The science behind why you look better in the mirror than in photos and how your phone’s camera distorts your face

Have you ever felt like you look more beautiful in the mirror than in photos taken with a smartphone? Well, you probably are.

And there are three reasons why this might be the case.

Cameras don’t match the human eye

A camera lens is not like the human eye, which comes in pairs.

Each of our eyes sees a person – or ourselves – from a slightly different angle, with both taking in different visual information from each other.

The brain then combines these two angles into a three-dimensional (3D) image.

The average smartphone camera, however, only has “one eye”, so to speak.

This means your photos are flat in a way that your reflection in the mirror is not.

Wide-angle lens horror

Most smartphone cameras have wide-angle lenses, which means the parts closest to the lens appear larger.

This is why your nose and eyes may appear larger, or even cartoonish, in close-up photos.

This distortion is due to the camera lens itself and is not its actual appearance.

Inverted reflection

You may also not be used to the version of your reflection that is not inverted.

The image you see in the mirror is reversed compared to the image other people see with you face to face.

That’s not how you really look.

Whereas your phone usually inverts this image, you see the opposite of the reflection you see in the mirror.

Furthermore, in the mirror you can move and adjust your posture.

Images can immortalize any unflattering pose that would disappear in a heartbeat in real life.