Hello everybody, welcome back to my channel where skincare is all about
progression over perfection. Because, perfection doesn't exist. Today we're
actually going to be looking at some people who are
faking perfection or striving for perfection digitally. We're going to be
looking at some Photoshop fails from brands, from influencers. From
places like the Instagram versus reality sub Reddit.
Pictures I've been sent from my subscribers all over the internet. I did
have a different video planned but I'm waiting for the product to arrive.
So I thought this would be fun and easy to film, and fun to kind of look through.
Usually I go a bit deeper with these Instagram versus reality videos but
let's have a chilled one today. I'm gonna do my skincare routine as we look
through. So, I've cleansed my face using the Paula's Choice Cleansing Balm. I'm a
little bit dry so I didn't want to use any water really,
well that much, so I just used an oil and wiped it away. I'm going to go in with
the Troiareuke Glow Toner. I don't actually know anything
about this, I just mixed it together. But look,
but it's a skin brightening toner and then you mix in an ampoule with it and
then it comes out in this foam, which I thought was a bit
gimmicky but it makes it super easy to apply to the skin. Whoops,
Whoopsies. There we go. It's got this amazing smell to it that
smells very refreshing. In these videos it's usually always ladies that we talk
about because there is a lot more social pressure on ladies, especially within the
media, to look perfect. And then they're torn
down the moment they try to strive for perfection.
So, we've actually got a couple of men that we're going to be looking at first
of all. This is a comparison picture of a YouTuber who goes by Mister Preder? Preda?
Preda. And this is a picture of his
thumbnail versus a screenshot of the actual video. As you
can see he's posing in the bottom one, he has that
model-esque face. In the top one he's mid-sentence, you know. And obviously the
lighting's nicer in the bottom picture. He's color corrected it a little bit. Is
there Photoshop going on here? I'm not 100% sure,
maybe a little bit of like jaw action going on.
But here is the thing with pictures like this, right... I'm gonna have some coffee.
You see pictures like this on a lot of like celebrity before and after pictures.
The celebrity posing, versus them mid-sentence, you know. Which I don't
think is a fair comparison because look, when I'm talking like this my head's
slightly up, you see where my double chin's coming in here.
Where as, if I was to take a posing position I'd purposely tilt my head down,
I wouldn't talk, compared to this, you know. It's very, very
different. However, there might be a little bit of Photoshop going on here
but I personally don't have a problem with this. This is something that I
actually do. Thumbnails to me, in my opinion, are the
book covers for your videos. They are the image that needs to draw the viewer in.
As he's not talking about skincare, he's not talking about his appearance,
he's not selling anything to us, I'm fine with this kind of like little tweak here
to, you know. He looks serious, I don't know
what the video is about. You know with my thumbnail pictures, if the video
is about a skincare product or it's sponsored,
I'm not retouching my, my thumbnails. But, what I will do is this, so gere's a
picture of me right, I took it a while ago.
If I was to make this a thumbnail picture what I would do, I wouldn't
change anything drastically, but to make the image
pop out on a phone, the thumbnails this big
and you need it to pop out. Is I would change the levels,
I would add highlights and I would add shadows. And this
makes the image stand out compared to others. Not necessarily make people click
but it's more obvious, it makes it, it gives the picture more of a punch.
Which I guess is what you want. As I said, if this was a paid advert
I wouldn't be doing this. I don't think this is the worst. I mean looking at the
comparison as well, he doesn't not look like the bottom picture.
Next up, I'm gonna go in with an essence. Just because, as I mentioned I am a
little bit dry this morning. This is the Dr Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha
Tea Essence. For me, it's just really hydrating and
moisturizing and also makes my skin look and feels super, super smooth. So you
give that a little shake up. This is a good,
I prefer this to the Laneige Cream Skin Refiner, it's kind of got the same
kind of milky consistency. Just tap that over. Now, speaking of skin
care routines, I was sent this a lot. These are screenshots from Doctor Mike's
Harper's Bazaar skincare routine. I watched this, it's
probably some of the only skincare content I actually kind of consume.
And looking at it, I did think wow he has pretty much perfect skin,
it does look flawless. You know I usually watch these whilst I'm doing my skincare
routine or getting ready for bed, so I'm not
constantly checking for glitches. But somebody in my Instagram DM's, I'll keep
you anonymous just in case, sent me these screenshots where it looks
like his skin texture, tone completely changes. We have normal, normal
things going on, a bit of redness on the nose. Freckles, I love freckles, I wish I
had freckles. Lines in the forehead, definition to the
actual face as well. And then we see these pictures
and his skin is completely smooth, completely smooth. A good kind of
telltale sign that the video is filtered is if you look at
the hairline, you kind of see like this oddly kind of like... what's the word? Like
if you look at my hairline now right, yes it's receding but you kind of see...
look, you can see the texture going into the hair. This kind of looks like
flat color, a line and then hair. And whilst I'm not saying that that has
been filtered, that's usually a sign that there is a filter at play.
Here he puts the toothbrush in front of his face and the
texture, and tones, and freckles, and lines all kind of come back into like... look at
his hairline here compared to the other one. You see?
It's a tiny, tiny difference. Then I remembered I did a Harper's Bazaar
video, and I watched this and I was like okay
nothing's going on here but my skin does look smooth. However,
I don't think they used a filter on that, I think that was...
I shoot in 4K here but the camera that I use in the bathroom
isn't 4K, it's high quality but not 4K. And then you send it
over to them and they edit it down and they compress it, then it goes up onto
YouTube. So I do feel like you lose some quality which can add random blurs
to the skin. The next product I'm gonna go in with
is the Skin 11400,
I don't know how they want to pronounce it. This is
the Madagascar Centella Tone Brightening Capsule
Ampoule. I love this, this has just been making my skin look so
bright and healthy, and a little bit more even. I believe it's got Niacinamide
in as well. It's super gentle, and it's got these
little capsules that kind of pop. Oh, please focus before it drips.
As you put them on the skin. Obviously not plastic, but. Of course as I always
say, these videos aren't possible without one of the Kardashians
being involved. This is of course Kylie. She looks amazing, she looks nice.
But as we can see there is some very, very subtle bending going on in the
background of this picture. But what it looks like, they kind of
caught on to is how to edit their body how they want, and then
bend the background back into place. I've noticed a lot of influencers are doing
this. However, once you've bent a straight line, it's
never gonna go back fully straight, you know. And you can see that door frame
wiggling. This is from Celeb Face, and they've actually pointed out how the
door frame doesn't even line up. But this is the thing, people
know what to look for now when we're looking for Facetune,
Photoshop. Whatever App or program is being used
people know the giveaway. So they're trying to reverse those
dead telltale signs by trying to unsquiggle squiggly lines, you know.
Celeb Face also have what I feel is quite an amazing post showing
professional photo shoots of celebrities. Of course with that comes
professional makeup, lighting, and retouched shots. And
you look at their skin in these professional shots and you think
literal perfection. You can see pores, you can see texture,
it looks like real, very good skin. Then they've compared it to actual
red carpet shots of them and you see everything, you see texture, you see tone,
you see, you see moles that they've got rid of for some reason.
It looks normal, it looks normal because it is normal. That's what these people
look like. I love retouching as an art form, I
really, really do. Of course I studied this, I'm an editorial and
advertising photography graduate. I think when used at the right time it
can create something beautiful, right. Madison Beer as well.
Again, good skin. She's been very open about her issues with her skin.
And I feel like that's what we need more of. I don't think it's, we need
everyone to stop Photoshopping immediately. When it comes to selling
makeup, skincare, I do think it has to stop because you're
faking the results of a product that you're selling, I don't think that's
right. But I think more open discussion from
these people that we see constantly, constantly retouched is important, so
that we know what we're looking at. I think Photoshop filters, whatever
you're using to retouch your pictures is fine but we need to know we're
looking at something that has been retouched.
And that's why I said before, like do we need a symbol? Do we need like an
international, I don't know, like 'F' symbol for filtered?
Or, you know, 'RT' for retouched? I don't know,
something. Next up, I'm gonna go straight in with my sunscreen
because this is moisturizing enough for me actually, you know. This is the
Revolution Hydra Burst Sunscreen. I actually quite like this, it's
inspired by Korean sunscreen and made in Korea.
It's just a good chemical sunscreen that doesn't irritate my stri...
skin, sorry, or sting my eyes. This is a video that I was tagged in a
lot, a lot, and people are like, filter? Obvious filter. This
lady's obviously using a filter. But if you watch the video, I think
that's the point. If anyone can translate this that would be amazing.
But I actually think that's the point in the video, is that she's showing how
easy it is to look completely different with makeup,
filters, lighting, colored contacts. And there she is,
in all her glory. And I've showed you before there's Apps on your phone
like Snow that's so easy to use, that's getting better and better with each
update. Again, it's fun, it's fun to use, it's funny to use
sometimes because the filters can look ridiculous. Like you make
your eyes look really buggy, and do weird sh*t to your face. But I think when it's
used to advertise or in sponsored content it's just not right,
it's not right. And brands need to take a responsibility when they're talking to
influencers to say, please shoot in as natural lighting as
you can. Or you know, lighting that shows off the
products to its truest form. One video I've been tagged in an
awful lot as well... actually before we do that, I'm gonna
finish off with my lips. This is from MAKE, this is their Serum Balm.
Again, my lips have been a little bit drier than usual. And this is kind of
like a odd kind of like makeup skincare hybrid,
where it's a little bit tinted and it's kind of got this weird feeling
of like an oily, an oily balm but also a gloss. So I only apply a bit,
and then add it to the top. It's a little bit shiny for me, so I'd usually leave
that on for a bit, and then if I'm going to pop out
anywhere I'll just like blot it down a little bit. But I,
I'm really enjoying MAKE as a whole brand,
I love their products. So I was tagged in this TikTok a lot, and I...
let, let's watch it. "Reverse aging. This video has been so highly requested on my
channel. I'm 30 years old but I really haven't aged since I was about 21,
22, something like that. So I figured I could make a series about
what I think I've done, maybe, that has contributed to that. This is going to be
the basics. So the first thing is sleep. I try and
sleep between eight and nine hours every single night, which seems like a lot but
it's so important for all your cells to really rejuvenate overnight.
Second thing is I try and sleep on my back. This is new to me, I've done it for
the past two or three years. I started noticing in my mid-20s these
little lines that were popping up on the side of my eyes, and they drove me
nuts. So I started sleeping like a vampire. It's still literally a struggle
every single night but I forced myself on my back, and it has made a huge
difference. I also drink tons of water and I cook all my own food.
As far as working out, skincare, all that other stuff, that's going to have to be
another video." So of course living a healthy lifestyle,
all that kind of stuff, is going to help with your skin. Sleeping on your back
absolutely. I can't do it because I have nightmares and sleep
paralysis, and I don't want to see a demon at the end of my bed every night,
you know. She looks great. Like she says, she still
looks like she's in her early 20s, so she's doing something right. But to be
honest with you, I put it down to genetics and
a filter on her skin. Now, loads of people were commenting saying like, let's see
your skin without a filter. And she actually says, "I posted a bunch a
bit back in natural light without a filter
but I can do another one. It's a really good idea." So she knows that video was
filtered, she's saying that's a good idea to do a filterless one, I'll do that. She
also says here in a different comment that her videos
are not filtered, she films in the TikTok App.
There's a filter. When you film on TikTok, there's already a filter, you have to
turn off. People don't actually realize that. I
didn't realize that, I remember when I posted my first one I was like, what's
going, what's going on with my skin? I actually thought is was the quality, I
thought this was terrible quality. Because you can upload in high quality
on TikTok. She seems to be aware of the filter but also not aware at the same
time. Then she's done another video in a reply
to a comment saying, “Can we see your skin without a filter?”,
and she said, “I put the skin smoother on and TikTok..." I'm guessing she's
saying, "... this is the only time I use a split
filter, you can try it yourself." And then she also says, "It's a skin
smoother and TikTok, you could turn it on and off."
So she is aware that this is a thing. And I did have a look through all her
videos and the majority of them are filtered. Even without the filter on I
think she's, she's, she looks incredible. But what this kind
of shows to me is that a lot of people aren't aware of the TikTok filter. Let's,
should we have a look, let's have a look. So look, if I turn it up and down
you can see the quality of it changing. And if I'm far away it kind of
has that blurred... here's my anti-aging tips kind of look to it, you know.
So there we go a quick little look at the world of Instagram versus reality,
TikTok versus reality, whatever nowadays.
I will be going back to my more in-depth videos with this. But as I said, I'm
thrown off schedule a little bit this week, so
just thought we'd have a quick look at some, some updates I guess.
Keep tagging me in these, they're so interesting. I've got so much more to
talk about, particularly when it comes to
certain brands and their products. So go tag me on TikTok and on Instagram. You
can watch more Instagram versus reality videos here,
and random whatever, I'll just put whatever here, and you can watch them too.
And I'll see you over there.