When I first downloaded SelfieMark, I thought it was meant to compete with Instagram and I had my doubts about whether or not it would take off.  I uploaded a selfie, played around with some of the effects and options it offers, and quickly decided that while it had some fantastic options that it’s competitors didn’t, it probably wouldn’t be right for me.  That was, until I realized that it’s not even trying to compete-it’s something entirely different. Something that not only is becoming a helpful tool for me, but that is quickly becoming addicting to someone who loves giving their opinion on things. In fact, I’m using it to help me make an important decision right now-I could use your vote on that also…

Some of you may know that I’m turning 30 next month. Instead of fearing the aging process and contemplating my own mortality-well, too much anyway-I’ve decided to embrace the transition from one decade to another. If I have to turn 30, I might as well turn 30 with purple hair, right? RIGHT.  So I dyed my hair purple and I LOVE IT.

I’ve also decided to mark the occasion by doing an actual photo shoot. I also decided that I need updated headshots for the blog, and family photos done with Handsome Bub and myself, so it was time to get in front of the camera.  I booked my dear and talented friend Valor from Valor Photography to take my photos and it’s coming up fast.  It dawned on me that I really need to decide what to wear, and why not order myself a new birthday dress while I’m at it.  So I headed on over to Torrid to try and pick a dress that I like. I’mt hinking pink, because I’ve been told so many times that pink is really my color-though I’m tempted to go turquoise or black too… I think I’ve narrowed it down to these two dresses:

Double Knit Skater Dress                                                     Tulle Skirt Skater Dress

But how do I decide? They’re both sooooo cute.  Do I want simple and charming? Or something that screams “It’s my birthday!” It’s too tough to choose! Also, once I pick one, what do I pair it with? I’ll probably want something to wear over my arms… Do I go cardigan? Blazer? What? What about leggings? Shoes? UGH.

That’s where SelfieMark (and hopefully you, my beloved readers) come in.  As I discovered, the true purpose of SelfieMark (aside from sharing Selfies) is for voting! That’s right, it’s super easy to set up side by side photos in the app and have people vote on them.  So I set up a Poll.  I want people to vote and tell me which dress I should get-because I need help.  Help from more fashion-minded people who can see things from an unbiased perspective.

Setting Up a Poll in SelfieMark

It’s super easy to set up the poll, you just click Polls from the bottom and then Create New Poll from the upper right hand corner of that page.  Then it instantly asks you to select two photos.  Once you’ve chosen the photos you can add a description (I detailed what I needed input regarding, and a little bit about how and why I’ll be wearing the dress to give people an idea) then choose who you want to see the poll-I chose Public because I definitely want people to weigh in on this issue, but I can see how you’d want certain groups or friends to choose in some cases-maybe if your photos gave away personal details you didn’t want shared with everyone.

 It’s super easy, and once it’s posted people can go in and easily vote by clicking the heart icon on the image they like best. I have no idea why it starred out shoot… That’s the weirdest thing-it’s not a swear word.  What? Just what? Oh well, it still worked and soon I had my very first vote and comment! I asked for comments telling me how I should style it also.  Thanks to Paula for being such a dear and being my first vote and comment! Again… Why did it star out pink? So weird. But at least it’s kind of funny.  It just looks like we’re swearing all over the place… lol

I also uploaded a selfie, which I think helps give them an idea of what I look like when I post this poll, since the photos are not me. It was good to have her opinion on which would look better with my purple hair, which I will have for the photo shoot also.  It was fun to play around with their editing options, they have a ton! The biggest downside on the editing options is that they don’t seem to have an undo button-so you have to start over if you make a mistake.

There are so many options, here’s what I found for editing your photos (you can edit poll photos too!):

• 14 filters-my favorite being the chrome and instant ones, and the only thing I didn’t like is that you can’t adjust their intensity.
• 3 different ways to blur, and it can be adjusted as well as moved around where you want it.
• The ability to rotate and flip your photos, and it doesn’t cut anything off when you do this-it’ll just save it with white space around it.
• 5 different crop styles, but you can also just crop it how you want as well-or not crop it-it posts it how you want it.
• The ability to draw on the photo in any color with any size brush.
• The Splash Feature-it makes everything black and white but then you can use your brush (size adjustable) to make colored parts show up.
• The ability to resize photos.
• 12 adorable stickers and 18 emojis.
• A TON of fonts to use for writing on the photos. You can also adjust the color and transparency, as well as border-super nice.
• Effects (different from Filters), the ability to edit based on curve, and Adjustment editing for lighting and contrast.

Here’s a look at some of the fun things I did…

So it’s super fun to get opinions from other users on things (like my dress choice), but it’s also really addicting to vote on users’ polls. You can just click on Polls and go into the public polls and vote on all sorts of things.  When you set up your profile on the app it asks you to choose things you’re interested in. There’s a wide range of options… So far I’ve voted in a few polls like Which selfie should be my profile picture?, Which bedspread should I buy?, and Which comedian do you think is funnier? (totally Amy Schumer).  It’s so much fun!

Also, it occurs to me, this app would be the most useful thing for when you’re in a dressing room trying things on and you need help deciding which to buy.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve snapped a mirror pic and sent it to a friend saying “Should I buy the white sweater or the blue one?” or “which dress looks more flattering on me?” This app would have made it so much easier-because once you’ve built up your friends list you can get some instant answers and help picking from a lot of unbiased sources.  Dang! This app could totally be my best friend in situations like this.

Vote: Which dress should I buy?

So really, I do need your help making this decision… Which dress should I buy?
You should totally download the app and vote! My username is @mysocalledchaos on the app.

It’s available on Android and iOS from their perspective app stores.  Let’s be friends and help each other make decisions, like this one? Plus, I like seeing your pretty selfies too… But the Polls, that’s what it’s all about for me.  I’ll vote on yours and you on mine, yes?

Or hey, if you want to, leave your opinion about the dresses, the app, or anything in general in the comments below!