NEW ORLEANS — What is ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia?’ It’s a newer term and condition where patients visit plastic surgeons with unrealistic expectations, that the results that they can get by filtering their photographs in apps are the results that they can get through plastic surgery.
We discussed the troubling trend with Dr. Velargo at New Orleans Center for Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery.
Long gone are the days of wanting Elizabeth Taylor’s nose or Angelina Jolie’s lips. He explained that 55% of plastic surgeons across the country report that clients are bringing in selfies, sometimes filtered via Snapchat vs. bringing in magazine clipping of their favorite celebrities.
“My jobs is to educate them on what is unrealistic and whats actually achievable. No cat whisker, no dogs ears, no long tongue,” he jokes.
So, what’s the alternative? We decided to ask a Hollywood South makeup artist how to can get the Snapchat look using makeup only.
Rose Heff is a makeup artist at House of Nails Arabi and says that contour is an easy cheat to achieve the type of look that Snapchat filters often give your face.
Here are some additional makeup tricks – To make the eyes pop, Rose used a light peachy liner in the waterline of eyes. Then she used peach & highlighter in the inner corner of the eyes. To make the lips appear larger, she extended the lip liner around the mouth vs. the cupid’s bow. (See video above for visuals.)
Rose understands the interest in Snapchat filters but not to the extend of plastic surgery, “I totally believe that beauty is an opinion, and it’s not a definite opinion. It’s constantly changing.”
In the same vein, Dr. Velargo left us with this interesting question, “Before any of this existed, there was a natural beauty… and now… with all of this.. what is beauty?”
The moral of the story, the definition of beauty is constantly evolving. Have reasonable expectations and don’t make any rash decisions that you might regret.