Users often turn to photo editing apps before they even upload and filter their pictures on Instagram.
Fashion and beauty blogger Marianna Hewitt recently uploaded a tutorial on her YouTube channel, spotted by Cosmopolitan, where she gave away her picture editing secrets with her four favorite apps: Facetune, VSCO Cam, Pic Frame, and Faded.
In my opinion, this was the biggest difference in her before and after pictures. I immediately wanted to try it myself.
I chose a flattering photo I had taken a few weeks ago and uploaded it to Facetune. I had thought about posting it to Instagram, but something about it wasn't quite right.
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I tapped on the Details feature and zoomed in on my eye. In the tutorial, Hewitt rubbed her finger around the eye and everything becomes a fit sharper - blacks appear blacker, contrast is enhanced, and whites seem whiter. Here's the before and after in my picture:
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I zoomed out so I could see what it looked like. My right eye suddenly looked striking while my left eye looked dull.
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I finished both eyes, and this was my result:
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And here are the side by side pictures.
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I was really impressed with Hewitt's photo editing trick. Unlike some body modifying apps like Spring which made me feel uncomfortably narcissistic, increasing the detail around my eyes didn't seem like a big deal. It was similar to how I'd feel about blurring the background in an image to bring attention to the forefront, only instead of blurring, I was sharpening my features.
Though I don't think I'd go to the trouble to open the app and edit myself every time I wanted to post a picture, it was pretty appealing that with a few swipes I drew attention to one of my favorite assets and it made my photo look professionally edited.