Is that really me? The ugly truth about beauty filters

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Popping a beautifying filter on the TikTok video she was filming seemed harmless to Mia. It made it look as though she had done her makeup, took away the hint of a double chin that always bothered her, and gently altered her bone structure to make her just that bit closer to perfect.

Mia, who asked for her real name to not be used, says she started using filters when one of her TikTok videos unexpectedly went viral and her audience suddenly skyrocketed.

This is something Amy Hall-Hanson has experienced first hand. The 29-year-old has struggled with body dysmorphia for many years but says she never fixated on her lips until she started using beautifying filters for every Snapchat and Instagram photo she took.

Fardouly says social media companies should not be held solely responsible for the harm caused by unattainable beauty standards.

For Mia, it came to a head when she was riding in the car with a friend and mentioned that she was considering fat-dissolving injections to try to get rid of her now practically invisible double chin.

After staring at her eerily unfamiliar, imperfect face in the mirror, it occurred to Mia that she was no longer living up to the message she was using TikTok to send in the first place.