Avoiding Flashback!

Recently the UK press have been having a field day over a photo of Angelina Jolie at The Normal Heart premier with a white substance on her face and neck.

This is the photo

The press have been commenting about how her makeup artist should be sacked for not blending correctly and that Brad was mean for not telling her she had white powder on her face … neither of which are accurate.

The powder that was used is likely to be a HD (silica based) powder, these are amazing and flawless in natural light and with HD cameras but flash photography will cause a white appearance.

I’ve been caught out by this myself …

Yep, I learnt the hard way about HD powders under flash photography!

To the naked eye, these powders create a flawless appearance. They are usually very finely milled and so are perfect for setting concealer in problematic areas. Just don’t use them if you’re going to be photographed with a flash!

Whilst HD (silica based) powders will cause this extreme white effect, it isn’t the only makeup that can problems under a flash. Foundations with high levels of SPF, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or with ‘light reflecting’ qualities can also cause flashback, it won’t be as intense as the photos above but it will cause a bright appearance to your face in pictures.

Some excellent foundations which don’t cause flashback

Illamasqua Skin Base – Full Coverage
M.A.C Face and Body – Build-able coverage
Chanel Perfection Lumier – Full Coverage
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr – medium coverage

I hope you’ve found that helpful in assisting to avoid white face photo syndrome!

Kisses
Alyssa xx

Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment Palette

Well, they’ve done it again.

Urban Decay bash it out of the park on a regular basis with their palettes and this is no exception.

The Electric palette is everything I wanted it to be and more. The colours are the bright, vibrant, smooth formula that you would expect from Urban Decay but with an added Jooosh that I wasn’t expecting.

I’ve swatched the colours below for you to see, the top row is with no primer, 2nd row on Urban Decay Primer Potion and the bottom row has been put over the NYX jumbo pencil in Milk. I photographed with and without flash to give you the best representation possible.

I was brought this as a gift from a very good friend yesterday and have spent all morning playing with it and creating looks on face charts.

Due to the very nature of the fact that they are pressed pigments, you can expect fallout from this palette. I combat this by using a sticky base, packing the colour rather than sweeping it and completing my eye makeup before my base to allow any fallout to be removed.

That said, the formula is incredibly soft which makes blending them very easy and the colours all compliment each other very well.

I currently have this look on my face

Created using Slowburn, Savage, Jilted and Urban. I’m also wearing 24/7 liquid liner in Perversion on my lid and 24/7 Zero in my waterline and under eye.

I love this colourful look and will be creating many more with this palette. At £38 for 10 eyeshadows and a double ended brush, I think this is a must have for any makeup lover!!

You can buy yours here! where for a limited time you get a 10% discount!!

How are you wearing yours?

Kisses
Alyssa xx