The Best Way to Light Your Face for Perfect Makeup

Photo: Michael Ochs Athenaeum/Getty Images

I once overheard Heidi Klum deny a film to a photographer at Manner Week because of bad lighting. "You see this overhead low-cal hither? Not good!" she chirped. Everyone knows that lighting can be the departure betwixt a good photo and a bad one, but it can also be the difference betwixt good and bad makeup awarding.

Since moving apartments, I've had to accept that my shiny, brand-new bathroom has bad beauty lighting. The slightly yellow, warm generic GE bulbs are perfect for hiding under-heart tiredness, and not ideal for showing just how much under-centre concealer I really need. To find out the all-time 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). Let there be (good) light.

All makeup artists agree natural daylight is best. Information technology's evenly diffused and clear, and then you can easily see when something isn't blended properly. If you take the option of doing your makeup near a window or skylight, take reward of it. Backstage at a Way Calendar week, I once saw a makeup artist wearing a lighting helmet contraption similar to what y'all find on a miner. Merely most makeup artists don't get to that extent for "good" light.

Natural white light is the next all-time matter. Oquendo and Barose both praise this ultrafancy white portable low-cal by Glamcor. "It doesn't become too hot and I can adapt the height to minimize unwanted shadows," Oquendo says. Barose as well directed me to an unabridged section on Walmart.com called "Daylight Bulbs." He explains that he prefers a wattage of nearly sixty to 65. "You don't want anything brighter because it'll exist too diddled-out and bright, so you might end upward 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 "yellowish light can make you expect sallow, so you stop upwardly putting on besides much makeup. Rose-colored light warms up your skin, only it's not ideal for makeup as y'all can't actually come across what you are doing." And of fluorescent light, Oquendo merely says, "It is the worst. It pulls out all the imperfections."

Stand directly in front of your low-cal. Don't stand directly underneath it. Barose clarifies, "Any lighting that's overhead is bad. It volition cast a shadow and you'll terminate upwards putting as well much on."

Follow these tips and never take the fear of walking out your door with splotchy cake-face up once again.

The Best Way to Light Your Face for Makeup