I played around with some Urban Decay make-up for a YouTube recently (you can see that video by clicking here). In the video I wanted to test if the make-up setting spray stopped by make-up transferring to my smartphone. It was an interesting experiment but more so because it got me somewhat more interested in my beauty regime.
What is the best light for applying make-up?
I leave my house before the sun rises. I’m out the door by twenty to 7 and this usually means I’m applying my make-up with artificial light. The best light for applying make-up is, of course, direct sunlight. But I don’t have that luxury. We’ve all seen that girl with an ugly orange line across her jaw bone because her foundation hasn’t blended or someone who looks pale like a ghost when they walk outside. I’ve always presumed this was just because of how they apply their foundation but, it turns out, lighting can play a big role too.
You can’t go a replace every light fitting in your home.
I’m pretty sure if you’re living alone your budget isn’t going to handle a complete home lighting revamp, in the same way your significant other might balk at the idea of replacements just for the perfect make-up look. However, you don’t have to! There are a few lighting tips and tricks you need to employ to help ensure you have the best light for applying make-up. A few alterations and you’ll be good to go.
I tend to apply my make-up in my bedroom as opposed to my bathroom. But no matter where you do your application these tips should help you out:
1. Avoid Down Lighters where possible. Down lighters tend to illuminate the top part of your face as opposed to the bottom and can highlight wrinkles and those dark circles under your eyes. A great alternative is to find a make-up mirror light to compliment the down lighters or go for something like the Philips Hue Bloom. It’s a clever little light that links to an app on your phone allowing you to change the colour of the light. I use the bright light option for make-up application and, in a down lighter situation it adds that extra light to the bottom of my face to ensure I have a far more even complexion before applying my make-up. It also has a host of other settings and colours so you can move it around the house to create glorious hues and mood lighting. The SO will love that you’re spending money on more than just a make-up light and you’ll have a far better look when you leave the house in the morning.
There is an app to change hues on the Bloom & thus set a brighter colour for make-up application!
Get rid of the fluorescent light. It’s the absolute worst for your face because it is rather cold and far too bright. Fluorescent light makes your face appear to have very little colour on your face so you’ll end up over doing the blusher or foundation. That’s when that awful Orange mark appears – in fluorescent light it won’t seem nearly as bad!
Yellow or Rosy lighting can wreck havoc on your look. We tend to have this type of lighting in our bedroom and it has a tendency to lie to our face. Rosy lighting tricks you in to thinking you have a lovely hue about you when, in fact, it is simply hidden the blemishes which will be on display when you walk out the house as you didn’t add as much concealer. Yellow lighting can make you look a bit tired or sick. You’ll end up overdoing your powder and producing that ghost look we’re not a fan of.
Try and replace your bulbs with LED lights. LED lights are the ideal artificial light for applying make-up. They’re warm and great the closest “natural” light effect for applying make-up.
LED lights are a bit more expensive but they come with a host of benefits (being the best light for applying make-up is just one of them). For starters, they tend to last much longer than regular bulbs and offer far more energy saving options. This means replacing your bulbs with LED ones is a relatively easy ordeal and the cost of the bulb isn’t all that much more because they last longer. The fact that they produce a far more natural type light makes them great for girls like me who find themselves going late in to the night reading – they allow the process to be far less draining on the eyes.
Okay, back to applying make-up!
I’ve recently replaced my bedroom bulbs with the Philips Deco LED bulbs. They’re 60 Watt bulbs that produce a great warm decorative light. However, the best light to apply make-up needs to have an even light across your face. So simply getting great room lighting isn’t the only thing you need to do.
You want a cross lighting effect
In order to increase the light on my face I needed to get some sort of side lighting as well. This can be done with a light up make-up mirror but I didn’t have the space in my bedroom for that so, instead, I replaced the bulb in my nightstand lamp with a Philips LED Scene Switch. It’s a 9.5W bulb that allows you to switch between two light settings simply by flicking the switch. The cool daylight option works really well with my LED room lights and then creates a really great even light across my face, with the majority of the light coming in at eye level. The light stands on my bed side table and my mirror is a few feet away, so I get a good distribution. The great thing about the Philips LED Scene Switch is that if I turn the switch again I get a warm white light which adds a different hue to my bedroom and creates a really relaxing mood when the main lights are switched off. So applying make-up is a breeze but I’m also able to alter the mood in the evenings when I have some down time.
And there you have it: the best light for applying make-up and you don’t need to drop a stack of cash on stocking up. Philips has been really helpful in suggesting the best solutions but I’m sure you have some great tips and tricks as well. Please comment below and share them with me and other Tech Girls. How did you find the best lighting solution for your make-up application?
