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Phone calls and text messages are just not good enough anymore. Lately, everyone wants to see our faces. It helps us feel more connected, blah, blah, blah.

Honestly, I think Zoom calls should come with a Surgeon General Warning. Something along the lines of, You’re about to connect with a girl you’ve never met before. This girl doesn’t know when to take a shower, rarely gets dressed, and barely puts on make-up. And don’t even get me started on her roots.

All that aside, selfies taught us (almost) everything we need to know about looking better on Zoom.

Shoot From Above

A quick rant…

There are a lot of things I don’t ever want to see. Quickly moving to the top of that list, is the inside of TV commentators’ nasal passages as they broadcast from home.

Jiminy Christmas! Raise the flippin’ camera! They’re supposed to be professionals?!?

Any-hoo… Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried multi-purposing everything in my office to raise my computer and finally settled on a ream of paper. I tried two books, but since they weren’t the same thickness, my screen was all cockeyed.

Someone suggested wine corks (God knows I’ve gone through plenty of those lately), but they weren’t steady, and my laptop kept slipping.

The paper ream is quick and easy, stable, and most of us have a couple laying around somewhere.

One word of caution, depending on your computer (and how high you jack it up), you might need something to stop the forward slide.

Lighting

With selfies, everyone always says to find beauty lighting. Meaning natural light shining towards your face. And that is absolutely best – if it’s available.

Unfortunately, I have very little natural light in my office, and what I do have, of course, comes from behind me.

And nope. I’m not going to move my desk.

So, I snagged this desktop light ring from Amazon. Here’s the link.

I love it because it plugs into your computer’s USB port, has three brightness settings, and three different temperature settings. It’s also small enough to move around as needed as the day progresses.

A great alternative – You probably have one of the clip-on light rings hanging around somewhere. They don’t have as many brightness and temperature settings, but they absolutely will work. If you don’t have one – here’s a link to one I use.

Filters Are Magic

And here’s a fun fact, Zoom actually has a filter feature that is a total game changer! I’m not at all techy, so here’s an article from The Business Insider that walks you through the steps.

Make-Up

I hate to say it, but make-up makes all of us look better. Let your teams’ dynamic dictate this. If everyone else is rolling out of bed or has jelly stains on their PJ’s, it’s probably not necessary. But if you’re like me and surrounded by gorgeous girls with perfect skin, you’ll probably feel the pressure to make an effort. If nothing else, a little under-eye concealer and lipstick helps. A lot!

Minimize Your Picture

This one has nothing to do with selfies, just one of my must-dos.

During our first week of WFH, I was so distracted by how gnarly I looked I couldn’t tell you one thing we discussed. After that, I started to close my video, so they can still see me, but I don’t. Now, everyone’s happy, and I’m not distracted. Here’s the link to the article that walked me through it.

A Smidge of Perspective

Just remember… while you’re picking yourself apart, everyone else on the call is doing the exact same things to themselves.

So, feel free to share this article with your teammates (the ones you like), and we can all move forward in this new virtual world, feeling confident and pretty.

Put A Bow On It

The 5 steps that’ll dissipate the Zoom Call dread:

• Raise Your Computer
• Good Lighting – Fake or Natural
• Filter
• Your Own Version of the Concealer/Lipstick Cocktail
• Hide Your Video

I know you’re running late for your next video conference call, so I’ll let you dash.

‘Til next week.

Hugs & Happy Shopping.

P.S. Oh no! You missed one of the topics we chatted about last week? Don’t be sad. Here are the links; Poshmark V. ThredUp came first, then Are Moto Jackets Still In Style This Spring, and finally Love Statement Jewelry? You Need To Know This Brand. Enjoy!

P.P.S. Make sure to swing by later this week. We’re going to chat about Vintage Handbags and the best Sales of The Month.