Instagram. Everyone’s obsessed with it and curating that perfect feed if you’re a blogger or influencer. (And even if you’re not a blogger, everyone wants a cute photo to post on their IG!) I think one of the fun parts of fashion blogging is not only getting to create content (i.e., style outfits, pick locations and shoot photos), but also picking out your favorite photos and editing them at the end of the day!

As some of you may know, in addition to blogging, I also work full time as a broker so my life is always busy and on the go. I would love to play around with photoshop and lighting on my computer but I just don’t have that kind of time. I usually pick out my photos and edit then post them on my morning commute to the office - all thanks to handy apps on my phone!

Below I've listed my five favorite photo editing apps that I use on my phone to edit my Instagram photos. Each of these apps has a cool/unique feature and while I may not use all of them at once, they are handy to have downloaded on your phone so you can edit your photos with ease (and without needing your laptop with you).

1. Facetune: I feel like Facetune gets a pretty bad rep because it’s known people use it as an app to alter their bodies BUT as a fashion blogger, there are some really handy tools on the app I like to use:

   1. The Details feature: I use this to highlight details on my outfit or accessories like bags, shoes and jewelry that would otherwise probably go unnoticed in the photo. I obsess over details, and used this feature to highlight the subtle floral print and intricate button detailing on my dress above.

   2. The Whiten feature: While people think this is only good to use to whiten teeth, I use it for everything but! I like my photos to have a bright feel to them, so when Im posing next to a neutral colored wall or on grey sidewalk, I use the whiten feature to brighten up those colors. I used it on the concrete sidewalk in these photos above. I’ve noticed doing this also helps my outfits pop!

   3. The Vibrance feature: I like to edit my photos with a cool tone to them (don’t like my backgrounds being super colorful and busy), but when I do this I notice it sometimes mutes the colors in my outfit. I use the vibrance tool after I’m done editing the tone of my overall photo to enhance the colors of just my outfit so I can make sure it stands out against the rest of the photo.
      

2. VSCO: VSCO is an oldie but a goodie. Everyone is really obsessed with presets right now but the cool thing about VSCO is you can tailor your own preset without having to be a Lightroom wizard. You can then save your edits (or preset) and copy and paste them to other photos in order to have a cohesive feed. I use the P5 filter which gives my photos a cooler, blue-ish tone and then bring the intensity down anywhere from a 3.5 to 5 depending on the photo. I then use the exposure tool to brighten my photo a bit and the grain tool to add a vintage vibe to my photos (anywhere from 1.5 to 3 intensity). This is overall a good go-to app when you want to simply edit a photo’s colors without all the bells and whistles.

3. Afterlight: Afterlight is like VSCO but on another level (with those aforementioned bells and whistles). It has more filters, all categorized by the color tone but then on top of that has cool additional tools to give your photos something extra. Some of my favorites include:

1. Selective saturation: I don’t like too many brassy tones on my feed so if something looks really yellow I’ll use this tool to leave the saturation on the photo the same except for the yellow tones which I’ll bring down. It’s a great way to control the colors you want to be predominant on your feed.

2. Fade: I love using the fade tool to add a little bit of a vintage feel to my photos (I don’t like heavy contrast)

3. Dust: The dust tool is great for REALLY capturing a vintage feel as you can make it appear like the photo you’re uploading was found in a shoebox from the 70’s. I use this tool conservatively though, as sometimes it can take away from the actual outfit you’re trying to showcase.

4. Text/Artwork: If you want to get creative with your photos, you can also overlay text or other designs on your photos. I seldom use this feature but it’s good to know if you ever want to add something extra to your photos.

4. TouchRetouch: I don’t use this app too often but it seriously becomes a lifesaver when I’m shooting photos on the street, especially on San Francisco’s sidewalks. This app is perfect for getting rid of leaves, random marks, cigarette butts, trash, etc. strewn on the sidewalk and makes it in your photo without you noticing. I also use it for getting rid of neon street/store signs, graffiti or otherwise anything distracting in the photo that would take away from my outfit.

5. Huju Cam: Out of all the apps I use, I probably utilize this one the least but it does make for fun photos! This is the app that makes it look like your photos are straight out of 1998 from a disposable camera, with a timestamp and overexposed colors. Sometimes these photos turn out too purple-y for my liking but I do like the vintage 90s look of them so I will use this in conjunction with an app like VSCO or Afterlight to get that cool timestamp but then to adjust the colors to not be so intense in relation to my feed.

Do you guys have any photo editing apps you swear by and I need to know about! Tell me in the comments below!

Shop my look here: (very into the poofy sleeves and mixed prints right now!)