obsessed with wanting to look like their filtered selves. 

According to a report in the US medical journal JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, photo filters trigger self-objectification and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), where people become fixated on perceived flaws in their appearance. 

Self-Objectification Issues

Self-objectification occurs when you see yourself as a physical object and evaluate yourself based on your appearance. We’re all susceptible to self-objectification, but it’s especially triggering when you spend a lot of time using beauty filters. Moreover, as humans, we tend to compare ourselves with others. 

With photo filters, you compare yourself to an enhanced version of yourself, which can be especially harmful because it suggests that this better version is within reach. 

Because of this, people often forget what a natural human face is supposed to look like. Many will start considering costly, painful, and time-intensive cosmetic procedures to conform to these unrealistic beauty ideals. Unfortunately, these procedures often come with potentially harmful and permanent side effects. 

And despite advancements in cosmetic surgery, the outcomes may not always align with expectations. Sadly, even after investing considerable time and resources, most people still feel dissatisfied after chasing an unreasonable and unattainable beauty standard. 

The issue is increasingly more pressing as research suggests that beauty filters are more problematic for one vulnerable age group—teens and young adults. At an age where they are forming their perceptions of themselves, dependence on beauty filters exacerbates body-image issues, insecurities, anxiety and depression. 

Having Open Conversations

Failure to address the dangers of beauty filters can perpetuate harmful beauty standards for us as a society and lead to harmful impacts on our mental health and self-esteem. As the very first step, we need to have open conversations about the artificial nature of beauty filters. We must remind people that whatever they see on screen does not reflect reality. 

The launch of TikTok’s “bold glamour filter” sparked a trend of posting videos of their filtered selves next to a video of what they really looked like, which was a step in the right direction. Many humorously poked fun at the stark contrast between the edited images and reality. We need more of these reality checks in the online space!

Cultivating Self-Love And Acceptance

Of course, we’re not saying you shouldn’t use beauty filters. They can be a lot of fun to play with and even be an outlet for creative expression. But to protect yourself from their harmful effects, you must balance it with a hefty dose of self-love and self-confidence. 

Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. A recent global study by The Body Shop highlights a concerning self-love crisis among women. Shockingly, one in two women experience more self-doubt than self-love. 

Beauty filters are a fun and creative way to express ourselves online. However, their widespread use raises concerns as they often promote unrealistic beauty standards, leading to a society with low self-esteem and exacerbating body image insecurities. One small yet significant way we can do our part is to always be kind to ourselves and others, in person and in the online space. We need more advocates for self-love and self-acceptance. 

So, if you hear about someone dealing with body insecurities, shower them with lots of love and words of encouragement. It could just be what they need to break out of their cycle of insecurity and realise that reality is more worth their time than obsessing over what’s on their screens. 

It goes without saying that more care and attention should be given to young people on the internet. Pay attention to how the children and teens around you talk about themselves. Remember to always be kind and understanding and set a good example for cultivating self-acceptance.