Make Up Lighting 101

Proper lighting is possibly the most important part of a successful makeup application. I am sure you have had a terrible experience leaning inelegantly over a sink at your friend’s house as you squint to put on makeup under dim fluorescent bathroom lights, or worse still struggling to apply your lip liner under dim bedroom lighting. Well these are nightmares that you can avoid when designing a makeup mirror. You have to factor in the importance of lighting, and here are some important tips to help you get started.

Generally, the basic rule of thumb is that you should apply makeup under natural light. However, since no one has access to natural lighting 24 hours a day, you will need to use lighting that best replicates natural lighting. This, you do by using coated or colored bulbs which tend to throw off some soft and warm light. You should by all means avoid fluorescent lighting as it tends to wash out the skin giving it a bluish-green tone and tends to bring out skin imperfections and blemishes in the face.

Shadow is the second consideration to make when planning lighting around a makeup mirror. When applying makeup, you should ensure that lighting is thrown on your face evenly so that none of your facial features are in shadow. What you should therefore do is to ensure that your makeup mirror isn’t located somewhere beneath a big hanging light fixture, or worse still near a table lamp.

The third consideration of makeup lighting is adaptability. When looking for lighting options, you should consider going for lights that dim as you will want to see your face under different lighting schemes -- dim, very bright, and medium light. Note that different categories of lighting may necessitate different makeup styles, and it is very critical to have a makeup lighting design that allows you to take this into account. The dimming feature of course allows you to see your makeup under very bright light -- a necessity when doing careful makeup application around the lips or eyes.

If you factor in the basic rules of makeup lighting, stretch your common sense a little bit and remember any make-up application horrors you might have had, then, selecting the perfect lighting plan will not only be easy but also fun.