Cristina Brandi

Fuller lips. Perfect skin. Thinner nose. Lighter eyes with gigantic eyelashes. This is the new concept of beauty being forced at us by Social Media and its users. At this very moment, millions of people are using the ocean of face-altering filters available at our fingertips to look prettier and to feel better about themselves. But I want to propose a debate on how technology and social media creates an ecosystem that can be harmful to us by changing our perception of reality. 

Maybe that's why they call it augmented or virtual reality. I'm not sure where to classify it just yet, but it sure isn't fair. For years we looked at the covers of fashion magazines showing a level of beauty, attainable only by hours of work put in by professional photographers and photo editors. Well, that has undoubtedly changed.

Now, if you own an Instagram/Snapchat account, you too can look like that picture-perfect cover image. It's easy, free, and you can do it as many times as you want. Even in video.

Filters used to be a cool little tool to make our photos and videos look more fun. Butterflies flying around your face, cute little kitten years that wiggled as you raised your eyebrows, etc. But, they have been transformed by technology into these face-altering tools that create live "masks" used by millions of people. These same filters have become incredibly realistic. With the pace of technological evolution, it will be impossible to distinguish them from reality really soon. 

You've likely seen filters, tried them, or, worst-case, use them regularly. And what's the big deal, one may ask? The problem is that these face-changing filters are affecting our perception of reality, hurting our self-love, and our acceptance towards who we really are. Sadly, unlike the body positive movement, very few people are discussing this issue. 

Here's a confession I'd like to make, and hopefully it will shed some light into how destructive these filters can be to us — I'm a well informed social media user and mindful of the effects it has on my life. I feel pretty, I am confident, and I've never had a problem with the way I look. Nevertheless, I felt like I needed a nose job at the end of this exploration.

These filters act on us like a drug. 

Like a drug, you get a high when you see yourself with perfect skin, clear eyes, and plush lips. Like a drug, you hit a low when you can't use that mask in real life. Like a drug, you get addicted to it. And it should be regulated.

But instead of being regulated, these filters are being explored and are exploding. Everybody can create and publish a filter now. They are eroding our ability to deal with our insecurities and are destroying our self-esteem. 

They hurt both its users and its viewers.

As I turned 40, I wanted to explore what it would be like to have 40 distorted versions of myself created using these filters. My hair is getting gray. I have wrinkles I can no longer hide with makeup, and my skin is getting flabbier by the day. Dark circles around my eyes show all the nights awake after having a child. The melasma shows it is summer in Florida. In the end, I'd be lying to say I don't think I look better on a number of these distorted images. But instead of transforming our faces, we need to transform our mindset and find inner peace despite our imperfections. There are hard consequences for changing us into something intangible. We are the ones that will have to look at ourselves in the mirror without these filters. Aging is already hard enough. We don't need to make it harder. 

So here is what I'd like whoever is reading this to ponder, and it's a mental game that I have witnessed inside of my own head as I was exposed to this exploration — In one hand, my irrational self gives me the desire and aspiration to some of the features created by these filters. On the other hand, my rational self is fighting hard to convince me that the boost of serotonin is not worth the erosion of my self-confidence in the long term. 

Who are you going to listen to? I'd like to help you listen to the second one.