How much younger do you want to look? Image by jennyfriedrichs from Pixabay
By Lilly Fryer
It could be argued that social media allows us to present an illusion of perfection, where users can carefully sculpt and post their lives based on how they want it to appear to other people. It has become normalised now to spend our evenings participating in what feels like harmless scrolling, swiping past flawless faces and perfectly chiselled bodies without a single blemish.
FaceApp is an artificial intelligence photo editing platform, first introduced to IOS in 2017 by Wireless Lab. It is an AI editing tool that allows users to tweak the way they look with complete ease by applying a simple filter that creates a more smoothed version of the photo uploaded, even down to hair colour/style and facial hair.
Other apps that can make you look younger, more beautiful or skinnier include FaceLab, YouCam Makeup and Facetune, all of which have been designed to help users achieve a flawless, healthier and more youthful look – often used not just for personal reasons but for professional headshots, LinkedIn photos and more.
The ultimate popular use of editing apps is creating a normalisation of tweaked appearances, and is making it difficult to differentiate between the real and the edited. Or to sum up – the ‘Instagram face’, which has birthed unrealistic beauty standards that many young people want to keep up with, especially when it is being promoted by the ‘influencers’ they are watching.
FaceApp in demand
Statistics by Business of Apps showed that 33 million people used FaceApp in 2025, which shows its vast demand. Events Management Student Holly Barrett-Smith, 22, mentioned how she feels that “editing used to be a taboo subject, but many influencers now openly address that they use FaceApp, which has normalised editing our photos”.
I experimented with the app by applying the free makeup filter, to test out the before and after, to try and understand why it is such a desired app. Barrett-Smith, feels that “the process of seeing the before and after can really affect people’s perception of themselves”.
Is that the issue? Should the app have more rules for users to join?
It does generate a more desirable look – however, it is not until I look at the before that I realise what even needed to change on the original photo. I couldn’t put my finger on the reason I looked better – but I definitely did. Upon closer inspection, the app plumped out my top lip and added some eyeliner.
Here you go – my before and after shots:
While many may find the benefit in this app, there could be some who see it as a toxic app, creating an unrealistic standard of what someone should look like and eventually leading to insecurity in one’s individual skin.
Image by Pixabay
Leave a Reply