Social media filters: originally a strategy to create silly videos of yourself vomiting rainbows, they quickly evolved right into a dystopian, face-altering technology that manipulates your face into the wonder standards du jour – whether that’s plumped-up lips, slimmed-down noses, smooth, flawless skin or heavy lashes.

Although these filters aren’t real, the impact of them is: they’re having a detrimental impact on our mental health and self-esteem. Actually, the phrase “Snapchat dysmorphia” was coined after cosmetic surgeons noticed that individuals were increasingly bringing filtered selfies to consultations, hoping to recreate the look IRL. Meanwhile research by Dove found that fifty per cent of women consider they don’t look adequate without photo editing and 60 per cent feel upset when their real appearance doesn’t match the digital version.

Which is why TikTok’s latest trend is such a welcome and refreshing change. Dubbed the healthiest trend on the app, it involves people rejecting filters in favour their very own natural beauty.

Set to the lyrics “The songs on the radio are okay/ But my taste in music is your face” from “Tear In My Heart” by Twenty One Pilots, the trend sees people begin with a filter that provides them a full face of make-up, including a smokey eye look, a tan and blush. It then sees them remove the filter to disclose their natural face, sans make-up and filters, in a celebration of their natural beauty. 

The trend has develop into popular with users on the app, including Ashley Tisdale, who’re lauding it for being ‘healthy’ and ‘cute’. 

“OMG a trend where it’s encouraged to NOT wear a filter!!? That is the perfect and healthiest trend to occur on TikTok yet” wrote user @ozzybris, while @brookemonk_ captioned her video “Yeah make-up is fun but it surely’s not higher than your face,” and @emeliasleepp said, “I LOVE this trend because the perfect thing I ever did for my confidence was quit make up”.

Like 2020’s trend that celebrated “undesirable” physical features through historical images and artistic endeavors, this latest trend shows that social media can sometimes be used as a force for good. Watch a few of the perfect videos below.