Here's how I used to edit my selfies to look pretty — and why I won't do it anymore

This is a First Person column by Madison O'Dell, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity High School in Torbay, N.L. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

Picture this.

I'm on my couch slouched over, half asleep, eating any chocolate or chips I can get my hands on. Just totally pigging out as any teen does.

It's the middle of the day.

I still have my stained and unwashed pyjamas on, and my hair hasn't been washed or brushed but I want to at least feel like I've accomplished something. So, I think: time to post a nice selfie!

Obviously, I won't take the selfie here.

It takes me an hour or more, and finally I'm ready. Makeup, hair, outfit — and I have to get good lighting, the right angle, the right pose. Then I'll post it! (Just joking. I wish it were as easy as that.)

Next, after 30 minutes of getting all done up, I wipe off my makeup, throw my hair into a messy bun and jump back into my stained and unwashed pyjamas. I sink back into the couch, and reach again for the snacks.

Now the real work begins: choosing the right picture. I took multiple shots, hoping one would be good enough to post. I begin to scroll through my camera roll, saying, "Nah, nope, no way, oh god" to almost every single one.

I see two or three that aren't completely terrible, so I send these to my friend group. Their brutal honesty narrows it down to one.

I over analyze the one I chose. It's not perfect but it will work. I literally start from the top and work to the bottom, whitening anything that's white, like my eyes and my teeth.

Next it's my blemishes, pimples and scars. I simply erase them with the touch of a finger like they've never been there.

Then my body.

If I've just eaten a bunch of snacks and I'm bloated like any human would be, I edit the selfie to make me look skinnier with wider hips.