Look Better In Your Instagram Selfies — Here’s How

An Instagram filter is a powerful thing. It not only alters the tone of a photo, it sets the mood for the message you want to communicate. It literally helps you look at things through a rose-tinted lens.

The right filter can turn a basic selfie into a de-facto headshot. Blemishes are softened, lips are blurred into a pout, and skin attains that highly coveted candlelit glow. Pick the wrong filter and you can end up looking like you partied all night in Vegas — with dark under-eye circles, exaggerated fine lines, and misplaced shadows aging your face. And if you're photographing makeup on its own, some filters enhance the hues to look more true to life, while others will make a pink lipstick look closer to fuchsia.

With so many options, it's hard to know which filter will present your mood, makeup, and style in the most flattering way possible. But it doesn't need to be so. Here, Ashleigh Ciucci, a makeup artist with Hair Room Service, offers her insight on picking the right filters to enhance and brighten your makeup.