This Is Why You Look Worse in Photos Than in Person

Strangers sorted forty photos of two women, and most often they saw nine people. Here's what decides how pretty you look to them. The camera's distance, your mirror, a real laugh, the makeup you stop at, and what changes when people get time with you instead of a photo: each with the study behind it and one thing to try tonight. Chapters: 00:00 Nine piles 00:39 Arm's length 01:46 Laugh, don't pose 03:10 Whose hands 04:52 The face you put on 06:13 Thirty-six minutes 07:20 The people who know you 08:49 Two frames More guides:    / @tenpercentprettier   Ten Percent Prettier: small upgrades, real science, no gatekeeping. Nothing here is medical advice: for anything about your health or a skin condition, talk to a dermatologist or a doctor. Sources: Nasal Distortion in Short-Distance Photographs: The Selfie Effect (Ward, Ward, Fried, Paskhover): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29494... Differential effects of makeup on perceived age (Russell et al.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30073... Perceptions of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles: A meta-analysis (Gunnery, Ruben): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25787... Physical attractiveness perceptions in small groups: Associations with extraversion, smiling, and speaking time (Bowdring et al.): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42017... Miscalibrations in judgements of attractiveness with cosmetics: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24670... Mirror, mirror on the wall: enhancement in self-recognition: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18550... Reversed facial images and the mere-exposure hypothesis (Mita, Dermer, Knight): https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.35.... A beginner's guide to portrait photography (using your phone): https://www.adobe.com/express/learn/b... Take a selfie on iPhone: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphon... Selfie Indulgence: Self-Favoring Biases in Perceptions of Selfies: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1... Variability in photos of the same face: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2... The Face Zoom Effect Is Back on TikTok: https://www.distractify.com/p/face-zo... Faces in photos are hard to tell apart (Jenkins et al. 2011 coverage): https://sciencenews.org/?p=7970 Telling faces together: learning new faces through exposure to multiple instances (Andrews, Jenkins, Cursiter & Burton): https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014... Makeup makes older faces look younger, and younger faces look older: https://www.scientificamerican.com/bl... Study Finds That Make-Up Ages You – But Only Up to A Certain Point: https://harpersbazaar.my/beauty/study... Choosing face: The curse of self in profile image selection: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-017-00... The effect of nonphysical traits on the perception of physical attractiveness: Three naturalistic studies: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(04... Credits: A woman with eyes closed bathed in light by Eze Joseph (@justbeingblythe) (Unsplash License) https://unsplash.com/photos/a-woman-w... A woman with freckles and her hand on her lips by bahareh moradian (@bahar_mr) (Unsplash License) https://unsplash.com/photos/a-woman-w... Close portrait of woman with bokeh by Fleur Kaan (@fleuraimeekaan) (Unsplash License) https://unsplash.com/photos/close-por... Portrait of woman face by Kamila Maciejewska (@the_change_designer) (Unsplash License) https://unsplash.com/photos/portrait-... Woman portrait with closed eyes through glass by Sunny Ng (@sunnysmng) (Unsplash License) https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-por... Licensed stock from Envato Elements: 176 picture or clips. Images may be cropped, scaled or color-adjusted for the edit. Music: original score generated for this video #glowup #photogenic #sciencebased