Fashion and Beauty 24th June 2015 by Victoria Stokes

How To Avoid White Powder Face In Photos

You looked deadly IRL, but the photos tell a different story. Here's how to make sure photo flashback doesn't leave you with a ghostly appearance.

You had a quick mirror check before heading out and you looked pretty stunzo; your skin was flawless and your contouring was on point. But the photos on Facebook tell a different story.

Yep, even Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and co. have fallen victim to white powder face; a make-up disaster where the flash of a camera picks up light-reflecting particles in your make-up and gives your skin a white chalky appearance. So how do you prevent it?

The flash of a camera picks up the SPF in either your moisturiser or your foundation.

“You see this all the time in your friends pics on Facebook and it’s cos the flash of a camera picks up the SPF in either your moisturiser or your foundation,” explains Benefit make-up artist Mark Rogers.

Don’t go ditching the SPF just yet though. “I’m all for SPF,” says Mark. You’ll just need to be savvy about the sun-protecting ingredients in your products. As a rule of thumb, high levels of zinc oxide and titanium oxide are best avoided if you’ve a big photo op coming up, while creams containing SPF 15 generally won’t cause flashback.

Now that your SPF is sorted, you’ll want to limit your use of illuminating products like concealers, highlighters and HD powders too. That’s because the light-reflection in these products can react with the flash on your camera, and give your skin that dreaded chalky appearance.

Make sure to take a selfie with a flash before you leave the house.

If you can’t be without your highlighting kit there is a fix, though. You’ll need to use a colour pigmented product, like a full coverage powder to set your make-up. “Try using Benefit’s Hello Flawless powder,” recommends Mark. “This contains an SPF but has some colour coverage, so doesn’t give the SPF flashback.”

And if you’re still worried about white powder face? “Make sure to take a selfie with a flash before you leave the house,” says Mark. “That way you won’t spend the following day detagging your ghost selfies from all your friends’ pictures.”

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