4 Major Selfie Hacks For Those Born Before 1990

Today’s generation make beauty look effortless. I sit uncomfortably on the bus, with my headphones in people watching, often I’m in shock (and admiration) at the teens I see with their seamlessly applied foundation and ‘fleeky’ brows.

As someone born in 1990, I consider myself, and those in my age bracket special. We recall when Myspace ruled, and ‘Tom’ was everyone’s first friend (whatever happened to Tom?).

We remember the days before fiber-optic broadband, when dial up was king, and a MSN Messenger ‘nudge’ was the quickest real time response you could ever expect.

We witnessed big technology transitions. The mobile went from green screen to colour. From colour to touch screen. And as the last generation to have our baby pictures taken with a disposable camera, us 90’s babies were fortunate.

A household divide arises when my sister (an 80’s kid) expresses her utter confusion at the ‘Selfie Generation’; From a time where the phone card was all the rage and pagers were the latest telecommunications. She remembers when the mobile first came out, a woman who is all for make-up free, living in the moment, she is far more familiar with a vinyl or cassette than streaming. She certainly doesn’t agree with taking 100 photos, only to post one!

Quite frankly, both our generations are far better at taking in the moment with our eyes. You only have to pace around festivals and clubs to see the Selfie Generation, Snapchat loaded, camera front facing with a perfect pout on.

If like my sister the thought of a selfie screams attention seeking, abandon this post now. If however, you ride that fence between the pre and post Drake era, then indeed, let me help you:

1. Lighting is EVERYTHING. So don’t underestimate it. Harsh light vs. soft light, equally no light can make a difference to a good selfie.

2. Angles, some believe they have a better side to their face. I subscribe to the ‘your face is your face theory’ no matter what side you shoot it from. There is a lot more sense in snapping from above than underneath. No one likes nostrils and a double chin.

3. Crop, if it doesn’t need to be in the frame, crop it. Be ruthless. I’ve cropped my Mum out of an image before. Needs must, go ahead, ask me if I’m sorry?!

4. Editing, when all else fails, edit. Whilst I don’t advocate completely photoshopping until unrecognisable, small tweaking is not a crime. Filters, brightness, even slight skin smoothing never hurt anyone. Just don’t go over board. False advertisement isn’t cute.

Remember to L.A.C.E your Selfie. You’ll thank me later!

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