The All-time Way to Lite Your Face for Perfect Makeup

Photo: Michael Ochs Athenaeum/Getty Images

I in one case overheard Heidi Klum deny a moving-picture show to a photographer at Way Week because of bad lighting. "You see this overhead light here? Not good!" she chirped. Everyone knows that lighting tin be the divergence between a good photo and a bad one, but it can too be the departure between good and bad makeup application.

Since moving apartments, I've had to accept that my shiny, brand-new bathroom has bad beauty lighting. The slightly xanthous, warm generic GE bulbs are perfect for hiding under-eye tiredness, and not platonic for showing just how much under-heart concealer I really demand. To discover out the best lighting for beauty, the Cut spoke to makeup artists Nick Barose (whose clients include Lupita Nyong'o and Gugu Mbatha-Raw), Vincent Oquendo (who works on Jessica Stam and Cara Delevingne), and Deanna Melluso (Olivia Wilde and Natasha Lyonne). Permit there exist (practiced) light.

All makeup artists agree natural daylight is best. It'due south evenly diffused and clear, so yous can easily encounter when something isn't composite properly. If yous have the option of doing your makeup nearly a window or skylight, take advantage of information technology. Backstage at a Fashion Week, I in one case saw a makeup artist wearing a lighting helmet contraption similar to what you observe on a miner. But most makeup artists don't go to that extent for "good" light.

Natural white light is the next all-time affair. Oquendo and Barose both praise this ultrafancy white portable light past Glamcor. "It doesn't become besides hot and I can suit the height to minimize unwanted shadows," Oquendo says. Barose too directed me to an entire department on Walmart.com called "Daylight Bulbs." He explains that he prefers a wattage of nigh 60 to 65. "You don't want anything brighter because it'll be besides blown-out and bright, so yous might stop upwardly putting on too much makeup," he says. Melluso recommends the GE Reveal bulb in 75 or 100 watts.

Avoid yellow, rose, and fluorescent lights. Melluso explains that "xanthous calorie-free can make you look sallow, and then y'all end up putting on too much makeup. Rose-colored light warms upwards your peel, but it's not ideal for makeup as you can't really see what you lot are doing." And of fluorescent lite, Oquendo merely says, "It is the worst. Information technology pulls out all the imperfections."

Stand directly in forepart of your light. Don't stand directly underneath it. Barose clarifies, "Any lighting that'southward overhead is bad. It will cast a shadow and you lot'll end up putting too much on."

Follow these tips and never have the fear of walking out your door with splotchy block-confront again.

The All-time Style to Light Your Face for Makeup