Most skin and grooming photos fail for one reason: lighting.

Bathroom overhead lights carve shadows under the eyes and nose. Side-window light makes one cheek look darker than the other. Beauty mode then hides the texture you actually wanted to see.

If you want a useful read on pores, texture, or grooming — entertainment and self-improvement only, never a diagnosis — do this:

1. Face a window, not a bulb.

2. Turn off filters and beauty mode.

3. Hair off the forehead.

4. Neutral expression.

Bad input = bad advice. The photo has to be honest first.