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| SkinneePix: the ugly truth about the selfies app that makes you look thinner | SkinneePix: the ugly truth about the selfies app that makes you look thinner |
| (5 months later) | |
| If you thought Prince Andrew or Michael Gove's attempts at selfies were the worst thing about the craze – think again. | If you thought Prince Andrew or Michael Gove's attempts at selfies were the worst thing about the craze – think again. |
| There is now an app which is designed specifically to make you look skinnier in your selfies. Acting as a FatBooth in reverse, SkinneePix promises to make it look like you've shed 5, 10 or 15 lbs with just the click of a button. | |
| The description reads: "SkinneePix makes your photos look good and helps you feel good. It’s not complicated. No one needs to know. It’s our little secret." | The description reads: "SkinneePix makes your photos look good and helps you feel good. It’s not complicated. No one needs to know. It’s our little secret." |
| It's already the norm to add a toasted haze to pouty selfies thanks to photo filters, and some celebs have even been accused of airbrushing their own pictures before putting them up on Instagram – so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with an app like this. | It's already the norm to add a toasted haze to pouty selfies thanks to photo filters, and some celebs have even been accused of airbrushing their own pictures before putting them up on Instagram – so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with an app like this. |
| Creators Susan Green and Robin J Phillips say they came up with the app after discovering they hated all the selfies they took on holiday with friends. Green told the Huffington Post: "You've always heard about the camera adding 15 pounds, we just wanted to level the playing field." | Creators Susan Green and Robin J Phillips say they came up with the app after discovering they hated all the selfies they took on holiday with friends. Green told the Huffington Post: "You've always heard about the camera adding 15 pounds, we just wanted to level the playing field." |
| They do say don’t knock something til you’ve tried it, so I handed over 69p to iTunes in order to have a poke around the app and see what it’s really like. As it boots up the camera, it flashes up a little message which range from "Good hair day!" to "Make me look good". | They do say don’t knock something til you’ve tried it, so I handed over 69p to iTunes in order to have a poke around the app and see what it’s really like. As it boots up the camera, it flashes up a little message which range from "Good hair day!" to "Make me look good". |
| You can't alter group pictures such as the now infamous Oscars selfie, so I snapped a quick photo at my desk. | You can't alter group pictures such as the now infamous Oscars selfie, so I snapped a quick photo at my desk. |
| Rather than looking like the healthy 24-year-old I am, I look gaunt, tired and in need of a slap-up meal. Or five. My cheekbones jut out in disturbing spikes, my ears suddenly look huge compared to the rest of me – and let’s not get started on my gigantic forehead. | |
| That's not a look that is healthy or attractive, and certainly shouldn't be desirable. The closest I've ever come to looking like this before was after a severe bout of tonsillitis. | That's not a look that is healthy or attractive, and certainly shouldn't be desirable. The closest I've ever come to looking like this before was after a severe bout of tonsillitis. |
| Men don't fare much better under SkinneePix's editing, similarly transformed from healthy to emaciated in one swipe. "I actually look like a skull," my colleague James Walsh told me. | Men don't fare much better under SkinneePix's editing, similarly transformed from healthy to emaciated in one swipe. "I actually look like a skull," my colleague James Walsh told me. |
| There's already a huge pressure on women, particularly young girls, when it comes to their appearance, as we're surrounded by wall-to-wall coverage of photoshopped models and celebrities. Do we really need to be adjusting our selfies too? | There's already a huge pressure on women, particularly young girls, when it comes to their appearance, as we're surrounded by wall-to-wall coverage of photoshopped models and celebrities. Do we really need to be adjusting our selfies too? |
| Skineepix's creators claim their app could motivate its users to be healthy by showing them what they could look like if they lost some weight. But from equating weight loss with being more attractive to the conspiratorial "it's our little secret" in the description, nothing about this app is remotely healthy. | Skineepix's creators claim their app could motivate its users to be healthy by showing them what they could look like if they lost some weight. But from equating weight loss with being more attractive to the conspiratorial "it's our little secret" in the description, nothing about this app is remotely healthy. |
| Love them or hate them, selfies are popular because they're quick, easy and a bit of a laugh. They're not meant to be perfect. Yes, they're definitely a touch narcissistic, but surely stopping to shave pixels off your jawline takes all the fun out of it. | Love them or hate them, selfies are popular because they're quick, easy and a bit of a laugh. They're not meant to be perfect. Yes, they're definitely a touch narcissistic, but surely stopping to shave pixels off your jawline takes all the fun out of it. |
| • How selfies became a global phenomenon | • How selfies became a global phenomenon |