Whats more accurate, looking in the mirror or a photograph?

[jackie100]

I look in the mirror so much that I can't really see what I look like anymore and sort of became desensitized to what I look like. For example, I have always been doing dark brown smoky eyes and wear colors like satin taupe etc and I thought it looked ok. I'm nc20, asian, with brown eyes btw.

I started taking self portraits with a camera, just because I'm vain and want to see what I look like and what my makeup looks like and brown smoky eyes didn't look good at all (at least not when I applied it on myself). I tried a medium grey'ish color on my eyes and from looking at the pics I noticed it made my eyes pop much more.

I also took pics of different combos and that made me realize certain colors were not flattering on me a tall, for example, hue washes me out but I never noticed how bad until I took pics of it.
When I looked in the mirror it looked ok. And I learned from studying pics of my makeup that on me, my lipglasses look better just by themselves, without layering them over any lipsticks, when I compared pics side by side...

Does anyone else have this? Like, you thought you looked a certain way but when you started taking pics of your makeup you realized that you look different than you thought? Or that the makeup looked different than you thought? Or that some colors just aren't flattering?

For some reason I can't see this when looking in the mirror but when taking pics it's more obvious.

So then I started wondering which one was more accurate, the mirror or photograph? And then I also wonder how I look like to other people. Sometimes I wish I could step out of my body and see myself from another person's point of view to see what I "Really" look like, in terms of makeup, face shape, body shape, hair, just everything.

 

[kristina ftw!]

Please say mirror, please say mirror, please say mirror ...

I don't photograph very well at all, so I REALLY hope the mirror is more accurate ... I mean, a photograph can capture you at awkward times/angles, you know? Whereas in real life, we're not 2D. If that makes sense, haha.
And I'm the same way, with wanting to know how I look to other people!

 

[jackie100]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristina ftw! Please say mirror, please say mirror, please say mirror ... I don't photograph very well at all, so I REALLY hope the mirror is more accurate ... I mean, a photograph can capture you at awkward times/angles, you know? Whereas in real life, we're not 2D. If that makes sense, haha. And I'm the same way, with wanting to know how I look to other people!

Yes, I feel like this too! I feel like I'm not photogenic at all in pics. I don't have anyone to take pics of me and my makeup and the worst is when I am taking the pics of myself because of the angles and my nose looks so much bigger and I think my face looks slightly bigger too when I'm taking photos of myself. It's hard to look flattering in self portraits. However, I have seen girls taking pics of themselves and they still look great.

 

[iadoremac]

i would say mirror because i dont photograph well at all in my pics i look like a size 10 when i am a size 6, etc so its mirrors for me thank you very much

 

[tracyann91]

What an interesting question! I wonder the same thing though. I think that self portraits are often misleading because of perspective. Think of those "the dog" pictures with the big nose and little body. I noticed in the self portraits that I've taken (horror) that my face is very unsymmetrical. I hate that! But I never thought much about seeing in pictures what colors work and what colors don't. I'll have to look at that!

I guess I'd rather continue to think that mirrors are more accurate though - I see less faults there!

 

[Septemba]

I'm torn on this. Sometimes I feel like a mirror in natural light is the best representation, but it's whenever I take a photo in natural light that I can see what needs work, like psycho eyebrows or blush too strong.

 

[Skin*Deep]

I vote for which ever one makes me look better!! haha
I've always wondered this myself. I think some of it has to do with distance, really your reflection is twice the distance away from you as you are to your mirror, with a photo your image is as far as you are from your camera. closer you can see more flaws. this is my theory anyway.....artificial light and natural light mess with me too, I do my makeup in front of a large window at home, and when I get to work under the fluorescent lights, it always looks different, usually it looks more washed out. Now I'm eager to see what everyone else thinks......

 

[iadoremac]

i think a mirror is better especiallyunder natural light, cameras IMO are a bit complicated with the flash and no flash etc

 

[M.A.C. head.]

I'd say the mirror, especially when you're using natural lighting.

A photo is a pixelated image, it's two dimensional, and it's often warped by things like angles, lighting, focus, etc.

Two nights ago I was trying to take pictures of my make up for a challenge here on the site, and I must have been trying for 45 mins to get all of the camera settings just the way I needed them so that I could take an "accurate" picture. When I checked myself in the mirror, I thought I looked great, that I had done a great job with my make up. In the photos, the lip gloss looked like ALL shine, my lips looked crooked, my neck looked weird LOL And so on. I just trust the mirror because I'm not one to lie to myself, and I'm generally pleased when I check myself in the mirror, if not, I tweak it until I am.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I think I look fine in either, but the thing with photographs is they're dependent upon many camera settings, lighting, and angle. Also, they're around much longer to obsess over.

 

[Simply Elegant]

Definitely the mirror. Even with a really good camera with all of the settings properly set, you can still manage to take one that looks inaccurate. If you take a picure of yourself without the self timer standing far enough away, you can make your features look exaggerated and out of proportion for example. I think the mirror is most accurate, then video, then camera.

 

[nunu]

I would go for mirror, because in pictures the flash can be so harsh that it changes/washes a person out. It can also make things look brighter than what they really are.

Example: Russian red lipstick is a matte, when i took some pictures of me wearing it the flash altered its colour and made it seem like i was wearing a gloss when i wasn't.

 

[florabundance]

Mirror!
Camera's pixelate your face, and that doesn't work in favour of some people. Also, lighting, angles etc.

 

[User93]

I really hope that's mirror, cause Im not photogenic at all... anti-photogenic.. I always look really wierd in fotos :/

 

[NatalieMT]

I heard, now I don't know if this is wholly correct, that they most accurate image of yourself is your reflection in a window, then secondly in the mirror then last of all in a photograph.

I think I look so different in the flesh than I do in photographs so I really hope the above is 100% true.

 

[browneyedbaby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatalieMT I heard, now I don't know if this is wholly correct, that they most accurate image of yourself is your reflection in a window, then secondly in the mirror then last of all in a photograph. I think I look so different in the flesh than I do in photographs so I really hope the above is 100% true.

Interesting! I hope that's true too

 

[wifey806]

i always thought mirrors don't give a true reflection..? Is it like in PhotoShop type of programs where you can swap a pic to its "mirror image"? Cuz in pics I'm like "that's how people see me??"

heck, maybe high def video is best lol :*)

 

[User35]

im glad other girls think about this. Lol i thought i was a freakazoid or something. I like my face and hair best in a mirror, my body sucks in both though.

 

[luvsic]

I feeeeel the pain of not being photogenic. There are rarely any existing pictures of me that I like, because I feel like the lighting on cameras really washes out my face and features (with flash) and no flash can look odd in different lightings. I have to take hundreds of pictures to find like, 3 I like sometimes! I think I look best in natural lighting, honestly. But I've found the angle I look best in pictures, so I'm stickin' too that :/ ... we can't all be models who look good at every angle, after all. I'm trying to accept that..

What I heard is that people look most accurate on video settings, since it's not necessarily 2D and you are moving and such, so it's how other people see you...to certain extents

meh, I still think I look better in person... I know a girl who is so pretty in pictures, but in person she really doesn't look all that great. That's why some models look awesome through the lense but can look completely different in real life. Some people are photogenic and some are not - as for me though, I'd rather look great in person than on camera.

OK, do any of you ladies have this problem? For my prom that was 2 years ago, my dad took these SUPER high definition photos of me and I looked misrably bad in all of them - you could see my disgusting skin and all of my bad features just seemed to pop out...like my nose looked huge and my hair looked really greasy. They were just bad pictures over all. Do high definition cameras make you look worse?? I feel like with the right lighting and hair/makeup you can look alright, otherwise you have the potential to look like a train wreck...or at least I do. :/

 

[Lyssah]

I have to agree with everyone else. Mirror! I dunno what it is about the camera but nothing looks as good as it does in real life.. I even apply that when taking photos of my bf.

To make sure, I always check two mirrors before leaving the house... Bathroom and the car!! I sometimes take photos but like everyone said, It never looks very good or accurate (at least that's what I'm believing!).