We’ve always been told that beauty filters are the enemy of authenticity, that they paint an unrealistic picture of perfection we should avoid. Here’s where it gets interesting: the iPhone is now playing for the other team, giving us a make-under with its high-tech cameras, forcing us into a rawness we never asked for.
In the old days, you’d take a selfie, and there you were—flaws, shadows, and all. But now, in the name of “pro-fusion tech,” these phones have decided to strip away the very things we don’t want to emphasize. Fine lines? Highlighted. Dark circles? Extra noticeable. The tech isn’t doing us any favors. It’s like having a makeup artist who’s hell-bent on making you look less like yourself. It’s not enhancing—it’s muting.
Here’s the kicker: beauty filters, which we’re conditioned to rely on, are giving us a makeover—a boost of radiance, a touch of smoothness, a filter that makes us look the way we feel inside. We want that polished, glam version of ourselves. It’s a performance, a character we get to slip into. But the iPhone camera is saying, “Nope. This is who you are,” as if it’s capturing some raw, unfiltered truth we never asked to see.
We’re stuck in a paradox: we lean on filters to put forward an image of confidence and perfection, but our phones now refuse to meet us where we’re at, serving us an unsweetened, unflattering dose of representation. We didn’t ask for the make-under; we asked for reality to accept us as we are, so we could wean ourselves off beauty filters without feeling less than. And yet, the phone won’t comply. Instead, it’s challenging us to face ourselves, often in ways that feel less than flattering, less than real.
News flash: we’re fine as we are. We’re beautiful with all our imperfections. The beauty filters can give us the dopamine boost we crave, and we deserve that. But now, more than ever, we need to remember: it’s the phone, not us, that’s failing to capture the magic. So let’s stop letting the tech dictate how we see ourselves. Embrace the messiness, the rawness, the reality—and just maybe, let’s leave the makeup up to us.