How selfie-editing apps are encouraging young women to get cosmetic procedures

“You look at that idealised version of yourself and you just want it – you just want it to be real” - (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Like many of her peers, 21-year-old Abigail takes a lot of selfies, tweaks them with purpose-made apps, and posts them on social media.

But, she says, the selfie-editing apps do more than they were designed for: “You look at that idealised version of yourself and you just want it – you just want it to be real […] the more you do it, the better you get at it and the more subtle your editing is the easier it is to actually see yourself as that version.”