Put your camera away: We’re spending FIVE HOURS a week taking selfies

Angling the shadows to make your face look slimmer? Switching filters to get that sun-kissed glow? Taking selfies is an art.

So it’s no surprise a recent study shows we’re spending far too much time taking pics of ourselves.

16-25 year-old’s are wasting up to five hours a week preparing, taking and editing selfies, according to a survey from beauty retailers FeelUnique.

That’s more than the contact hours of your average English student, and certainly more than a usual night’s sleep during exam season.

Tuition fees are going up and contact hours are going down – we’re spending less time in lectures and more time behind the camera phone lens.

But Feelunique’s Editorial Director Newby Hands (yes that’s her real name) insists: “This isn’t about becoming a nation of narcissists, but more a new way to share our ideas and inspirations.

“The act of taking a selfie has become a huge phenomenon”.

On average, we’re taking three snaps a day that take as long as 16 minutes each – that’s nearly an hour per day.

When taking a selfie, angles are everything.

Holding your phone up higher makes your eyes look bigger, nose slimmer and could capture some cheeky cleavage.

The bulk of selfie time is taken by getting the right lighting, shadows, camera angles, make-up, hair and background, it’s tough to get right.

It’s a great method of procrastination though. Experimenting with editing apps and scrolling through Instagram is way more entertaining than writing an essay.

But according to experts, the idea of ‘selfie-esteem’ is starting to become an issue.

22 per cent of people admitted to increased happiness when they got likes on their photos and said “boosting their ego” was the main reason for posting pics online.

One in five even confessed to uploading slightly suggestive images to make an ex-partner regret ending their relationship.

A more worrying figure is that 27 per cent of girls confessed they “delete selfies within a few minutes if they haven’t got enough likes on social media”.

Maybe it’s time to put the camera down and head back to the library.