You look in the mirror every day and think you know exactly what you look like. But here’s a secret: your mirror is lying to you—at least a little bit.
When you stand in front of a mirror, what you see isn’t the real, unaltered version of yourself. The image staring back at you is actually flipped left to right. That means your right side becomes your left, and vice versa. This might not seem like a big deal at first, but it changes how your face looks—especially since most people have subtle asymmetries they don’t notice until they see themselves in photos or videos.
Mirrors also smooth out some of the harshness of those asymmetries because we get used to seeing ourselves this way every day. It feels familiar and comfortable, so we tend to think that’s our “true” appearance.
But cameras tell a different story. When someone takes your photo or video, especially with a phone camera up close, things can get weird fast. Camera lenses distort features depending on how close they are and what kind of lens is used. If the camera is too close (like with most selfies), noses can look bigger, faces wider, and eyes smaller than they really are.
Even professional photographers know that changing just one setting—like focal length—can make someone look totally different from one photo to the next. Some lenses flatten features; others exaggerate them.
So if mirrors show us flipped images we’re used to seeing every day (and maybe even prefer), cameras show us something else entirely—sometimes more accurate in terms of perspective for others looking at us directly (not mirrored), but often distorted by technology.
How do you see the truth? There isn’t one perfect answer because both mirrors and cameras have their own quirks:
– **Mirrors** give us an inverted image that hides some flaws simply because it feels familiar.
– **Cameras** capture reality as others see it (not mirrored) but can distort features based on lens type and distance.
– **Professional portraits** taken from farther away with longer lenses usually give the most natural-looking results compared to selfies or quick snapshots up close.
If you want to get closer to seeing yourself as others do:
– Try taking photos from farther away using zoom instead of getting super close.
– Use good lighting so shadows don’t exaggerate certain features.
– Remember that everyone sees themselves differently than anyone else does—and no single image tells the whole story about how beautiful or unique you really are!
