It doesn't take a genius to figure out that in one of the pictures above there has been some digital wizardry going on.

Filters have come on a long way since the fun-to-play-with bunny ears first spotted on Snapchat back in 2011. Now intricately sewn in the fabric of social media, they're part and parcel of our digital footprint, allowing us to enhance our features, smooth our skin and lengthen our lashes.

While psychologists and AI experts have often warned against the harmful effects of filters on women and girls’ body image and self-esteem, there is a new filter that's kicking up a storm on TikTok. Enter, the Bold Glamour filter, which has taken the internet by storm and has been downloaded more than 16 million times since its release last month. It's the one that has given myself an impeccably straight nose and a heavenly glow, while Senior Editor Roisin Dervish-O'Kane has a plump pout and almond shaped eyes that are perfectly angled.

Here's a rundown as to why it's so controversial.

Why exactly is the TikTok Bold Glamour beauty filter?

Filters have always offered us a way to 'glow up' our pictures yet more often than not, they're detectable if a user moves quickly, or if a hand or object passes in front of the face.

The Bold Glamour filter however is being hailed by AI researchers as incredibly convincing because it doesn't budge from the user's face - no matter how much they wiggle or move, which gives it the edge in terms of its capacity to manipulate people. Currently, there are hundreds of users who are astounded by how well it works and while Bold Glamour videos on TikTok are tagged for user transparency, that tag disappears if the videos are moved off the app.

Luke Hurd, a creator of filters on Instagram and Snapchat, explained on TikTok that the Bold Glamour effect is using 'machine learning.' He reveals how 'a traditional filter takes your two dimensional screen in this little box [the phone screen] and then it overlays a face mesh on top that tracks to your face.'

However, Bold Glamour 'uses something called Generative Adversarial Network. They take an image of the user and then compare it to a data set of other images and then redraw your face, pixel by pixel, on the output of your camera feed.'

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It's this that has set it apart in terms of its visual manipulation, and while social media filters can be a source of creativity and self-expression, Bold Glamour has the power to dramatically distort reality and reinforce narrow and unattainable beauty standards.

One brand that has come out firmly against Bold Glamour is Dove, who are calling on its global community to #TurnYourBack on the filter. As the harmful filter sweeps social channels Dove is inviting everyone to join them to take a stand as part of its ongoing commitment to #NoDigitalDistortion in any of its advertising or marketing.

Dove are kickstarting a social movement encouraging everyone from content creators to everyday social media users to create their own content hijacking the #BoldGlamour hashtag, so that searches for the filter are flooded with people educating on the dangers of such extreme filters, instead of perpetuating their narrow ideals of beauty.

Influencers that have already thrown their support behind it, include Alex Light, who explains: 'Filters like this create a brand new and unrealistic comparison that blurs the lines of reality and sets a new standard for how we think we should look. It’s vital that we push back against these increasingly toxic beauty standards and show young girls that it’s OK to be their authentic, beautiful selves.'

The research undertaken by Dove highlights the dangers of this type of digital distortion and found that 38 percent of girls say they can’t live up to the beauty standards that influencers project on social media, while 80 percent say they have already applied a filter or used a retouching app to change the way they look in their photos by age 13. The most worrying stat is that 48 percent of girls who distort their photos regularly have lower body esteem compared to 28 percent of girls who don’t.

Dr Phillippa Diedrichs, Research Psychologist at the Centre of Appearance Research at the University of West England and body image expert, added that there are number of academic studies that have also found that the use of filters and selfie editing are associated with low body confidence, mood, and self-esteem.

'Research from Dove found that almost half of girls with lower body esteem feel they don't look good enough without photo editing. Moreover, filters have become part of everyday life for 52 percent of girls, and 77 percent try to change or hide at least one part of their body before posting a photo of themselves,' she adds.

'This suggests that the cumulative effect of filters and digital distortion over time is creating appearance pressures and low self-worth among girls and young women.'

Not only that but Dr. Helen Egger, child psychiatrist and co-founder of forthcoming mental health company Little Otter, added in a recent interview that while filters may appear harmless, the likes we get on them when we post offer 'a dopamine hit. 'It's like "woah I’m popular, I like this feeling, I want to do it again". It can feed on itself,' she explains.

Having tried the filter I too was mesmerised by its ability to tune out and alter the parts of my face that, on a bad day, I'm not exactly a fan of. When looking into the the camera with the filter on, I had a new admiration for my straight nose and distinct lack of lines.

Yet what really took me by surprise was that as I bobbed about, talked and laughed into the camera, the filter really did become part of my face, spookily so. As I switched it off, my first thought as I looked at my normal reflection was one of slight repulsion, which I'm almost ashamed to admit in public. I'm someone who prides themselves on having high self-esteem; someone who tries daily to instil the same sense of self-love into my two daughters.

And ultimately it's on behalf of them, and millions of other girls, that I believe the conversations around the damaging effects of filters must be amplified, in the hope that they will spark the change we so desperately need.