Why are you so beautiful in the mirror, but can’t bear to look directly in the front camera? Which is real?

I don’t know if you have such experience:

Every time I look in the mirror after taking a shower, I feel so radiant that I even swell up to the point where I think I can get into the draft if I pack it up.

But as soon as I take a selfie with the front camera, it will—

(Source: Internet)

Frightened to doubt life:

Are we really as ugly as pictured? Or is it our true appearance in the mirror?

Today, Zhimei will answer the doubts of Yui Aragaki and Benzu Wu!

You look better in the mirror, probably because the mirror itself has a certain “beauty” effect:

“Beauty” Tip 1: Mere-Exposure Effect

This is a psychological effect, which simply means that we are more likely to develop a favorable impression of familiar people or things[1].

For example, some girls’ first impression of their boyfriend may be “ordinary”, but after a long time of contact, they will unconsciously become “Actually, he is quite handsome. “, and finally sublimated into “Xishi in the eyes of the beholder”.

Another “chestnut” is that if an advertisement is exposed a lot, even after a long time, when you plan to buy similar products, the brand will still be very powerful, and the first time Get into your heart, occupy your mind[2].

Similarly, you prefer yourself in the mirror, probably because of “love over time”.

In daily life, we mainly face ourselves in the mirror. At this time, the image is turned left and right, whether it is acne, bangs or face shape.

(Source: explainthatstuff)

But in the photo, it’s all upside down, and there’s a subtle sense of disobedience when we realize that the self in the photo is not the same as the self in the mind. , I think the photo looks weird.

(Source: Internet)

Slight differences between the left and right faces can also be magnified by flipping, giving us discomfort and dissonance strong>.

(Source: imgur)

“Beauty” Secret 2: The Mystery of Light – You Are Brighter in the Mirror

We all know that the upper limit of a person’s appearance may exist in perfect lighting.

When looking in a mirror, most of the light reflected from the mirror hits our face, making our face appear more “duang”, brighter, and more beautiful. Bai Nen is also prone to have “little stars” in his eyes, which makes him look more radiant.

Furthermore, the tiles, marble floors, etc. in the toilet are good “lighters“, and their light is usually softer and brighter than the light of a flash. Comfortable, it can work together with the light of the mirror to weaken the shadows of uneven blemishes such as acne pits and wrinkles, and make the face look more comfortable.It’s smoother.

(Source: Sprout Video)

One ​​sentence summary: The closer you are to the camera when taking a selfie, the easier it is to look ugly.

(Source: Internet)

There are about 120 million rod cells and 6-8 million cone cells in the human eye that are responsible for light-sensing, and the brain is also involved in imaging, which is equivalent to a zoom A camera with fast, accurate, and powerful post-processing capabilities.

The “near big and far small” in human eye imaging,

Distortion is well controlled

(Source: Washington Post)

But with most phone cameras at close range, “closer and farther” will be noticeable.

“closer and farther” under the lens

(Source: Washington Post)

At this time, the eyes, cheekbones, nose, etc. that are closer to the lens will become wider than they actually are, while the ears that are farther away from the lens will become smaller, appearing “big nose” collapse”.

(Source: Washington Post)

This is why when we take group photos, we all strive to stand in the C position far away from the camera!

In addition to this, the Frozen Face Effect can also make you look ugly in photos[3].

The so-called “frozen face effect” means that people generally look better in moving pictures than in still pictures[3].

A typical example would be watching a movie/television and suddenly finding an actor that makes you look better than a poster or promotional photo.

(Image source: Global News)

There are also some people whose faces are very easy to freeze when taking pictures, and they are always “frozen” at the moment when their expressions are very bad, and often the real person is better than the photo.

As for why there is the “frozen face effect“, it is not clear for the time being, it may be because the human “facial recognition system” itself evolved to process dynamic faces , and the camera was only invented in recent times [4,5]; in addition, when we look at still photos, we are more likely to have the mentality of “finding faults”, and we can’t help but savor the flaws in each pixel.

In general, our true appearance is not as beautiful as in the mirror, but! It also definitely beats the face value of the front camera!

If you want to take a good-looking selfie, try the following tips:

Don’t get too close to the camera when taking selfies, try to keep your facein the middle of the screen;

See if the face shape is more suitable for the horizontal screen or the vertical screen, the left face or the right face, which side is more photogenic, and which side is facing the camera;

Don’t shoot with top light. In addition to the main light, you can study different angles of lighting to see which angle of light is more suitable for your facial muscle lines. If you think the light is too hard, you can Try applying diffuser paper to the light source; if shooting in daylight, the light from 3-4 pm is usually the best;

Use actions or small props to cover up small defects, such as cheek support, dolls, etc. to modify the face.

Reviewer: Liu Qiang| Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center

References

[1]Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 9, 1C27. doi: 10.1037/h0025848

[2]Yagi Y, Inoue K. The Contribution of Attention to the Mere Exposure Effect for Parts of Advertising Images. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1635. Published 2018 Sep 5. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01635

[3]Post RB, Haberman J, Iwaki L, Whitney D. The frozen face effect: why static photographs may not do you justice. Front Psychol. 2012 Feb 20;3:22. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00022. PMID: 22363302; PMCID: PMC3282501.

[4]Winkielman, P., Halberstadt, J., Fazendeiro, T., and Catty, S. (2006). Prototypes are attractive because they are easy on the mind. Psychol. Sci. 17, 799C806.

[5]Winkielman, P., Schwarz, N., Fazendeiro, T., and Reber, R. (2003). “The hedonic marking of processing fluency: implications for evaluative judgment, ” in The Psychology of Evaluation: Affective Processes in Cognition and Emotion, eds J. Musch and K. C. Klauer (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), 189C217.

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