I vividly remember the first time I ever used an Instagram filter, it was a couple of years ago. Filters have come along way from the old-school flower crown and tongue-out doggy face. In their place today are the popular skin-smoothing, face-altering options that rid selfies of skin texture, tones, scars, and, well, everything that makes you unique.
I was addicted to filters, spending far too much time scrolling through the ‘Gram. It becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate between real and fake — and this can have a significant impact on mental health and body image. The problem with these face-altering filters is that you see a side of yourself with dramatic filters that don’t exist, which leads to an unnatural and inhuman ideal of beauty. It creates an unhealthy obsession we all have with that ‘perfect’ look. It’s easy to feel insecure, seeing how so much of the content we consume daily is filtered and photoshopped, and everyone looks picture-perfect; it’s hard not to point out your flaws, but REAL Is always beautiful.
I was at the point where I never used Instagram without using a filter, but since I have launched ‘Filter vs Reality‘ & ‘I am Enough‘, I tend not to use any filters that make dramatic changes to the face, and ultimately cause mental health and self-esteem issues.
After being in several lockdowns and everyone looking picture-perfect, I wanted to create something unique to show people what you see on Instagram isn’t real life. Don’t let these filters fool you; you’re unique, beautiful, strong, powerful, loved and worthy without any filter.
Since launching ‘Filter vs Reality‘ & ‘I am Enough‘, the reception has been incredible. People have reached out to me to say how my filters have positively changed ‘self-acceptance’ in people’s lives. The first celebrity to use the filter was Jen Atkin (Kardashian’s hair stylist). She sent me a DM on Instagram after using my filter saying: ‘Omg obsessed with this ‘Filter vs Reality‘ filter thank you.’
More recently, I launched my newest filter, ‘I am Enough‘. It’s a reminder: I am brave, I am kind, I am strong, I am loved, and I am enough with or without a filter. My book ‘Filter vs Reality’ about how social media filters alter our perceptions and rewire our brains is coming out later this year. Rest you have to wait and find out.
Words by Faye Kingston.
