How To Edit Your Selfies Like A Fashion Blogger

Earlier this month we learned how to improve our #ootd posts in terms of what to wear and where to be, but what about how to edit them? Thanks to Marianna Hewitt, the lady responsible for lifewithme.com, you can now edit your Instagram pictures like a fashion blogger.

If you've ever scrolled through a blogger's feed and seared with jealousy over how aesthetically pleasing it is, now's your chance to fake the look. The whole fad of over editing your selfies is a little ridiculous (have you ever seen the app Kylie Jenner uses?), but the changes that Hewitt makes are actually pretty superficial. She removes a stray hair here and there, ups the contrast, chooses a filter. By the end of the video the difference is noticeable, but her face doesn't really look much different. I'm all for positive self image though, and if making a few changes to your Instagram pics helps you achieve that, then why not go for it?

And the tutorial isn't all about selfies — she also shows you how to edit pictures of your landscapes. Hewitt's Instagram feed flows so nicely because even pictures of her nails or food match the aesthetic of her selfies.

I may have to up my Instagram game, but I also feel wary of how much time it takes to edit one photo. It takes her seven minutes to make small changes to one selfie – changes so insignifcant that I probably wouldn't have noticed them had she not showed me a before and after. Seven minutes doesn't seem like a lot, but given that I have say, around 500 pictures on my Instagram feed, that's 3,500 minutes (nearly 59 hours!) of my life I won't get back. I don't mean to be snarky, but how much do these Instagram pictures actually matter?

Is it worth it? You'll have to decide for yourself. Here's a play by play of the tutorial.

1. Pick your favorite selfie.

Hewitt scrolls through all the selfies she took in camera roll (she normally has a selection of 15 or more), and "hearts" her favorites. She then goes to her favorite folders and compares the best contenders before picking a winner.

2. Open selfie on Facetune.

Facetune is an app that lets you smooth, blur, and amp certain features of your face or hair. The most horrifying part is the "slimming" tool, but I digress.

3. Remove stray hairs.

I'm okay with this – summer frizz is realer than ever.

4. Add volume to your hair.

At first I was skeptical about how decieving this was, but.....

Then I noticed how full it made her hair look and thought, "Wait, I want my hair to look like that." The struggle.

5. Remove a shadow on your nose.

This is just so unnecessary.

6. Add an extra twinkle in your eye by bringing out the details.

I have no words.

7. See if there's any filters you like on Faded.

Faded is an editing app similar to Instagram. She didn't see any filters she liked on here, so on to the next one!

8. Check VSCO Cam for additional filter options.

She found a winner! She also noted not to make the filter full strength because it will wash you too much. She brought the filter down to almost halfway strength.

9. Adjust lighting, contrast, ect.

Hewitt prefers to up the contrast and sharpness one notch. I sort of agree with this one – it makes iPhone pictures look higher quality.

10. Add a white border on Pic Frame.

This is more of an artistic choice that you can feel free to skip.

11. Upload to Instagram!

Four apps later: tada!

If you're wondering what all of these changes did, here's a before and after....

Convinced? Try the full tutorial below, and also learn how to edit your lanscape pictures in the latter half of the video. Ten minutes later and you'll be fashion blogger-fied.

Images: Instagram/marianna_hewitt (1); Youtube/mariannahewitt (8); Giphy (5)