I’ve been contemplating getting a teensy-weensy bit of lip filler—just a smidge in my upper lip to give me a poutier look. Then a few weeks ago, TikTok gave me a tease of what I could look like on a silver platter. The “simple” filter, an alarmingly realistic effect that shows you "what you would look like with lip filler and no makeup on—just juicy lips,” went viral and effectively took over my FYP. The filter raked up nearly half a million uses and gave yours truly (and countless others) the ability to see how the AI gods predict I would look with a plumper pout.
For some users, it was a huge success. They looked natural—like themselves with a little zhuzh. For me? The filter was enough to scare me away from the filler-verse the rest of eternity. I looked like a distorted Cabbage Patch doll version of myself. It was...just not good.
