16.4.12

About Image Editing/"Photoshopping"

Firstly, relax. Have a chuckle. I insist.

(You're welcome.)
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Alright, so for such a 'controversial' issue in the (beauty) blogging world, I actually do not have much to say.  Alas, this post is just meant to answer a few questions I've received over the years.

Inquiries about 1.) my opinion on Photoshopping yourself, and 2.) whether or not I Photoshop my own images.  So let's get down to business, yeah? (To defeat... the Huns~!)
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1): Do you look down upon bloggers who Photoshop/edit their own images? Why or why not?

Answer: Nope. I am fairly neutral on the matter.  If you have the skill and want to do it, I say go for it. If you find it abhorrent, that's also fine. *shrug*  The beauty world-- whether in online blogging or in advertisements and billboards out in real life-- has certain standards that its inhabitants try and live up to.  These standards are generally insanely unreachable, but that doesn't stop folks from trying to get there: it's a competitive market.

Frankly? The trend tends to be that the better you look, the better your view-count looks. ;P  I begrudge nobody their right to compete for whatever their ultimate goal in blogging is.  The only time I disapprove of extreme image editing is when somebody is reviewing an item: I'd like the images to represent the product as true-to-life as possible.

TL;DR- Have at it, friends: liquify, increase glow, brighten, blur, and saturate to your heart's content. Do what you must to get ahead. Just remember to scale it back so your reviews are true-to-life.  And try to remember not to hold yourself to those high standards in your daily life. <3

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2): Do you edit your images?

Answer: Yep! Although I don't use Photoshop. Haha. I actually just use Photobucket's (old) dinky/awful image editor. WHAT DO I DO, YOU ASK??! O:

Well, let me show you~.


-- This is from last month. Last year, I had pretty much perfect skin, but a stress break-out in summer murdered my complexion and left me with dark spots that are taking ages to fade. The bags under my eyes? Have always been there. Haha. --


-- My typical edits : I often change (reduce) the blue levels in my pics, as I take them in very cool lighting that skews colours.  Next, I've recently started to slightly blur the objects in the background to keep the focus on the item/lenses/my visage. Finally, I do my best to remove most (but not all) of my dark spots, and try and reduce my under-eye bags. --

Not too extreme, right?  That's because I don't know what I'm doing and because I am bad at it. Also, because the better my face looks, the worse I feel about editing my pics. xD  Thank god it's so painstaking editing in Photobucket. ;D

Anyway, one more example, yes? From a more recent review:

-- Arrgghhh~. My skin~. ; _ ;  It's improving, but still looks awful. --


-- See? Reduced the blue levels, got rid of some dark spots, and softened my under-eye bags. --

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All done! :D  Hopefully you all haven't lost compete faith in me because of something as trivial as 'photoshopping'.  Because really? Most of my pics go through this process-- as do many of the pics of some super-popular bloggers. (Sometimes, though, I'm too lazy to bother...)


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COMING NEXT. . .

27 comments:

  1. Okay I couldn't get past the first photo for awhile.

    And I agree with the holding it back. Like those circle lens ads. you think its opaque and when you get it its transparent, I hate those omg >.< And you do some smart editing.

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    1. Ahaha-- yes! CL adverts are the worst, sometimes.

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  2. I agree with you on this! I like to play around with colors and effects, but when it comes to reviews, I want to stick to the original photos so the representation is still real.

    And zomggg can't wait for that upcoming post! I wanted to try those since I had the greys :O

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    1. Aw yeahhh~. That's the way to do review pics. 8)

      And the Natural 3t Brown review is up~!

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  3. Ha! You are better than me with editing Chantal! I am still working my way around and I am still really bad. You really got me with the video editing! It is too long to work with and I get frustrated too easily lol! :D

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    1. D'aww, thanks! And pfff-- your skin always looks flawless: no need for editing, missy~.

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  4. haha.. my camera already does the editing for me but I like to remove my panda eyes cos they are so darn horrible! =_=" Of course, no editing for that particular area of my face if I'm reviewing something there. Which is like duhhh.. You don't enlarge your eyes if you're reviewing lenses or smooth your skin when reviewing foundation. Totally beats the purpose

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    1. Whaaaaat? Wish my camera would stop being lazy, then... haha.

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  5. I think your editting is fine, but when people completely change their appearance then lie that it's natural that's all I have a problem with. Changing lighting and things like that, who cares.

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    1. Whew~! I always think any editing on my part is awful. Haha.

      And yeah-- it's actually the lying that bothers me with some some folks. I don't care that you liquify your natural jawline-- just don't get weird and secretive/bashful about it when folks ask. Eh.

      We all know the 'game' and can often tell when folks are PSed to death, after all.

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  6. your editing is absolutely fine :D and you're totally right about the true-to-life edits when it comes to reviews! for example, i often think that some online-shops just totally over-edit their pictures! it can be quite misleading :c
    lippi~

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    1. btw lol @ at that first pic XD

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    2. Yesss. Glad my relaxation visual aid worked. Haha.

      And yup yup over-editing just KILLS how much I some shops. :/

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  7. I edit my complexion too :) Nothing extreme though, just touching up dark circles and possible glasses marks (Y'know what the nose pieces are too tight and leave marks). I can't wear foundation everyday ^^;

    Personally I have nothing against it unless it is for reviews. I actually like it that bloggers take time to fill their posts with nice pictures.

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    1. Meh. S'all good in my book. Haha.

      And yeah, seriously. @_@ Can't wear full makeup all the time. (Lord knows I almost never do.)

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  8. Im certain everyone photoshops their photo to look better. I know I have, especially when I know there's a giant red pimple on my forehead and I can just zap it away with Photoshop xD

    But some girls take it to the extreme when it come to photoshopping! Can't even recognise them when you see them in real life ><

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    1. Pffftt-- who needs salycilic acid for zits when there's photoshop, right? ;P

      And yeah.... totaaalll feature warping is intense. o.o

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  9. Bless this post!
    I think every once in a while instead of despairing about how 'you'll never look as good as girls in magazines, popular blogs, etc.', it's important to step back and realize that they have flaws too, they're just good at hiding them with photoshop!
    I personally find nothing wrong with it up to a point; what's wrong with wanting to look your best? It's when srs photo-manipulation to change things like face shape and generally make you look like some sort of perfect alien-like person that I draw the line.

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  10. I think I missed all the photoshop drama. lol I personally don't see why it's an issue, though I love photoshop so I'm definitely okay with people using it. I think the only time I would feel like it's cheating was if it were for a review, other-wise, whhhhy not! ;)

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    1. Eh? There's no more photoshop drama than usual. I just figured that as a blogger who delves occasionally into 'beauty', that I should put out my policy on the thing. xD

      But yeah-- keep it off reviews, por favor~.

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  11. I used to photoshop my images a lot more in the past, and not very well at that. I've done my best to stop doing this because I feel it is better in most situations to see what makeup looks like on real skin. With that said, I obviously still try to get rid of major blemishes and the occasional pore >> << Power to the people!

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    1. Huzzah! Goodbye blemishes, hello hoping you don't meet one of your followers in real life. xD That's my liifffeee.

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  12. I really dont have any problem with photoshoping or people who do... I personaly dont, but I do use iphoto and photobucket... And I do agree with you, its well known that the quality of your pictures say alot about your blog and also there is no doubt that the better the photos the better your blog is going to be. I think this post is great and I think that more people should talk about this issue =)

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  13. Your pictures are lovely even without editing, plus you don't change that much at all :)
    Thank you for your words <3


    <3
    K

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  14. I do the same. =) I use to have horrid skin. Break outs reaaaally bad.
    So, I'd make them go away.

    Unless you're trying to completely change how you look I have zero issues with photoshopping.
    Like magazines, if the model isn't perfect they MAKE her perfect. Big difference between covering some spots and making you leg 1/2 it's size! XD

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