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This has been the bane of my feminine existence for a long time. I sit down in front of a mirror with good lighting, apply makeup and feel GOOD about the way I look. Walk to the closet and throw on an outfit and pass another mirror. Wait, who's that? That's not me, is it? I looked so much better in the other mirror. I then walk into the bathroom and check there. Still another version of my look. This is not how I envisioned myself looking. I take a selfie to reassure myself that the makeup mirror version is the true version. Nope...where did all those wrinkles come from? (To be honest, even in male mode I don't take a great picture for some reason).
I think that is why I shy away from going out. I don't truly know how I look. Am I blinded by the joy I get from applying the makeup in front of that mirror? Is that version altered by my mind's eye? All the lighting and the mirrors are different in this house! How do I know how I actually look?
Now, I admit, I used an AI photo editor to "tweak" away the lines and wrinkles in my profile pic, but it's pretty close to the way I see myself in that makeup mirror. I hope that the other mirrors are just deceitful liars!
@dannydior301 I use AI to try different hair lengths, colours and also to dream of being 25 again. I'll always regret not trying makeup when I was 25 but I can't go back in time.
Dare I say it, I scrub up reasonably well for a 52 year old bloke with a penchant for A-line dresses but I'm never going to be a beauty but I like to think I don't look too bad in the mirror.
As regards passing - I'm too tall and too big.
yeah, I hear you ...........when I dress up and come on CDH, I feel like the young, short sexy girl with long hair down her back, wearing short skirt and bare shoulder blouses .........then glance into the mirror and see an old guy in a dress ............then my mind's eye flips and see a cute girl ...............ha! Life in the closet ..........fantasy and reality.
Lighting definitely has an effect. That's why there is daytime makeup, evening makeup, TV makeup, or stage makeup. Evening makeup isn't just bolder, it's made to stand out in lower lighting situations. So room (diffused daylight) lighting, hallway closet lighting (usually darker), and bathroom lighting will make you look different.
As for photographs, it captures an instant in time, whereas your eye catches a continuous moment. So there are tricks photographers use to make better photos. Lighting, background, poses, angles (turning to a side so you don't look as big), smiling to tighten up the face, chin out and head angle to tighten up the neck and make yourself more attractive.
Unless you're a makeup artist, you're not likely to achieve perfection. If you smile and show confidence in who you are, people aren't going to see the flaws, they'll see your personality.
My wife and I have this discussion all the time when we see people wearing outlandish or terrible fitting clothing. She would always say, "don't they have a mirror"? The truth is the mirror is not a true reflection of how you look. It is more of a one-dimensional image of how you look.
I am one of those husbands who will always tell my wife that something doesn't look good on her. Different bodies and different shapes don't always 'wear' clothing the same. When I first started to dress and amass my own closet of clothing, my wife would usually roll her eyes when I showed her an outfit I put together. I wanted her opinion, but I seldom got a sincere response.
My solution was to take pictures of my outfits with a camera. She made fun of me until I took a picture of her in something she wanted to wear but it did not look good on her. She admitted that pictures are more truthful than the mirror. I actually have a Flickr account that I refer to as my 'virtual closet', specifically to decide on which outfits to keep. It is surprising how many outfits I put on and absolutely adore in the mirror, only to eliminate them when I see them in pictures. The other surprising thing is that some outfits just feel amazing and sexy when I put them on, but that does not transfer to pictures.
My wife still occasionally rolls her eyes as I walk by her, based on what I am wearing, but totally understands why I take pictures of every outfit I try on.
Mirrors are ok for the setting up of makeup and/or clothing but it's a mirror image that other people are not going to see. You need to take photographs, or preferably video, to see how you are really going to look to the outside world. No one's face is symmetrical so what you see in a mirror looks different from a photograph. Be careful of those phone pictures that show you a mirror image of yourself (you've all seen them on the internet when someone has backward writing on their T shirt).
As has been said, lighting has a great bearing on how you see yourself too.
