By Daysia Tolentino -
NBC News
A new filter for the TikTok social network, called
Bold Glamor (
or
glamour audaz, en español) applies make-up effects and sculpts users' faces in impressive ways, but many are concerned about the effect that "terrifyingly realistic" facial enhancements can have on the wearer's self-esteem.
The filter, which has been used millions of times in recent days, has been compared to other editing apps associated with creating an unrealistic standard of beauty for young women.
Critics argue that using it can have a negative impact on self-esteem and body image.
In addition to adding light makeup to the face, the filter adjusts its bone structure, smoothes the skin, and enlarges the lips.
“When I first saw it, it was amazing how incredibly real it looked compared to other filters,” said Lindsay Borow, 28, who used the filter in a TikTok video.
In her video, Borow said she looked like a "fish" and that she had never felt "uglier" than after removing the effect and seeing her face.
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Borow and other users expressed concern that the filter could be detrimental to users' mental health.
A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 57% of adolescent girls said they felt "persistently sad or hopeless."
Amid various stressors, such as the coronavirus pandemic, gender discrimination or dress codes, a teen told NBC News last week that girls can get caught up in a vicious cycle of comparing themselves to other people. on social networks.
“Honestly, I feel so bad for the young girls who have access to these filters,” one user wrote in her video.
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“I don't think my brain knows how to deal with seeing itself a certain way one minute and then another a minute later,” another user said in a video as she put the filter on and off.
“I'm so happy that my teenage self only had dog ears on Snapchat,” said a TikTok content creator.
A TikTok spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Hira Mustafa, 26, said various TikTok filters have affected his mental health on previous occasions because of how much they changed his face.
“I think she's making a lot of fancy Photoshop filters, which celebrities use on all their pictures online, more accessible to everyday people,” said Mustafa, who made his own video of her criticizing the filter.
“There are consequences for people who see faces like this all the time and then needlessly criticize themselves to compete with these unrealistic images,” she added.
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One of the problems with the filter, according to some users, is that they look very close to the natural appearance of a person, so it seems easy to achieve a similar look.
But recreating it is very difficult in practice.
Borow said she tried to recreate the filter's look by using makeup on her face.
However, she was unable to achieve the same effect on her own.
“I found that no matter what I did with my makeup to try to look like that, when I put my makeup on and used the filter on top of that, I still looked better with the effect of the filter,” she said.
"So it's like that goal is unreachable," she added.
The “physical changes to our bone structures and our natural filter characteristics are drastically different from what can be achieved with makeup,” Mustafa repeated.
She also believes that
the filter promotes Eurocentric beauty standards.
“A lot of people who aren't white, their skin is lightening, their eyes are lightening,” she said, “we're really catering to a very specific standard of beauty.”
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Borow found solace in the fact that TikTok indicates whether a filter was used in a video, and believes the disclosure is helpful in distinguishing what is real from what is an aspirational filter.
But Mustafa said that he thinks it would be useful for content creators to avoid using and promoting these filters altogether.
“If you fill your
feed
with people who look natural and aren't wearing these things, you can shield yourself a bit from seeing normal humans in your daily
feed
,” he said.
The impact of the filters is already starting to become a reality, according to Mustafa.
More and more people you know are getting plastic surgeries that emulate the effect of these filters.
“There are so many women who have had fillers and botox under their eyes, and all of these things at a much younger age than I think was typical when we were younger,” she said.
"And seeing that, I feel like the filters come to life because we see more and more faces that look more like these filters and we're like, 'Oh, is this the filter or is this her face, this is what people look like in the natural." , he concluded.