Ex-EastEnders star Melissa Suffield looks unrecognisable in dramatic filter snap as she slams ‘damaging’ apps
EX-EastEnders star Melissa Suffield looked unrecognisable in a photo on Instagram as she slammed “damaging” face-editing apps.
The actress, who played Lucy Beale on the BBC soap, hit out at the technology often used on social media and said it “enforced white patriarchal ideals of beauty”.
Melissa, 28, said filters that allow users to change their faces have had a negative impact on teenagers.
And in a second post on her account, the mum-of-one demonstrated how the apps work.
She shared three versions of the same photo and edited her face to look slimmer, with bigger eyes, smooth skin, white teeth, red lips and rosy cheeks.
The star captioned her post: “Technically, I’m not lying. But swipe for reality. I personally think apps like these (this one is Perfect365, others include Facetune etc) are scarier than a full on filter.
“They’re subtle. Sometimes we don’t even realise they’ve been edited at all. Giving ourselves slightly brighter eyes, or slightly smoother skin, slightly whiter teeth, or any of the other changes you can make in this app, only leads us to become desensitised to our actual faces over time. Looking in the mirror and wondering why we look so tired, or so uneven.”
Melissa, who advocates for body acceptance and confidence, said she was not against wearing make-up in real life but blasted the trend of people manipulating their appearance online.
She went on: “Please, show yourself love and kindness even when it’s hard, and respect your face enough to let it tell its stories. If you wanna wear mascara and lippy, go for it! Makeup can be artistic, confidence boosting, and applying it can even be therapeutic. But don’t paint it on in a photo using an app, that’s lunacy!”
Revealing the tweaks that she used to demonstrate how far the apps can go, Melissa continued: “I used- skin smoothing, blemish removing, skin brightening, blusher, whiter teeth, add lipstick, eyebrows, brighten eyes, eyeshadow, mascara, eye colour, eyebag concealer, enlarge eyes, slim face.
“Only a smidge on each one, that’s all it took to completely change my face. Barely noticeable on its own, but side by side (last slide), really very different.”
And on her Instagram Story, she finally shared the most extreme photo that showed her with bulging eyes, writing: “By the way, have a good laugh at this. This is me taking all the tools I used in my grid post to 100% Don’t I look beautiful”
Melissa recently posed in her underwear after embracing her “fat rolls”.
She beamed for the camera as she spun around to show off the full fit – wriggling and dancing for the camera before leaning in to kiss the lens.
The body confident mum-of-one plugged the brand as she captioned the inspiring video: “AD Feeling secure with @lindexofficial I am obsessed with Lindex underwear.
“So comfortable and well made, and whatever style I choose always leaves me feeling secure.”
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Melissa shot to fame as a child actress playing Lucy Beale in EastEnders, and is now incredibly popular online thanks to her inspiring and open social media posts.
The blonde beauty is mum to son River, who celebrated his first birthday in March, and regularly shares frank updates on motherhood, as well as her post-baby figure.
Earlier this month, Melissa shared a stunning snap of herself relaxing in the garden in a red dress – admitting that she very nearly didn’t post the pic because of how her body looked.