Flash Photography & Your Foundation!

These are old images of myself, that, due to technical and life issues I never got around to posting within this article that I planned a year ago... it's weird to think that I don't actually look like that any longer.

There are a plethora of foundations on the market to choose from these days, all of which with their own skin perfecting properties. Whether you need pore perfecting, redness reducing or something completely different, there will be a foundation to suit your needs. I, myself have a plethora of foundations just in my own makeup collection, because, depending on how my skin is on any given day, I may need to tackle a different 'issue'!

Most foundations these days seem to come with SPF already built in, which is great for those who wear foundation during the day and want to skip the whole SPF application step (let's face it, anything time saving is usually preferable when you lead a busy life, like most of us do)! However, it's not so good when it comes to the evenings, where you may be being photographed with flash enabled on a camera. You see SPF has the tendency to react with the flash, and make you look like Casper the ghost in the finished image.

Take for instance the foundation I'm wearing in the above images. It is actually one of my favourites, Lancome's Teint Miracle; but with the SPF AND light reflecting particles (that without the flash photography actually makes my skin look brilliantly radiant), I have no chance of avoiding that ghostly hue when being photographed with direct flash whilst wearing it.

The images above were taken on the same night, in the same room, with the same lighting, makeup and camera (phone) with the only difference being that the first was taken without flash, and the second, with flash. There's a huge difference, as you can see.

So, when choosing a foundation for the day, you really need to be thinking about what your day/evening will entail. If you think there's a chance of you being photographed in the evening, here are some ways to avoid the casper 'white face' effect:

• Choose a foundation without SPF in it.
• Choose a foundation without light reflecting particles.
• Use a matte bronzer/tinted setting powder over the top of your foundation - this will add colour to your skin, plus the matte finish should help with the flash reflecting off those pesky reflective particles.
• If you have a DSLR camera, use an external flash where you can deflect the flash off another surface, rather than your face, or use a flash diffuser.
• If you have a normal camera or no external flash for your DSLR, use one-ply of tissue (just one layer, not one sheet) over the actual flash, this will act as a makeshift diffuser.

There's not a fool proof way of knowing how much any given foundation will react with the flash of a camera, I've had some foundations with SPF in them that haven't photographed as badly, I'm not sure if that's due to the foundation itself, or the conditions where the photographs were taken... but on the whole, I'd recommend trying to avoid any products with SPF in for evening wear, just in case.

Do you know of any foundations that photograph well? Or, do you have a foundation that gives you a particularly ghostly face when faced with the flash of a camera? Let me know. x

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation!

I bought Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation a while ago now, basically because I was looking for a decent foundation that would give me a bit of coverage (mainly on my cheeks) and also stay put on my evenings out, especially on warm nights or in a hot pub/bar etc!

The foundation applies beautifully, is easy to blend and really does even out my skin tone without being cakey... this was always a must in my quest for foundation. The swatches show the colour difference between my (still) currently tanned skin and the shade I would usually wear (which is 2N2, Fresco, in case you were wondering) so please excuse that.

I generally don’t wear this as much in the day (although it does have an added SPF which is great for over here, but not really suitable for use in place of a higher SPF when in warmer countries) unless I felt like I needed a little more coverage overall, or even just in particular areas, which is quite common for me as I do tend to mix and match my foundation depending on what each particular area requires at the time!

Double Wear isn’t quite as luminous as Teint Miracle but I don’t find it to be completely flat either, and I always highlight where needed so it’s really not a big deal, plus some people (and me too sometimes) prefer this kind of finish where they can control where their skin glows!

As its name suggest, Double Wear really does stay put. I’ve never had any issue at all with this foundation disappearing midway through the day (or evening) and actually, I have rather naughtily left this on over night (I’m one of those people who goes out, gets drunk and then just about makes it into bed without any thought for my makeup at the time – don’t worry, I don’t do it all the time) and woke up the next day with my make-up still fully intact.

I would have loved this back in my clubbing days when I’d go out on a Friday night and come back on a Saturday afternoon (sometimes it was actually a Sunday night before I got home, but the less said about those weekends, the better – let’s just say that I went on nights out equipped with my toothbrush, underwear and other clothing essentials back then haha)... but enough of that!

It’s not a cheap foundation, but I find that I don’t need to use a lot of it to get good coverage and because it lasts, I don’t need to keep on touching it up either which probably means that it’s more economical than it first appears to be when looking at the price per bottle.

I bought mine from Boots.com but it’s also available in all the usual places such as House of Fraser, Debenhams, Selfridges, Harrods etc etc too!

Lancome Teint Miracle!

Victoria Beckham calls it a ‘must have’ and I totally agree; Lancôme’s Teint Miracle foundation is quite possibly one of the best foundations I’ve ever used. It’s a bold statement, but one that I am more than willing to stand by.

I'm wearing it here, just before my holiday!

 

The fact that when I first wore it, Mr Beauty Scoop said that my skin looked “like your skin but loads better” and that “it looks glowing” says it all as he has barely any interest in these things and usually just mumbles things along the lines of ‘yerrr, it’s ok’ whenever I ask what he thinks of my makeup! I have to agree with him though, this product lights up my complexion and gives it a beautiful luminosity that no other foundation ever has.

Can you see the light reflecting particles?

I’d say this foundation is of medium coverage which is more than ample for me and it covers without being heavy. You can see the coverage a little between the following 2 photographs where my freckle on my hand disappears – see it?

Another great thing about this product is that you don’t need to use a great deal of product to cover the whole face, and of course it is totally buildable if you do need a bit more coverage in some areas. I can’t find any fault with this product, unless you consider the £26 price tag as being too expensive... but I’ve always said that I don’t mind paying more for products that work well/do what they say they will so I have no issue paying this price for this foundation!

In fact it was the foundation that I used most on my holiday, even though I took a number of others; although because of the shade difference, I had to use bronzer with it to correct my skin tone; which brings me to something you have probably noticed, that being that in my photographs I am tanned from my holiday and my foundation is my normal ‘no tan’ shade (Shade 02), so there is a noticeable colour difference, see below – whoops, sorry about that!

Please also excuse my dry looking hands, this is due to swimming pool abuse on my holidays  - well there were water slides there, it would have been rude not to!

Victoria Beckham Recommends... Stila Foundation!

So Victoria Beckham posted another recommended foundation on Twitter via an image almost 2 weeks ago here, I held back in posting it straight away as I’d done a few of her recommendations in a fairly short space of time, so thought I’d post a few different things before posting this one.

This time it’s a Stila foundation, ‘Stila One Step Makeup Foundation’ to be exact. This foundation promises to combine the benefits of a primer, foundation, concealer and powder into one easy to use product! I’d be interested to see how well it worked on all 4 levels, but it certainly looks promising.

From the Stila website:

“Primer, foundation, concealer and powder all in one easy step! This skin-loving formula combines the benefits of four complexion-perfecting products with 100% mineral pigments to deliver one high performance, high definition, long wearing, luxurious formula. The medium coverage foundation is buildable and blendable and leaves skin looking flawless.

One Step Makeup is energized with Stila's Youth Revival Bio-available Mineral Complex - 15 ionically charged minerals that read and react to all your skins needs.

- Diminishes the look of fine lines and wrinkles
- Minimized pores
- Controls oil
- Hydrates & balances
- High definition
- Long wearing
- 100% natural mineral pigments
- Paraben & fragrance free
- Perfect for all skin types.”

It’s available online, priced at around £26 for 30mls.