Goodbye, blue eyes: why an Instagram filter had to be altered

Lil Icey Eyes gave users cold stares and thick eyelashes - and also seemed to persuasively slim noses and enlarge lips

Some online fads are "blink and you miss 'em", but I couldn't help noticing the viral ascent of Lil Icey Eyes - an augmented reality face filter that became central to a popular TikTok and Instagram trend this week.

It seemed like every time I opened the app over the last 72 hours I encountered a flawless face with the cold stare of a Siberian husky - albeit one wearing fairly intense false eyelashes. The faces would pout and pose for a second, and then the filter would disappear, leaving the user howling with laughter over the contrast between their glamorous virtual visage and their real self.