WHY DO I LOOK SO UGLY ON ZOOM?
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Anonymous
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Dimmable-Headboard-Flexible-Included/dp/B07K33JZSS I got this light early in the pandemic and turned off my overhead light--made a huge difference. Worth the $20, small, easy to clip in place. |
Anonymous
Yes!! I look like a different person- in person. People are surprised I’m so fit and thin when they only have seen a headshot or on zoom. I’m 50 with a round face. I haven’t suffered wrinkles or the guant, facial hollowing many people get with age...and I’m a runner. Just waiting on the jowls. |
Anonymous
| The absolute best thing about Zoom is the Hide Self View. Then I'm not parakeeting, secretly checking out my own picture, and I can focus on what other people are saying. It's a sanity saver and I hate that I have to use Blue Jeans, Teams, Skype, WebEx, and whatever other ridiculous platforms that either don't have or I can't find this option! |
Anonymous
Same here. Zoom makes my skin look saggy and really emphasizes my double chin. I'm always resting my hand under my chin to hide that. I don't think I look that bad IRL or in pictures, but Zoom ages me! Any pointers for these problems? |
Anonymous
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Lighting matters. You need to play around with lamps and positioning. The people who don’t look good on zoom generally don’t because their lighting sucks. And I have a ring light and actually don’t like it. I just have a few lamps in the room.
You can use the touch up feature, but you can also download Snapchat for the desktop, which blurs you a little more. You can do silly things with it too, but I usually just use the general filter which I think smooths you out a little more than the touch up my face filter. Also, angles. There’s no magic in it. You may just be too critical of yourself. I’m not Angelina Jolie, and I think I look pretty good on my zoom calls. |
Anonymous
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Repeating a lot of other tips here, but I'm conventionally "pretty" in person and look terrible in most photos. Zoom took a bit but I feel pretty confident:
Situate the camera higher than you think it needs to be. If I'm sitting at a desk with my computer, I elevate the computer by 3-5" depending on how high my chair is. Play around with this - it makes a huge difference. You don't need perfect lighting, but avoid terrible lighting. Overhead lighting is terrible. The most flattering for me, since I don't have a window near my desk, is a regular lamp about two feet away, behind the computer. The lamp should have a shade, not a harsh bare bulb. Use the touch up feature on Zoom! I was embarrassed to do this at first, but my supervisor admitted she did it, and I realized I never would have known if she hadn't told me. It just makes everything more forgiving. Blurs you just enough. Have a bit of color on your cheeks and lips. It can be neutral and not very dark, but just a bit of something really helps. I use a bronzer and some tinted Burts Bees lip stuff, so I don't look very made up, but my features are more "there" on camera. Wear earrings. I don't know why this helps, but I've noticed it helps everyone's appearance on zoom. A little shine/sparkle goes a long way to brightening your overall appearance. Experiment with your hair a little to see what looks best. My everyday styles don't look great on zoom. I have long hair, and pulling it over to one side looks a lot better, for some reason. I noticed a co-worker started putting half her hair up in a way that sort of "bumps up" at the top, and it helps her zoom appearance a lot. She has long narrow features. I have softer rounder features. I think that's about it. Also, recognize that a lot of people don't look amazing on zoom and it's fine. Really anyone who's judging your zoom appearance right now is not someone whose opinion should be valued highly. |
Anonymous
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I change the background to a beach scene. Suddenly, I look better! |
Anonymous
| It's like when you hear a recording of your own voice, and you're like, "That's not my voice!" |