So, I learned something really interesting.

Why do I hate how I look in photos, but, when I look in a mirror, I still don't really like how I look, but...the image somehow seems better?

Answer: The person in the mirror isn't you.

Let me explain. A mirror flips whatever it is that it's reflecting. So, if you raise your right hand while looking in a mirror, it looks like the mirrored you is raising their left hand. Also, this means that the right side of your face appears to be the left, and vice versa. Everyone else sees you as you are, and so does a camera, but you don't. You see the flipped version. This makes a much bigger difference if you have a mole, birth mark, or other special trait that's only on one side of your face or body. Same thing goes with side-parted hair or crooked/chipped teeth.

But why is this? Why do we like an incorrect image of ourselves? There's a theory that we, as humans, grow accustomed to the way something is or how it looks over time, and that causes us to like it and become familiar with it. When seeing the same thing, but in a different way, we don't like it, because it's not familiar. (Like, if you see the same picture of an adorable puppy every day for weeks, and then see the same picture of the same puppy flipped. You will usually automatically prefer the one that you have seen for the longest time.) The same thing goes with how we look. We usually see ourselves in the mirror more often than we see pictures of ourselves. (Which, on a side note, I just realized, might be why mirror selfies are so crazily popular among teenage girls. O_O) This is also true with your friends and family--they see you how you are, so they prefer how you look when you haven't been mirrored.

So, the next time someone takes a picture of you and you don't like it, but everyone else does, don't assume they're just trying to be nice. They see you differently than you see yourself...literally.

But, while I'm on the topic of self-image...we also have to keep in mind several things.

1) Having a more symmetrical face and body can make the mirrored effect less noticeable. Also, seeing yourself in photos a lot balances out the effect.
2) While having a more symmetrical face and body is usually considered more attractive, no one is perfect, and NOT having facial symmetry does NOT mean that you're ugly. In many cases, it makes a person look more interesting and unique if they DON'T have that symmetry. (Like a mole, or a birth mark, or a crooked smile, or a snaggletooth.)
3) People often automatically look at a person's right eye when they make eye contact. (Which means, you look to the left, at THEIR right eye. Not everyone does this, obviously, but, in general, that's what humans do.) The right side of the face often displays emotion better than the left, thus effecting the mirrored effect. (So, another reason why you might not like how you look in a photo because your expressions are positioned differently.) (Then again, not EVERYONE on earth displays emotion more clearly on the right side of their faces. Again, this is true in general.)
4) The media is full of lies. ._. Almost every single photo in a magazine has been altered somehow. Even photos and magazine pictures of already attractive people are often altered, and a lot of these people have cosmetic surgery done because they want to look better. This creates a false sense of perfection that we compare ourselves to both consciously and subconsciously. A lot of what you see in the media isn't physically possible anyway, since, again, no one is perfect, and no one is the KIND of perfect that these altered images convey. That kind of perfect doesn't exist in the real world.

The whole mirror thing gave me a little bit of a really small-scale identity crisis. I have several moles on my face that arch up into this weird crescent moon thing, but they're only on ONE side of my face (the left side) so I'm constantly confused as to which side they're on. Sometimes someone will ask me about them (ie, yesterday my brother, his friend, and I were jokingly making fun of each other and my moles came into conversation) and I had to feel my face to remember which side they're on. OTL

There's this theory that if you saw yourself in real life, you might not recognize yourself, because you've only ever seen yourself move and live in mirror reflections and cameras, which only capture less than a millisecond of time. :P
There's a theory that we, as humans, grow accustomed to the way something is or how it looks over time, and that causes us to like it and become familiar with it. When seeing the same thing, but in a different way, we don't like it, because it's not familiar.
That's also really valid for artists and digital artists. *cries manly tears* Drawing something, you grow accustomed to looking at it, so it begins to look better and better the longer you look at it. Then, you flip it, and the delusion of good art is shattered, and may or may not result in the artist having a mental breakdown in the corner of the room. 8'D The same thing happens if you leave an art for a long time, and then come back to it about a month later. All the flaws come back and are glaringly obvious, and an existential crisis may occur in most artists. 8'I So... that's my two cents on the mirror/flipped image thing.

In many cases, it makes a person look more interesting and unique if they DON'T have that symmetry. (Like a mole, or a birth mark, or a crooked smile, or a snaggletooth.)
I have the worst crooked smile ever. OTL Like everything else asymetrical about me, it's also on the left side of my face, and to add to it all I have front teeth that resemble Bugs Bunny's and dimples big enough to store food in. Well. Okay, I may have exaggerated a bit, but still... ._.
4) The media is full of lies. ._. Almost every single photo in a magazine has been altered somehow. Even photos and magazine pictures of already attractive people are often altered, and a lot of these people have cosmetic surgery done because they want to look better. This creates a false sense of perfection that we compare ourselves to both consciously and subconsciously.
True that. B-I

INCREDIBLE. I WAS ONE SENTENCE AWAY FROM FINISHING A HUGE RANT AND THEN I ACCIDENTALLY CLOSED THE WRONG TAB.
//screaming and gunshots in the distance//

http://24.media.tumblr.com/c7d14d052...12zbo2_500.gif

I know how dat feel, bro. *bear hug*

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf...e5g2o1_500.gif

i hope that picture shows up
 

Current emotion:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/f904006de...hlhko1_500.jpg

That is a much different way of looking at things...

I love this post... thank you so much for making it. :D

why am i even alive i don't understand

i've also heard that liking how you look in the mirror more than how you look in pictures is because with mirrors your expression can shift so like idk i guess it seems more natural??

idek but hey i'm really glad you are c: