by TikTok’s viral Aged filter is drawing mixed reactions online, with some expressing horror at how they might age, while others accept seeing themselves getting older.
The filter, which is superimposed on the face in real time, deepens wrinkles and adds facial sagging. For many, it also thins out the lips and exacerbates hyperpigmentation.
Her hyperrealism has pushed Gen-Z and Millennial TikTok users to confront existential fears about the inevitable aging process in a culture that commonly associates beauty with a youthful appearance.
In a video that received 1.5 million likes, one user faked out her updated skincare routine «since using the aging filter.» The post showed the creator vigorously washing and applying products to her face before finishing with a full regimen of ice and gua sha.
Several commenters claimed that they purchased retinol the same day they used the filter. Another TikTok user captured her reaction to her «Aged» face when smearing your face with sunscreen.
“That filter really hurt my feelings,” wrote one commenter. «I’m going to bathe in retinol and sunscreen from now on.»
Some also wondered if they should consider cosmetic procedures to slow the effects of aging.
“Is it really worth Botoxing my face every three months?” an user said in a TikTok video with the filter on. “And what do I do with the double chin? I don’t want those. I will never want those.
The realism of the filter has also stimulated attempts to measure your accuracy by comparing the current faces of users and celebrities with their artificially generated effects on photos of themselves younger. Some have found the filter. to be perfect in predicting how people would age, while others showed dramatic disparities between the filter and reality.
But several viral iterations of the trend have focused on accepting, and even welcoming, the prospect of aging. One user racked up more than 2.3 million likes after commenting on a TikTok video that her older self looks like a fun aunt who «will tell you dirty jokes and let you steal an extra cookie while your mom isn’t looking.» .
Another wrote in her video that she can’t wait to meet his older self. However, some in the comments were quick to point out that the filter seems to have aged certain users more gracefully than others.
“Why did he age you like 10 years and he aged me 70?” read one comment, which received more than 36,000 likes.
Some users also felt comfortable being greeted by the familiar faces of their parents or grandparents after applying the filter. A creator posted a TikTok comparing her aging face to a photo of her late grandmother.
“I almost had a heart attack when I put this filter on my face, and it’s not for the same reasons as everyone else. I don’t mind getting old,” she said in the video. “But take this in. I look like my grandmother.»
Another creator expressed surprise at how much she looked like her motherjoking that he could now find himself making the same judgmental comments about someone’s weight or the cleanliness of their apartment.
A user, actress and filmmaker with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, seized on the trend as an opportunity to remind your audience that growing old is itself a privilege.
“As someone who was told I wouldn’t live to see my 30th birthday, this filter made me feel a few things,” she wrote in her video.
