Filter face is No. 11 on our No List.
We keep a list of things we will never do to your face. The filter is on it. So is the one face everyone seems to want.
We keep something at the clinic called the No List. It's exactly what it sounds like: things we will never do to your face, however politely you ask. Entry No. 11 is filter face. Entry No. 12 is the one face, the identical cheek-lip-jaw combination that appears to be issued at airports now.
Why the filter is a bad brief
Filters are built for a phone camera, at arm's length, in a still frame. Your face lives in three dimensions, in daylight, while talking and laughing and frowning at the auto driver. A face reshaped to match a filter looks right in exactly one situation: a selfie. In every other situation it looks like a selfie.
If I show the surgeon my filtered photo, they'll know exactly what I want.
A filter shows a feeling, not a plan. It usually means 'I want to look fresher' or 'more even'. That's useful. Copying the filter's anatomy is not.
on the No List: the one face. Your face is the only one with your history in it. We'd like to keep it that way.
What we'll do instead
- Ask what the filter makes you feel, then find what in your face is actually causing the opposite.
- Work with your proportions, not a template.
- Say no when the honest answer is no.
- Leave you looking like the best version of the face your family recognises.
Surgeon versus software: software wins the selfie. You still have to live in the face.
A gentle note. This is general information, written to make you a better-informed patient, not a diagnosis. Every face and every airway is different. If something here sounds like you, see a qualified facial plastic surgeon in person before deciding anything.
Keep the filter for Instagram. Keep your face for everything else.
Dr Shreya
Bring the question downstairs.
An unhurried first consultation, or a seat at the Wednesday Face Study. Answers first. Decisions later, or never.