If you’ve found yourself scrolling through influencer Instagram profiles or rifling through magazines full of celebrity glam shots, you might wonder, “How does someone look so good naturally?” Yes, part of it is in the makeup, the skincare, and the lighting, but even with all of the prep work, the photos are heavily edited.
Not everyone has the resources to get the same results or have their photos professionally touched up, but thankfully, with today’s technology, they no longer need to. Free face editing apps have made the inaccessible within arms reach, so here are 12 face editing apps that can help you take your photos to the next level without costing a dime.
The concept of photo editing is not something entirely new, one can argue that it has been around just as long as photos or portraits have and have evolved from a paint to pixels but what makes photo editing applications, specifically, unique is that they have taken professional grade tools and skills and made them easy to use and accessible for the average user.
These are apps that help users enhance photos by either improving, erasing, or altering the photo’s contents, which could include the use of filters, stickers, AI tools, and a plethora of other gizmos that can upgrade your regular selfie with the slightest of efforts. A lot of these apps have premiums, and quite a few are free to use as well.
A number of factors that play into your choice of best free face editing apps especially if you want a “Me but better” result rather than looking cakey or airbrushed, so here is everything you need to consider when choosing an app that is just subtle enough to let your real beauty take center stage.
If you are to consider an editing app, the first order of business is to check if it allows you to erase blemishes, wrinkles, and other flaws, or even remove watermark from videos because you want to start with a clean base and a clean frame. Then, note if it allows you to add subtle make-up touches like a perfectly color-matched foundation or a slight contour for a snatched look; it makes a huge difference.
A good editing app is one that gives its users complete control and that means not just focusing on the face, but the body as well.
This one is tricky and for obvious reasons, and that also makes this feature a rare one, even amongst the best face editing apps. Pick an app that allows for individual facial recognition so that you can edit more than one person’s appearance.
AI functions in an editing app are great for quick fixes because the AI does all the work for you while preventing over-editing, making the result look more natural for Instagram.
You need to be able to use the app without struggling, and a good user-friendly interface and operation can help with that especially if you’re a beginner.
Finally, the most important factor is making sure the photo is postable after all that work; therefore, look for an app that maintains or improves the image quality.
Now that you’re clear on what to look for, here are 12 free retouch app options that meet those standards.
BeautyPlus is a fan favorite because it gives its users access to a wide variety of professional-grade tools that, even when used together, give them a natural-looking finish. It is most known for its skin smoothing tools, real-time beautification, advanced AI, one-tap functionality, and realistic make-up tools to finish the look, making it the ideal, reliable choice for all sorts of touch-ups, whether that be subtle clean looks or a full party glam.
If you’re interested in augmented reality effects that throw you in for a loop, BeautyCam is the app you might be missing out on. It is popular for its filters and facetuning effects that make you look your best every single time.
Snow is a great option if you’re not confident with your make-up skills but want to try out bold looks combined with AR effects, plus it comes packed with an impressive AI function that allows users to create avatars and cute edits with minimal effort.
Meitu is a popular option amongst free beauty apps for influencers because of its customizable brushes and AI templates that add outlines and fun stickers to your photos with just a tap, but it is also great for makeup, body reshaping, and filters.
FixThePhoto is like LinkedIn for editors because it connects you to real professional editors, and all you have to do is upload your photo and get custom edits from an actual person, rather than AI, whatever those edits may be. The first edit is completely free.
Ulike is for the trend-setters because it is a free photo editing app that also guides you on poses, tools, and the filters to apply, all the while keeping things natural, which makes it a great option for Instagram or if you’re starting out on your influencer journey.
You probably already have Soda downloaded on your phone, as it is a very clean, very beginner-friendly, free face app that is focused on natural enhancements and soft make-up looks, and you can also use it to turn your photos into illustrations.
B612 is a lightweight, beginner-friendly app that gained popularity around the early 2010s for its stickers, filters, and smart facial effects. It is an all-in-one app that comes with a full range of functions for absolutely free.
Camera360 is known for its 3D face edits, personalized effects, ultra-precise enhancements, one-touch beauty, and (the best part) high-quality results while also being beginner-friendly.
Facetune is a powerful manual editor known worldwide for the precise control it gives its users, letting them enhance just about anything from skin, to teeth, to their body shape without compromising on image quality at any step of the way.
Picsart is not just an editor, rather, it is a full creative suite that lets you create and edit all sorts of graphic media. It is both capable and versatile, allowing you to work on all your editing and creative needs, whether that’s collages or just a photo touch-up.
YouCam Perfect is the tool you want in your phone when you’re on a trip with your friends because it’s great for group selfies and virtual makeovers. You can try out animations, touch up multiple faces at a time, and have fun with effects as a group
A good editing app will not just help you erase the flaws, it will also help improve the photo overall. Here is how you can use BeautyPlus to add the finishing touches.
Starting with the focus of the picture, the face.
With the BeautyPlus AI, you can touch up your make-up, filters, and face shape with just a tap whenever you’re short on time or don’t want to go through the trouble of selecting each feature.
If you notice little blemishes on your skin or feel like your pores are too prominent in the photo, just use the skin polishing feature to smooth out all of it and adjust the strength of the effect to make it as natural or as polished as you prefer.
Feel a little bloated? Love yourself regardless and post selfies with confidence because with the double chin removal function you can easily remove that little flab.
A good hairdo can make or break your look, if you haven’t been able to book an appointment with the salon recently, no problem, BeautyPlus can fix that for you.
If you’re feeling a bit experimental with your hair but don’t know if a color would look good on you, or want to prank your parents into thinking you dyed your hair green, try the Hair color change function.
If you’re having a bad hair day and want to look more put together in photos, just use BeauyPlus to straighten, smooth, and volumize even the most unruly of hair.
The finishing touch to your ensemble, the perfect amount of make-up. Here is how you can use BeautyPlus to glam up your look.
If your eyes look a little droopy, you can always make them pop with a good set of lashes or (if you’re feeling bold) try contact lenses and stun people with your new eye color.
Teeth are often overlooked in photos and editing but they make a huge difference, so save yourself that trip to the dentist because you can get your pearly white shining again with the BeautyPlus orthodontics and whitening feature.
There have been embarrassing instances where celebrities posted clearly edited photos and people pointed out that the background looks a little strange, perhaps because the person in question made their waist look a little smaller and didn’t consider how that would morph the background. Don’t make the same mistake and use the BeautyPlus background lock feature to adjust your body proportions without altering the background.
Now that you have the perfect photo ready to post, you can add a couple of more embellishments just to have a little creative fun with your photos.
You can make your photos look like they were taken from an SLR camera by blurring the background and focusing on the subject. It gives photos a lively, almost magical, in-the-moment aesthetic appeal.
BeautyPlus even allows you to turn yourself into a cartoon version, a fun feature for everyone trying to live out their childhood dream of becoming the cartoon characters they loved on screen.
You don’t have to spend thousands on a virtual reality headset to experience augmented reality. Just use BeautyPlus to transport yourself anywhere in your photos. You can even add little stickers to add a pop of color.
You can have access to an entire catalog of filters to add charm or softness to your photos in real time. Give the retro filters a spin for that vintagey 80s rock band look.
The internet has allowed the everyday netizen to try out the best face editing apps free of charge, and that has led to a few misconceptions. Face editing apps are often villainized, but truthfully, they are not here to distort anyone’s perception of beauty; they are a fun way to experiment with your look without making drastic changes. The right editing apps are all about preserving your natural look while also making improvements that boost confidence and that is exactly what BeautyPlus is all about.