i feel like i don't know what i look like

[Guest milkychew]

seriously; anyone else feel this way??

i seriously feel like i don't know what i look like. i mean, i go to one mirror, and then i look completely different in the other. then i take a picture of myself with one camera, and i take a look at my friend's camera and i look better/worse. for example, when i take a picture of myself with my camera, i look really nice, but then i take my mom's camera and i look the same, but a lot uglier. i mean, the difference is subtle, so naturally you can tell it's still me in the picture, but UGHHH i'm sure others have experienced the same thing. i don't know which to trust. i know it has to do with lighting and all that, but the lighting is different everywhere!!! which one is *true* lighting (lol don't know if that makes sense) i'm sorry, i really had to rant because it's been driving me nuts. i know this topic sounds stupid because it is lol! but i was just wondering if anyone else feels the same???? i need someone to identify with ;_;

i've been contemplating taking an array of photos and asking a friend which resembles me both, but 1.) i'm afraid she'll think i'm fishing for compliments and point out the best looking one and 2.) i'm embarrased by such a shallow question haha. so which do you guys trust the most? mirror, camera, or video cam? i guess maybe be a bit specific like angle, lighting, w/ flash, etc. I suppose this may be a difficult question to answer cause everyone's different, but it's worth a try =)

EDIT: also, regarding cameras, what do you guys think is truer- with flash, or without flash? i personally think without flash is because when i use flash, i look relatively the same with or without makeup. but when i take it without flash, i can see a big difference from when i wear makeup versus without makeup (which there *should* be because i wear pretty dark eyeliner). but i want to hear what other people think =)

[Guest prokofiev]

I feel like I don't know what I look like, but for me it's a matter of perception as opposed to mirror/video/cam. S: Not very helpful, sorry... but you're not the only one who feels like that! XD;;

[Guest Verso]

I know exactly what you're saying. I think it's because we pay such closer to our own details than we do to others. For example, you can probably recall a friend's face, but probably not to the extent that you'd examine your own in a mirror.

I also have this problem with my skin tone (except others have pointed it out too, interestingly enough). I generally wear dark colors, but sometimes my skin looks really pale and really dark at other times.

[~ BunnyliciouS ~]

i think a video camera shows your true self.

Mirrors show different things, like those mirrors at the carnival. One makes yourself look fat, other makes you look very skinny, etc etc

I recently made a hair video tutorial, using an HD Flip video camera. My face looks round/chubby in the video T_T

But when I see myself in the mirror, my face is slightly more oval-ish.

I asked my hubby about my video, "Does my face have always been round like that?", he said, ".. yeah."

*depressed*

[Guest milkychew]

prokofiev: yea, i know what you mean, one of the reasons i don't really trust a mirror is because i feel like people will either 1.) be too critical and see too much of what no one else notices or 2.) only look at good features and see something that is a lot better looking than reality. perception is tricky =_= good to know i'm not alone though =)

verso: mmm yep i agree we definitely pay a lot more attention to our own details than others, and it can be incredibly misleading! and i actually have the same thing with my skintone, sometimes i look pale, sometimes i look tan?? stupid lighting =_=

[Guest riceasaurr]

Haha, this happens to me ALL the time.

I look in the mirror on a good day, and I like what I see. So I whip out my camera for fun.

Then when I look back at the pictures, I think "that's not what I saw in the mirror."

But when I saw a video of myself, it looked more like the "real me."

If that makes any sense, haha.

So I guess, I prefer video (:

[Guest milkychew]

bunnylicious: mmhmm, i read others like video cam too because it shows all the angles of the face or something. and yea, mirrors can be so frustrating!! you don't know which to trust ;_; and just for the record, i watched part of that video (nice tutorial btw ^^) and i didn't think your face looked chubby at all =)

I look in the mirror on a good day, and I like what I see. So I whip out my camera for fun.

Then when I look back at the pictures, I think "that's not what I saw in the mirror."

But when I saw a video of myself, it looked more like the "real me."

If that makes any sense, haha.

So I guess, I prefer video (:

OMG THIS SO MUCH!!! this is exactly what i go through whenever i feel like i'm having a good day too!! i take pics, and look from the camera to the mirror and i'm like wth?? and then i take a video and i like it better lol :P

[Guest yujun]

yes. i don't really know how i look like.

i know how my friends, or other people look like. when i think of them, an image will form in my mind.

but when i think of my own face, i really can't 'create' an image in my mind. i wish i could, like how i can think of others' faces.

yes and i feel look so different everywhere, from different pictures, to different videos, and in the mirror. it feels like i don't have a certain look.

[Guest keroppi88]

yeh i get this feeling a lot

every time i would ask my mum

hey am i as tall as that guy? 'points'

cuz im 186 or even taller, yet i hav no idea how tall i am in other ppl's perspectives XD

it's kinda funny tho

[Guest soompier1]

erm ... what? how can you all not know what you look like? just look in the mirror and .... that's your face. you look like that idk

[Guest woei]

haha, it happens all the time..

sometimes i like my hair, and sometimes i don't

sometimes i think i look good, sometimes i think i don't

haha :)

[BoAFriend]

I think everything is all psychological, since you yourself have a different perception of how you look, as opposed to what other people see.

Like me for example...I always don't look that good when I take pictures of myself. But sometimes in some shots of me taken by other people, I feel I don't look that bad.

Also, I always think my face looks normal when I look in the mirror, but in pictures I always think my face looks all uneven and crooked. In this case, it has to do with the fact that the reflection in the mirror is in real time motion and obviously a reverse image of how I really look. And pictures on the other hand, are still motion.

So mirror, video, and pictures are all different forms of action and capture, thus many times we think we look different in each form.

But at the very end, I think video is the most accurate depiction of how we truly look in real life because it shows us as how other people see us. But of course, our own perception of how we look may be somewhat distorted, since we notice every minute detail about ourselves, details other people otherwise wouldn't notice.

[Guest vesp]

idk what to trust

sometimes i look pretty in the mirror and ugly on camera D: but when i look at my friends in the mirror and camera, they look the same :lol:

[BoAFriend]

idk what to trust

sometimes i look pretty in the mirror and ugly on camera D: but when i look at my friends in the mirror and camera, they look the same

I have that exact same phenomenon. Whenever I see my friends (or heck, anyone's) reflection in the mirror, I think they still look relatively the same as they appear to me in person or on camera.

This is where I think the whole psychological aspect comes in, esp the one about us being so familiar with every detail of our faces.

[Guest Wyrmaeon]

This happens on lots of people including me

There are actually some reason why you look different from time to time. From the object you delivers your image. eg. camera(is the quality of the camera good enough? and of course the photographer is he/she that good to take the job) The light of the sun or whatever you call it also affects us. Your skin type, is it oily? Oily skin after a lots of works can mess your face, no wonder. Your hair style, is it asymmetrical? tell someone to look at you, at the second time tell him to look at you in the mirror. Ask him- any difference?

[Guest milkychew]

yujun: i definitely know what you're talking about, i'll think about my friends and i can clearly picture each of them, but when i think of myself an array of different images pop in my head, like how i look at my home mirror, my pictures, on video cam, etc. and i don't know which is true!!!!

keroppi88: lol that's interesting, i wasn't really thinking about height but it's true! i mean sometimes you'll look at a short person and you're like, yea, they're definitely 5'1". but then you see someone else who's the same height and you're like what?? they look so much taller! i guess that just has to do with body build and type =)

soompier1: lol i wish it was that simple but for me, i swear to god i look *really* different from mirror to mirror. i mean, you can always tell it's me, but it's this subtle difference between nice-looking and ugly. i think i just have weird features that make it so, like bone structure, nose, etc. ugh so frustrating >_<

woei: haha that's true, sometimes we look different in the mirror because something is different haha

boafriend: yea, i agree that there's a lot of psychology in all this. i don't know if this is what you mean, but i notice on my "good" days, i will go to a mirror expecting to see some goddess, and am obviously let down. so the next time i go to the mirror, i expect to see something really ugly and plain, but since my expectations are so low, i see something better and i feel i look nice again. sorry if that's confusing =_=

vesp: haha! i totally do the same thing, i sneak a peek at my friend's reflection if we're looking at the same mirror, or i check to see if they look relatively the same in real life as they do in the pic. and they usually do which is kind of discouraging =_= but then in that case we're usually being nitpicky about ourselves

wyrmaeon: yea, little things like that can make all the difference when it comes to appearance, i agree. i would ask a friend to do that, but... well, my friends are kind of awkward when i try to ask about beauty or advice on appearance. i mean, even just a simple question, 'does this scarf suit me?' denotes an awkward (and automatic) response of '...yea?' it sucks T_T so that's why i've come to soompi for advice lol

[Guest soompier1]

could be psychological, I don't know anyone who I think looks different in a mirror than in person.

As for photos, I don't think it's ever a signficant difference, it can be with a certain angle but overall still not,

People I've encountered who say that they look horrible in a specific photo, usually had the expression/look during the taking of the photo as well or just look like that all the time. idk not very encouraging but that's just IMO

[Guest riceasaurr]

could be psychological, I don't know anyone who I think looks different in a mirror than in person.

As for photos, I don't think it's ever a signficant difference, it can be with a certain angle but overall still not,

People I've encountered who say that they look horrible in a specific photo, usually had the expression/look during the taking of the photo as well or just look like that all the time. idk not very encouraging but that's just IMO

I think for the camera, it's just how people have certain angles that make them look good, and others that make them look bad > <

I know I do, which is why I tend to shy away from the camera.

Whereas, video cameras get a more 3D view of a person, so you're not just looking at one angle, but the entire person, which is similar to a mirror :D

[Guest vlaric]

There was a soompi thread on how the reversing nature of non- true mirrors makes it so that you concentrate on the side of your face that people don't actually care about subconsciously or something.

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=282531

Since then I've come to trust pictures of me with cameras only. If you're wondering which one looks the most accurate based on the camera photos, you should probably take a bunch of the same picture of you with different cameras and ask others what looks the most like you.

A high quality video camera would probably yield the most accurate results though, because you get all of the depth included within your features instead of the kind of 'flat' dimensions that you get with photos.

[Guest riceasaurr]

^ Well that sucks then.

Because I look horrible in 99.9% of pictures D: