Why does my face look MUCH better in the mirror than in selfies or ID photos?

[Jingthing]

I just searched for this and found this is very common!

Are you have the same experience?

I'm not talking about a minor difference.

Looking at my face in the mirror, I'd want to smash me.

Looking at my face in selfies, etc. and I feel truly horrified and just want to look away.

I have no idea which is closer to the truth.

It makes a difference how we approach the world as to how we FEEL like we look like.

Well, I don't know which version to believe.

I'm not talking only about age per se, but I have had people tell me I look 25 younger (not talk about "sexy man" talking bar workers).

It's more like in the mirror still cute, in photos ugly city.

Speaking of age, I recall similar feelings of photographing badly when I was a young man, but not as dramatic a difference.

[Cameroni]

Unattractive people think they are more attractive than they are, while attractive people underrate their attractiveness

 

New research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology suggests that unattractive people are largely unaware of how unattractive they are.

Psychology research shows that people, overall, tend to rate themselves as more physically attractive than strangers rate them. However, it seems that not everyone overestimates their attractiveness to an equal degree. A series of studies conducted by researcher Tobias Greitemeyer explored the possibility that unattractive people are more likely to hold exaggerated ideas of their attractiveness than attractive people are.

 

In an initial study, Greitemeyer had participants rate their physical attractiveness while two strangers inconspicuously also rated each subject’s attractiveness. The results showed that subjects, overall, overestimated their own attractiveness. However, the extent to which subjects inflated their attractiveness was associated with subjects’ objective attractiveness.

Specifically, those who were among the least attractive in the sample overestimated their attractiveness the most, while those who were the most attractive actually underestimated their attractiveness.

 

 

https://www.psypost.org/unattractive-people-think-they-are-more-attractive-than-they-are-while-attractive-people-underrate-their-attractiveness/

[hotsun]

4 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

Unattractive people think they are more attractive than they are, while attractive people underrate their attractiveness

 

New research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology suggests that unattractive people are largely unaware of how unattractive they are.

Psychology research shows that people, overall, tend to rate themselves as more physically attractive than strangers rate them. However, it seems that not everyone overestimates their attractiveness to an equal degree. A series of studies conducted by researcher Tobias Greitemeyer explored the possibility that unattractive people are more likely to hold exaggerated ideas of their attractiveness than attractive people are.

 

In an initial study, Greitemeyer had participants rate their physical attractiveness while two strangers inconspicuously also rated each subject’s attractiveness. The results showed that subjects, overall, overestimated their own attractiveness. However, the extent to which subjects inflated their attractiveness was associated with subjects’ objective attractiveness.

Specifically, those who were among the least attractive in the sample overestimated their attractiveness the most, while those who were the most attractive actually underestimated their attractiveness.

 

 

https://www.psypost.org/unattractive-people-think-they-are-more-attractive-than-they-are-while-attractive-people-underrate-their-attractiveness/

Modest looking thai women tend to wear those ugly looking soccer shirts that goes down to their waist. The ones always on the hunt dress sexy

[simon43]

If you want your face to look younger/more handsome, lie on your back on the floor and take the photo - being in this position minimises the effects of gravity pulling down your face tissue.

 

I tried it and it works - see my photo!

 

 

[bunnydrops]

2 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

Unattractive people think they are more attractive than they are, while attractive people underrate their attractiveness

 

New research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology suggests that unattractive people are largely unaware of how unattractive they are.

Psychology research shows that people, overall, tend to rate themselves as more physically attractive than strangers rate them. However, it seems that not everyone overestimates their attractiveness to an equal degree. A series of studies conducted by researcher Tobias Greitemeyer explored the possibility that unattractive people are more likely to hold exaggerated ideas of their attractiveness than attractive people are.

 

In an initial study, Greitemeyer had participants rate their physical attractiveness while two strangers inconspicuously also rated each subject’s attractiveness. The results showed that subjects, overall, overestimated their own attractiveness. However, the extent to which subjects inflated their attractiveness was associated with subjects’ objective attractiveness.

Specifically, those who were among the least attractive in the sample overestimated their attractiveness the most, while those who were the most attractive actually underestimated their attractiveness.

 

 

https://www.psypost.org/unattractive-people-think-they-are-more-attractive-than-they-are-while-attractive-people-underrate-their-attractiveness/

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

https://www.instagram.com/meldcole/p/CZh6MYuFtEm/?hl=en&img_index=3

[Mitker]

I think it is due to the proximity of the 'capturing device' (and the light conditions) and the distortion it creates

The shorter the distance, the worse the distortion of the image
Typically, a selfie will be an arm length away
A mirror will usually be quite further and the 'image' will do a return trip from your face back to your eyes, so double this distance : your appearance will be much closer to the reality
(plus, typically, mirrors are placed in an environment with favorable lighting)

my 50 cents


 

[phetphet]

See. The mirror does lie after all. 😁

[JackGats]

I think there might be an objective reason for this anomaly.

 

When people look at themselves in the mirror, they instinctively adjust their posture to their best angle.

 

When I curse at hot girls not giving me the time of day in Pattaya, I only need to look at a random picture (or worse still, video) of myself for a reality check.

[Cameroni]

A mirror is a 3 D image that is dynamic.

 

A photo is a 2 D snapshot in time.

[Cameroni]

19 minutes ago, hotsun said:

Modest looking thai women tend to wear those ugly looking soccer shirts that goes down to their waist. The ones always on the hunt dress sexy

 

It may also have to do with attractiveness, if a girl knows she is really attractive, she's actually more okay with wearing unflattering clothes because she knows her natural attractiveness makes her good looking no matter what. Whereas less attractive girls try their hardest to compensate. 

 

But then if less atttractive girls think they're not unattractive, that blows that out of the water.

[StreetCowboy]

57 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I just searched for this and found this is very common!

Are you have the same experience?

I'm not talking about a minor difference.

Looking at my face in the mirror, I'd want to smash me.

Looking at my face in selfies, etc. and I feel truly horrified and just want to look away.

I have no idea which is closer to the truth.

It makes a difference how we approach the world as to how we FEEL like we look like.

Well, I don't know which version to believe.

I'm not talking only about age per se, but I have had people tell me I look 25 younger (not talk about "sexy man" talking bar workers).

It's more like in the mirror still cute, in photos ugly city.

Speaking of age, I recall similar feelings of photographing badly when I was a young man, but not as dramatic a difference.

The camera never lies…

[StreetCowboy]

23 minutes ago, simon43 said:

If you want your face to look younger/more handsome, lie on your back on the floor and take the photo - being in this position minimises the effects of gravity pulling down your face tissue.

 

I tried it and it works - see my photo!

 

 

Being able to touch your toes always makes you look younger

[Ralf001]

28 minutes ago, hotsun said:

Modest looking thai women tend to wear those ugly looking soccer shirts that goes down to their waist. The ones always on the hunt dress sexy

those soccer shirts go good I reckon... even moreso if they go some dirt between their toes still.

[gamb00ler]

31 minutes ago, Mitker said:

I think it is due to the proximity of the 'capturing device' (and the light conditions) and the distortion it creates

The shorter the distance, the worse the distortion of the image
Typically, a selfie will be an arm length away
A mirror will usually be quite further and the 'image' will do a return trip from your face back to your eyes, so double this distance : your appearance will be much closer to the reality
(plus, typically, mirrors are placed in an environment with favorable lighting)

my 50 cents

I think that you're on the right track.

 

I would opine that the depth of field available in most photographs does not compare to the depth of field that the eye can perceive in the mirror.  The information available to the brain from most photographs does not yield a natural look, but the image in the mirror does.

[SAFETY FIRST]

9 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

those soccer shirts go good I reckon... 

I agree.

 

The girlfriend walks around the house in one, all naked underneath, nothing else, it's sexy. 

 

[StreetCowboy]

4 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I agree.

 

The girlfriend walks around the house in one, all naked underneath, nothing else, it's sexy. 

 

There’s no panty line, so you can imagine there’s nothing underneath.  Same as the Russian girls’ fur coats. Or the burkas.

[JustinT]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

I just searched for this and found this is very common!

Are you have the same experience?

I'm not talking about a minor difference.

Looking at my face in the mirror, I'd want to smash me.

Looking at my face in selfies, etc. and I feel truly horrified and just want to look away.

I have no idea which is closer to the truth.

Photos can't perfectly reproduce what your brain sees.  Shadows are particularly difficult for a camera to reproduce because when you look at yourself in the mirror your eye is constantly adjusting and your brain is constantly interpreting as you look at varying shadows and well lit areas of your face.  It's usually the shadows and lighting that makes you look worse in photos.

[david555]

Maybe the reason is simple ....camera can not lie ,our brain can do that easy ....especially on our selves......555

[impulse]

Being the only foreigner at a lot of trade shows and airports in China, I get asked to do a lot of selfies. 

 

Recently, I've looked amazingly young on some of them because of smartphone camera tech that shaves year off my old fart face and bald head.  I don't know what setting they're using, but it's spooky.

 

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Looking at my face in the mirror, I'd want to smash me.

So, you look like Trump? 555

[Cameroni]

15 minutes ago, impulse said:

Recently, I've looked amazingly young on some of them because of smartphone camera tech that shaves year off my old fart face and bald head.  I don't know what setting they're using, but it's spooky.

 

Some of the girls on dating apps use that technology. They look like zombie dolls, you can spot it a mile away.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

If you want your face to look younger/more handsome, lie on your back on the floor and take the photo - being in this position minimises the effects of gravity pulling down your face tissue.

 

I tried it and it works - see my photo!

 

 

That diaper looks suspiciously full.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, StreetCowboy said:

The camera never lies…

Oh yes it does these AI days.

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

Some of the girls on dating apps use that technology. They look like zombie dolls, you can spot it a mile away.

 

When I was a kid, it took a lot of beer to make some of them look okay to go...

 

[Lacessit]

I only look in the mirror when I am shaving.

[bunnydrops]

Also since our faces are not symmetric, we believe the image in the mirror is how the world views us. I guess you could test this by holding a photo of yourself up to the mirror to see if the image looks better.

[scubascuba3]

It's a thing 

[Cameroni]

2 hours ago, Mitker said:

I think it is due to the proximity of the 'capturing device' (and the light conditions) and the distortion it creates

The shorter the distance, the worse the distortion of the image
Typically, a selfie will be an arm length away
A mirror will usually be quite further and the 'image' will do a return trip from your face back to your eyes, so double this distance : your appearance will be much closer to the reality
(plus, typically, mirrors are placed in an environment with favorable lighting)

my 50 cents


 

 

Nah, it's definitely not that. Because I look awful in photos even when they're taken at distance. But then because like Jingthing, I'm incredibly attractive, so I'm probably just underestimating my sex appeal.

[dinsdale]

Let's guess what the next useless thread from @Jingthing will be. Maybe something about why his meat and two veg is tiny.

[Jingthing]

Me:

I photograph badly.

Snide observer:

Maybe you're just ugly

 

You know as an older gentleman I don't really feel any psychological need to have a lovely face. Heck in the gay world you're basically over at 30. I didn't even expect to live past 30 so its all gravy now. But I would still like to know if the real me is mirror or pic.