Why Your Subject's Face Looks Like a Different Person — And How to Fix It in Photoshop

Why Your Subject's Face Looks Like a Different Person — And How to Fix It in Photoshop

There’s a specific kind of sinking feeling you get when you’re 80% through a retouch and you suddenly notice it: the subject’s face is a completely different color from their neck and body. Maybe it’s foundation that photographs warmer than bare skin. Maybe it’s a spray tan that stops at the jawline. Maybe the light just caught one surface differently than the other. Whatever the cause, the result is the same — your subject looks like they’ve been assembled from two different people, and no amount of local dodging and burning is going to fix a fundamental color mismatch.