Today I was looking at the pix from a friend’s wedding – which, incidentally, was one of the hugest weddings of the 20th century – and almost every one of them showed my makeup as patchy, chalky, with horrible white flour-like spots everywhere. Needless to say, this evoked pure hysteria, given that I had managed to circulate through some 10,000 people (yes! this wedding was that mammoth) for five days looking like a badly uncoordinated orangutan had taken a paint brush to my face.
Fortunately, my makeup artist friend called just before I flung myself out of the window, with a panic-subsiding explanation: I was using mineral makeup for this occasion, which reflects light very easily. It looks absolutely fine in natural lighting but when you take a photo and the flash goes off, suddenly that’s all you’re seeing – a big reflection of powder.
The same thing happens with silica-based sunscreens and powders, which have white undertones and are very pigmented. And that’s even more of a bummer as silica-based products are sometimes your only hope of keeping the face grease-free through a hot and humid evening. That’s why you see this happening to celebs so often, as evident in the pix here. At least I have makeup stalwarts like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Miley Cyrus and Eva Longoria for company!
The solution to flour face makeup faux pas?
The simplest solution is to just check yourself before heading out! Turn off the lights and take a photo of your face with a flash camera – this will help identify any rogue floury-looking areas and you’ll be able to correct them before heading out of the door and confronting a camera. Because photos, after all, are always half the fun, aren’t they?
What’s the most terrible makeup disaster that you’ve ever had the bad luck to run into?
![Buy a perfume and save the earth? Sounds lofty and no one product can actually undo the mess we have made of our planet. But kudos to brands that are trying.
One of my favorites is @guerlain, which supports the super-endangered bee population through its Guerlain for Bees Conservation Programme. Through this weekend, 20% of the brand's sales will go to the Programme, which runs bee schools, sustainability initiatives & supports beekeepers through the year.
A great fit, given the beauty brand's long association with bees — ever noticed that their iconic perfume bottles are adorned with a myriad of bees?
[Scroll through for closeups — and click the link in bio for whole history of Guerlain and the bees. Trust me, it's FASCINATING.]
But why are bees so important? Aren’t they just a pain? And can’t we just live without honey? 🤷🏻♀️
Well, when you consider that 90% of the world’s flowering plants & more than 35% of the food crops rely on these tiny, buzzy workers for pollination — and hence survival — do you still think we can live without them?
It’s not just honey, it’s about EVERYTHING. The food we eat, the flowers we love, the life we enjoy. Basically, bees may be the third most important thing for humans after the sun & water. 🐝🐝
As Einstein said: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” 🌾🌺🥀🌻
And these bees ARE disappearing at a frightening rate. Think pesticides, deforestation, WiFi signals, mono-cropping… it’s all causing bees to die out. 🌍🌏
The problem is so serious that the United Nations has designated a World Bee Day (it’s today!). So, how can we help? Some of the easiest ways:
🐝 Buy raw honey from local farmers
🐝 Reduce the use of pesticides, fungicides or herbicides
🐝 Get bee-friendly plants for your garden
🐝 Leave a water bowl outside for the pollinators
🐝 Support bee-conscious brands — my other favorites are @burtsbees, @trudon and @gisou
And share this post to raise awareness... the decline of bees affects us all!
Drop a 🐝 in the comments if you agree!](https://thebeautygypsy.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
Name withheld says
I have never seen this on anyone. What is the point of this article? And your solution is check yourself in the mirror. Are you joking?
María says
I have never seen this, save for some pics from red carpets in the 2000s and the early 2010s. But there’s something I’ve seen quite often and it seems we can’t correct it: Many girls’ eyeshadow look like a shiny white spot ( unlike this chalky effect you’ve shared here) above their eyes. And I’ve seen it when they’re suppossed to be wearing colored eyeshadow, not white. To make things worse, it’s not only visible in pictures, you see it “un the flesh”, so you wonder if they noticed it while having their make up done and didn’t care,
Carmen mallia says
Never ever have a noticed this in celebrity photos! Where is this coming from??