How to Make Silly Snapchat Faces With Selfie Lenses

Here's how to have some serious fun with Snapchat

by
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
our editorial process
Elise Moreau
Updated on December 02, 2020

With Lens effects, you can apply funny Snapchat filters to your selfies. Here's how to send a Snapchat with face effects.

Instructions in this article apply to the Snapchat app for iOS and Android.

How to Send a Snapchat With Faces

Follow these steps to apply Lens effects to your face on Snapchat:

  1. Use one finger to long tap on your face, maintaining steadiness and making sure not to move your head too much.

  2. You should see a new selection of icons appearing at the bottom of the screen to the left and right of your snap button. Scroll right to see lens effects.

    Scroll left to access Snappables, which are games you can play with your friends that also incorporate lenses.

  3. Tap any lens you want to try out on your face, remembering to keep your device and your head as steady as possible.

    The more you move around, the more you'll end up confusing the app's face-detecting feature, causing your lenses to come out looking warped and inaccurate.

  4. To take a photo, tap the lens icon. To take a video, tap and hold the lens icon. Some of the lenses will give you instructions to exaggerate the look. For example, some text may appear on the screen telling you to raise your eyebrows or open your mouth.

  5. Tap the send button to send it off to your friends or post it to your Snapchat stories.

    Snapchat Lens and Send icons

What Are Snapchat Lenses?

The Snapchat Lens feature applies animated filter effects to your face when you hold up your front-facing camera to take a selfie. Using face-detecting technology, the app automatically finds your facial features like your eyes and your mouth in order to apply the effects properly.

Filters can distort your face so that you have small eyes and a big mouth. They can give you a wig and makeup like eyeshadow and lipstick, or they can make you look like a dog with a tongue that appears whenever you open your mouth.

When you browse through the available lenses, you should come across some that let you bring a friend in so you can both share the lens. These lenses are designed to detect two faces at once. Snapchat now even has lenses that work with your dog or cat. Just look for the lenses that have a little paw print icon on them.

Was this page helpful?