Filter Dysmorphia – Are your expectations realistic?

Filters have never been more prevalent than in this day and age. There is an obsession behind pursuing this “flawless” look which has distorted the perception of beauty.

As aestheticians, we must address this issue as we often get messages like:

“How can I look like this filter?”or  “What procedures do I need to look like this?” — While sending us a ridiculously FaceTuned photo or heavily filtered selfie that has large colored eyes, pixel-perfect skin, dramatic contouring, etc. This is anatomically IMPOSSIBLE and mentally DRAINING. It is unrealistic and unnecessary. While we do work in the field of aesthetic beauty — our GOAL is always to enhance your natural beauty, NEVER to make you look unrecognizable — which is often what these filters do to you.

It is one of the most disheartening moments in the aesthetic field when your client begins to pull out photos that do not at all resemble them and ask for similar looks/features. This is a HUGE red flag and it will not go unnoticed by your practitioner. Enhancing your God given features is fun & exciting — however — desperately trying to look like someone else, a filter, an animation, cartoon edits or Photoshop is NOT healthy, appropriate, or necessary.

These filters plump your lips, erase your pores, lift your jowls, give you a flawless complexion, slim and lift your nose, minimize your chin, lift your brows, slant your eyes and your nasolabial folds/bunny lines become non-existent.  BUT this is not a normal human face. No one is absolutely perfect like they appear on social media and that should never be the goal to begin with.

These face altering filters are starting to shape people’s expectations of what “normal” or “beautiful” should look like. We, in the beauty industry, have seen that those who have unrealistic, unattainable expectations are NOT good candidates for cosmetic treatments over all because the root of the problem is more psychological as opposed to a true appearance flaw. We can never fix these types of psychological issues cosmetically. NORMALIZE uniqueness!

Credit: @snatched.la