From time to time I notice people remarking about differences that they can see in 'Before & After' photos - here and elsewhere. When I look at them I often (not always) find myself struggling to discern actual skin differences, whereas I can see photographic differences.

So, I thought I would offer everyone a few tips for judging, and taking, before and after pictures...

Make sure that you check...

1. Angle of the light. Where is the brightest area of the face? This reveals the angle that the light is coming from. The lighting angle should be identical in both photos. This is incredibly important because wrinkles are greatly minimised by a direct front-on flash and look dramatically worse when lit from an angle.

2. Overall colour of the skin. Generally, photos taken under the same basic lighting conditions, with the same camera, will have similar skin colour. Different colour means different conditions. (The most extreme case is when beauticians take special photographs using UV light which reveals underlying damage - the skin looks as if it has extremely blotchy, dark, freckly pigmentation, and appears dramatically worse than a regular photo of the same person.)

3. Overall brightness of the shots. Bright lighting can almost delete wrinkles; darker overall exposures bring out wrinkles. Lighting in both shots must be the same for meaningful comparison.

4. Hair colour / detail. If hair strands are clearly visible in one shot but blended together in another, the photographs were taken under very different conditions.

5. Eyelash detail / resolution. Look carefully - if you can see less eyelash detail in one shot than the other, then you can be sure that any wrinkles in that shot will also be blurred and minimised.

6. Makeup. Amazingly, a lot of skin product manufacturers use a plain-faced 'before' photo but use makeup on the skin and lips of the 'after' photo! This is intentional deception and no credible manufacturer would do it.

7. Shine / mattness of the skin. If skin is oily a flashgun will reflect strongly off one side of a wrinkle, increasing its apparent depth, especially if the light is coming from an angle rather than front-on. Some skin creams have the opposite effect because they use special reflective particles. Skin should be 'naked' in both shots - no skin creams.

8. Pupil size. The size of the pupils of the eye tell you how much light was in the person's face immediately prior to the photograph. Small pupils mean stronger light; large pupils mean lower light. If the pupils are tiny the person will also probably be squinting slightly...

9. Squinting. Look in the mirror, and squint very, very slightly. See what happens to the skin under your eyes? - how it pulls tighter toward the inner corners of your eyes, reducing other wrinkles? Before and after shots should have no trace of this squint.

10. Smiling. Look in the mirror again. Think of something genuinely amusing - enough to produce a very slight smile around your eyes. See how much difference this makes to crows feet? Even a minor smile makes a huge difference (unless you are under 30!). I am amazed how often some skin product manufacturers abuse this effect quite blatantly in their before and after shots. Both photographs should be deadpan - no trace of a smile at all. (Alternatively useful could be an extreme smile in both shots, to maximise crows feet.)

11. Angle of the eye and face. Especially for judging eyelids, the angle at which the eyes are looking should be the same in both shots. The overall angle of the face should also be the same, otherwise the angle of any wrinkles will be different relative to the light source.

12. Height of eyebrows relative to pupils. Most skin products (except Botox) will not raise eyebrows. If the eyebrow in one shot is higher than the other, the person is probably using a more open, brighter expression (not necessarily on purpose), which can create the illusion of 'opened up' eyes or eyelid lifting.

13. Diffusion of light. This is hard to spot... Have a look at your skin in your bathroom mirror, where the light probably comes in through frosted glass and/or is reflected around a small room. You look good, right? Now look at your skin under harsher daylight... Very different? (Or, watch the Oprah show - everyone's skin looks utterly fab under that studio's gorgeous lighting, but as soon as they go to video everyone suddenly looks their age.) Professional photographers know how to create this 'diffuse lighting' effect and can easily fool you if motivated to do so.

14. Digital tweaking. Again this one can be hard to spot. Wrinkles and fine lines can be blurred out of existence incredibly easily. Years ago I watched a photograph of my own face being digitally 'prepared' for print - my skin went from 29 years old to 15 years old (not kidding) in just a few seconds of digital line-erasing. They also tweaked my body shape (which was already quite fine, thanks!) It was one of the most disturbing few seconds of my life(!), but certainly taught me a huge amount about just how distorted our everyday media images are.

Does anyone have any more tips? Happy *genuine* wrinkle-reduction to all!

Delisay

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Delisay>,

Dear Delisay:

This is very true - That is why we do not focus so much on Before and After photos.

Although they are nice to see, and we welcome people to send them to us. Many companies have so-called "before/after pictures". And they are not really a reliable indicator of the efficacy of a product.

Especially since most if not all of our clients are just taking pictures, not really thinking too much about the slight changes in the light, position of expressions/smiles/squints and how these effect the picture. They just may be happy that they've seen a difference personally and are trying to take the best picture they can.

But if you are thinking about taking before/after pictures and posting them here or sending them to us...it is good to keep in mind Delisay's suggestions so that they can be as accurate as possible.

However, we encourage all to look more at the science behind the products they use on their precious skin.

Thank you,
-Skin Biology

Props to you Delisay, for writing a very thorough, clear and useful check list. (If I had done it, it probably would've sounded like nagging. Yikes.)

I can think of only one suggestion to add. Under category 2 2. Overall colour of the skin.:

Indirect morning to midday light gives a very realistic (and revealing) image. Try taking your pictures indoors using only natural light, standing a few feet away from a window so your face is evenly and well-lit. Avoid taking pictures 2 hours before sunset, the light is very golden at that time.

If your skin looks frighteningly spotty or wrinkly and you can see your pores very well, but there are no major bright spots or shadows, that's a great place to take the shot!

Consider including a plain, single-color item in every shot. It could be a neutral gray piece of paper, or wearing the same shirt every time, that way you can tell if the relative color balance in the photo is skewed in one direction or the other.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jadzia,

These are some good criteria to consider when judging progress pictures. It's also a lot easier to understand what someone is talking about than just reading about it. The pictures are a fun way for anyone willing to share their booboos, progress, or just good looks.