The "Valencia lift". Women rush to cosmetic surgery to look like their Instagram filter.

An Instagram filter is a beautiful thing.  And now women are taking their rose-tinted selfies to their cosmetic surgeon asking for a social-media makeover.

Remember your actual face before Instagram filters? It was grim.

This was me in 2009, before Instagram was invented.

But whack some Ludwig over the top? And hello, Instagram. I’m suddenly a duchess.

A photo posted by moniquebowley (@moniquebowley) on Jul 24, 2013 at 1:24am PDT

Filters have increased expectations of perfect skin so much that people are actually taking it to a whole new level: whipping out their phones at the cosmetic surgery for a Valencia lift.

Clinical Nurse manager from Liberty Belle (Where all the Real Housewives go except Gina obvs) Mike Stevens says it’s true.   There’s been a shift from clients bringing in magazine cutouts of a Scar-Jo nose, to flipping through their phone wanting a hefty dose of Hefe.

“They’ll show us filtered selfies,” he says.

“People want a more photo-shopped appearance on a day to day basis.”

The clinic has noticed a huge increase in clients wanting better selfie-esteem over the last two years, something they directly attribute to the narcissistic past time.

From the skin smoothing effect of Crema, the warm glow of Valencia, to women banishing lines with a sweep of Brannan, the main motivation is a fresher, younger appearance in real life too.

Plastic surgeon Dr Mario Marzola says it’s a step in the right direction for clients to have more realistic results.

“Its not a bad thing. It keeps expectations reasonable,” he says.

With so many options its hard to know which filter facelift to ask for.  Sure, Rise will shrink your pores and highlight your skin but what if you got a Willow? The black and white filter covers a multitude of sins but in real life it may gather some strange looks. And Amaro may seem like a good idea at the time, but in daylight you’ll just look jaundiced.

Here’s a gallery of the thoughts one has when posting an instagram selfie. 

Whats your go-to filter for an instant and free face lift? #teamcreama