I’ll never be happy with how I look

STUDENT Macie Baugh,

17, lives in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, with her mother Gemma. She says:

I’VE been on social media for five years, and I don’t post any pictures without tweaking them first. When I was 12 I would put natural ones online, but I didn’t understand back then how filters can make you look better.

Everyone in my social circle was using filters when I discovered them. I love the result of the TikTok Bold Glamour filter (above); I honestly think I look much better. I post two or three selfies on Instagram a week.

When I filter pictures myself, I start by using a Snapchat filter to make my face look smoother and get rid of spots. I think I’ve got quite red cheeks, so I usually use a filter to erase that.

I then make my nose smaller and my lips bigger. My nose is my biggest insecurity; it looks weird and doesn’t suit my face.

I might change the shape of my eyebrows and add some highlights around my face, eyeshadow and small lashes. I’ll finish by making my lips pinker. It takes me about 35 minutes.

Would I ever post a picture of me without make-up? No. I feel I’d be bringing myself down in other people’s eyes. Both online and in real life I see other girls who are so much prettier than me and don’t need to use filters.

I can easily spend six hours a day scrolling through people’s social media posts. It does leave me feeling worse about myself.

Mum hated the result of the TikTok filter, but it’s normal for girls like me to change how they look online.

I’ve got 11,000 followers on Instagram. Yet I know my followers will only ‘like’ my pictures when I have used filters. The most I’ve had on one selfie was 609 likes; in the comments people called me ‘gorgeous’ and ‘so pretty’. It feels really good. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with my natural looks.