Beauty tricks for the perfect profile pic

Here are some interesting facts we discovered from a recent survey we conducted with visitors to beautyheaven: over 60 per cent of women disagree with all the Photoshopping and airbrushing done to pictures in magazines, and yet more than half of the respondents admitted to editing their own images in some form or another before posting them on social media.

We found that a whopping two-thirds of beautyheaven readers make their friends show them pictures before they go online so they can approve them, and about as many have untagged themselves in pictures they deem not good enough.

It’s no surprise, then, that women are turning to apps to edit their pictures until they’re just about flawless.

The thing is, while these apps can help, they can also take a turn for the worse – we had about 20 per cent of women admitting they sometimes look almost unrecognisable after editing.

We’re here to help by shedding some light on how to create the perfect profile picture (whether you’re snapping a selfie or letting someone else take the reigns on your camera). Oh, and these tips will especially help those ladies who admitted to taking at least three (and at most, 10) selfies before getting the ‘one’….

IF YOU WANT YOUR EYES TO LOOK WIDER AND BRIGHTER

Many women use apps to enhance their eyes – usually by deleting under-eye circles and darkness or making their peepers look a little bigger.

Instead of letting your phone do all the work, use these make-up tricks.
For dark under-eye circles (and unwanted wrinkles), start with a blurring gel like Transformulas Eyelifting Gel, which works instantly to tighten bags and smooth out lines.

Once dry, use a correcting concealer to hide the colour. Peach is your best bet, as the hue counteracts the dark colour under your eyes. Follow with your concealer as normal, and then finish with an illuminating concealer, likeYves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat. Boom! What under-eye circles?

As for making your eyes look a bit more Bambi-esque, apply your eyeliner to the outer edges of your top and bottom lash line (and avoid the waterlines!), and then coat your lashes with mascara, going heavier on the outer edges.

Don’t be afraid to try open up your eyes a bit more, too. Just be careful with this trick – you want your eyes to look slightly wider, not crazy-wide.

IF YOU WANT YOUR NOSE TO LOOK THINNER

Contouring is the key! Use a matte bronzer (you can try Nude by Nature Mineral Bronzer) and apply the powder to either side of the bridge of your nose and just under the tip. Blend it in well with a soft, fluffy brush for instant definition on your nose.

Handy hint: watch the lighting when taking your picture. If you stand under the wrong light or tilt your head the wrong way, you can create a triangle on the tip of your nose, which no amount of contouring can help. See the difference above?

IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THE DOUBLE CHIN EFFECT

To avoid ending up with an unflattering shot of your jaw and chin, grab the same matte bronzing powder and lightly dust it on your jawline, from ear to ear.

You can also try elongating your neck a bit by gently pushing your head forward (key word: gently) and positioning your phone/camera to snap the picture from higher up. If you take the shot from below, all you’ll see is chin. No, thanks! Also be aware of the angle of your face. Play around with taking pictures front-on and at different angles to see what works best for you.

IF YOU HAVE ZERO TIME

If you need the quickest of quick fixes for a perfect selfie, you can’t go wrong with defined brows and a bold lip.

Brush your brows into place and lightly fill them in to give them extra definition. Then finish off with a bright, eye-catching lip and you’re good to go. Just make sure to check for lipstick on your teeth first…