10 Selfie Tricks That Actually Work

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 26 Aug 2016

Taking the perfect selfie isn’t luck. It’s talent. It may be the only talent the Kardashians have. Just kidding, Kim, I love ya. Your selfie game is weak. For some reason, all your selfies end up making you look older, heavier. And more washed out than you already are. The good news is that the Kardashians can master taking spot-on selfies. So can you, mainly if you use these handy tricks. To fool your smartphone’s front-facing camera into making you look fabulous.

The Head Tilt

There’s a reason they tell you to find your angle. Unless you have perfectly symmetrical features. Tilting your head will almost always look better than taking a straight-on photo of your face. Thus, as a bonus, tilting your head will make you more attractive to the opposite sex.

Finding Your Light

Because the forward-facing camera you use to take selfies doesn’t have a flash. Smartphone flashes are iffy; lighting can make or break your selfie. Look for soft, diffused lighting, and face toward it, or grab a selfie-light phone case like the Lumee. Avoid harsh light from above, and no more high-noon hiking selfies or from behind your face.

The Right Angle

Don’t just tilt your head; tilt your phone, too. A selfie from above will emphasize your eyes and make your face look slimmer, while a selfie from below will make you look like a blobfish.

Posing like A Champ

Models may look ridiculous vogue-ing all over a photo shoot. Still, they’re doing it for a reason. Artificial looking poses usually capture well on camera. The more ridiculous—er…interesting—poses you can capture in a selfie shoot. The higher chance you’ll have of nabbing the perfect selfie.

Remembering The Background

Nothing kills a perfectly shot selfie faster than a terrible background. So stop taking selfies in your messy bedroom.

Crop It

If your background is less than perfect, no worries. Take a leaf out of Kylie’s book, and crop it for an extreme close-up.

The Selfie Stick

Taking a selfie from too close can distort your face and make it look more expansive than it actually is. Unless you’re a pro at those angles. And your arms are probably pretty short, so you’ll need a selfie stick to get the distance you need.

Take Tons of Photos

Real photographers take hundreds of photos and only use one. Are you an amateur selfie taker or a real photographer?

The Toned Down Duckface

An over-the-top duckface isn’t cute, but elongating your neck, drawing your cheeks in slightly. And pouting just a little will give you those perfect cheekbones.

Editing With Apps

The great thing about a selfie is that it’s lucid, with no professional photography, Photoshop, or tricks, right? Uh, wrong. Check out these selfie apps to take your selfie game to the next level.