Skincare Before and After Photos: How to Take Ones You Can Trust

To take skincare before and after photos you can trust, shoot in one fixed spot facing a window, at the same time of day, from the same distance, with a clean, bare face and a relaxed expression. Take three views every time: straight on and each side. Keep the phone, light and settings unchanged so the only difference between photos is your skin, and compare photos weeks apart.

Below: why so many before-and-afters mislead, how to set up a photo spot you can return to, which angles to take, how often to shoot, what's different about acne photos, and a checklist for spotting a misleading before-and-after online.

Why do so many before and after photos mislead?

Most misleading before-and-afters change the photo along with the skin. Light is the easiest thing to change by accident. In a study of 51 people photographed with identical camera settings, raising only the light to 60° above the face made blinded raters score the same faces as less attractive and their smile lines as deeper. Move the light from above you to in front of you between photos, and the "after" looks better even if nothing happened.

Camera position matters too. A smartphone study found that changing the camera angle shifted both the lightness and color of photographed skin tones, and changing distance shifted lightness, and the authors concluded that inconsistent distance and angle can increase variability in skin appearance over time. Then there's everything people add on purpose: a little foundation, a filter, a flattering crop. Your own progress photos can fool you the same way, which is why the setup matters more than the camera.

How do you set up a fixed spot for progress photos?

Pick a spot you can use every time and make it impossible to drift. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), in its guide to photographing your skin for a dermatologist, recommends natural light through a window, light that doesn't come from behind you, and a neutral, one-color background with no people or objects in it, and photos free of shadows, glare and harsh light.

1. Choose the window. Face it directly, with indirect daylight on your face and room lights off.
2. Mark your place. A strip of tape on the floor for your feet, or a chair that stays put.
3. Fix the phone. A small tripod or a shelf at eye level is best. If you hold it, use the same arm's length, with the phone held straight and level.
4. Use the same camera. Same phone, same lens, 1x zoom, no portrait mode, beauty mode or filter. Use a timer so your hand doesn't shake.
5. Prepare your face the same way. Cleanse, pat dry, and shoot before moisturizer, sunscreen or makeup. Pull hair back.
6. Hold the same expression. Relaxed mouth, eyes open, looking at the lens.

Keep a short note with each set: the date, the time, the weather outside the window and anything unusual, such as a late night or a new product. When a photo looks off weeks later, that note usually explains why. If the light was clearly different, retake the set instead of keeping a photo you'll later compare against. Store the photos in their own album so the sets stay in order and don't get mixed in with edited or filtered pictures.

For more on light, read our guide to the best lighting for skin photos.

Which angles should skin progress pictures include?

Take a front view and a view of each side every time, plus a close-up of any area you're treating. The AAD suggests three photos of a concern, each from a different perspective, including a close-up near enough to show fine detail. Clinicians who track skin over months use fixed sets of views for the same reason: a consensus protocol for serial vitiligo photography specifies a set of 10 photographs for clinical practice and 15 for research, with standardized positioning, background and lighting.

Side views catch what a straight-on selfie misses, especially breakouts along the jaw and texture on the cheeks. Match your turn each time by lining up something in the background, such as the edge of a door frame, with your nose.

How often should you take skincare progress photos?

Take a baseline set before you start anything new, then repeat on the same day of the week, once a week or every two weeks. Daily photos are fine as a habit, but compare them across weeks. For acne, the AAD says a working treatment usually shows some improvement in 4 to 6 weeks, and clearing can take two to three months or longer. Your most useful comparisons are therefore baseline versus week 6 and baseline versus month 3.

Change one product at a time, and keep a note of what you started and when. If you begin a retinoid and a new moisturizer in the same week, your photos can't tell you which one did the work. Our guide to how long skincare takes to work gives timelines for common ingredients.

How do you take before and after acne photos?

Acne photos need two extra controls on top of the setup above. The first is the side views, because jawline and cheek breakouts are easy to miss straight on. The second is timing. In a survey of 400 women, 44% reported acne flares before their period, so a "before" taken the week before your period and an "after" taken mid-cycle can show a drop that has nothing to do with your product. Compare photos from the same point in your cycle where you can.

• Don't squeeze or pick before a photo, and don't cover spots with concealer.
• Shoot before workouts and hot showers, when skin is less flushed.
• Count spots in each area from the photos, and write the numbers down.
• Keep the close-up at the same distance so spots and marks appear the same size.

For a fuller method, see how to track acne progress.

How can you spot misleading before and after photos online?

Look at everything except the skin first. Regulators treat these images as claims: the UK's Advertising Standards Authority says before-and-after images are treated as objective claims, just like written ones, and any "after" image should be representative of what people can generally get from the product. In 2021 it ruled that two tanning ads on Instagram were misleading because beauty filters were likely to have exaggerated the products' efficacy. Warning signs:

• The light changed. Overhead or side light in the "before", soft frontal light in the "after", or the "after" is simply brighter.
• The angle or distance changed. The "after" is farther away, which hides texture, or taken from slightly above.
• Makeup or glow appears. Even skin with no visible pores, a dewy sheen, groomed brows or tinted lips in the "after" only.
• Expression changed. A frown or squint before, a relaxed face or a slight smile after.
• Filters or smoothing. Blurred edges around the face, hair or background, or skin that looks airbrushed.
• Different crop or color. Warmer color, higher contrast or a tighter crop in one photo.
• No timeline. No dates, no routine and no mention of other treatments or medication.

A trustworthy before-and-after looks boring: same room, same light, same face, with the skin the only thing that changed.

How can a selfie scan add to your progress photos?

Photos show you what changed; a scan puts numbers on it. Pori turns each selfie into an overall skin score from 0 to 100 and sub-scores for Hydration & Moisture, Pores & Texture, Pigmentation & Tone, Anti-aging & Elasticity and Overall health, read region by region with a 468-point face mesh. Its before-and-after comparison and progress charts show how those numbers move over weeks, and the skin diary records sleep, water, stress and diet alongside them. Your history stays on your phone. If lining up framing between photos is your main need, compare features in our guide to the best apps for skin progress photos.

A scan measures how your skin looks in a photo, and it isn't a diagnosis. See a dermatologist for acne that is painful or scarring, a rash that spreads, or any spot that is new or changing.