When an influencer is doing a review video on a makeup product and you are really into it, it is probably because they seem very authentic about how they feel about a product and you are excited to hear what they have to say. Howver, you are then surprised when they apply the product and point out something they disapprove of. – that you can’t even see. When they explain how cakey the makeup looks and that they are not really liking it, you are then totally confused because what you are seeing online looks great! You may think it is because you are watching it on your phone. So then you watch it on your laptop and still can’t see what they are talking about. That is because what things look like behind the camera and the bright lights as opposed to in real life can be very different. Texture disappears and colours may look very, very different under bright, artificial lighting. I explained in a previous post how challenging this was for me when I worked in a large department store in the middle of the mall. I am a perfectionist when it comes to colour matching and it was incredibly frustrating. So I have found there is a strong disconnection there, especially when it comes to makeup that people do not talk about enough. It can lead to a huge waste of time and money, which is why I want to talk about it.
When I am watching a product review video on youtube and I cannot actually see what the colours and textures look like in real life, I might as well be listening to a makeover podcast.If am listening to someone describe to me what their makeup transformation looks like, I can’t go by what I am seeing because what I am seeing is almost always perfection. So I have to just trust what they are saying is the truth. Bright lights or that ring light you can often see reflected in an influencer’s eyes will automatically blur any ‘flaws’ but along with that, it washes a person out. Don’t get me wrong, it is better than someone doing their makeup in the shadows. But it is still far from ideal in my opinion. For example, in natural lighting/normal life you would see that someone is not wearing any.mascara but under bright lighting it washes out the face so much that a person can look like they don’t have eyelashes if they don’t have loads of black mascara or false lashes on. You also can’t see texture which is a very important part of a makeup formula. The brighter the lights, the more forgiving of the ‘flaws’ but the more you have to pack on the makeup for the person watching to be able to see anything.
Here is an example of what I mean. It is a great review because she is applying her favourite brands as a professional bridal makeup artist on half of her face and the brand she is doing a review on, on the other half of her face. Don’t worry, it is not a very long video and I think you will get a lot of knowledge from it. I know you will be like me through most of the parts where she is sharing her disappointment in the texture. I was squinting and rewatching multiple times but just not seeing it. You can see a little of the difference in the shade difference of the two concealers she uses on opposite sides of her face, but when it comes to texture, as the person watching the influencer, we have to trust what they are telling us because there is no way to see real life texture by watching influencers’ online content when they are using artificial lighting.
What you will notice when you watch the above product line re-review is that in the spots where she is pointing out how the texture is so awful, it is impossible to see. Even when she is up sooooo close to the camera, the lighting is so immensely bright that it melts away any type of texture you would see on someone’s skin in real life. From the description she is giving the viewer and the look on her face, I am guessing that the texture situation is pretty bad, but I will never know what it actually looked like. You can see of course when the colours do not look right for tv and film because the influencer will look really washed out (real life is always a totally different story), but it takes a heavy application colour for bad makeup to actually show up on youtube.
Lately I have seen more makeup artists utilizing 100% natural lighting and it not only feels like I can actually see what the makeup looks like on them in real life, the makeup tutorial feels so much more intimate and personable, like I am hanging out with a friend. I also love the car makeup tutorials, or even just to do a little makeup review in the car! Car lighting is perfect lighting in my books, it’s not too little little exposure, but not too much, it’s right in the middle. During makeup application, the closer the artist can get to the camera, the better! Maybe it is not the best for the artist’s self confidence as no one wants to be so close that their actual pores can be seen, but it is really helpful when learning a makeup technique or trying to see how the shades she is applying look like in real life as opposed to under studio lighting. Next time you look for a makeup tutorial, try to find one where the artist is using natural lighting. Then watch a makeup tutorial under studio lighting. Then watch the natural lighting makeup video again, or another one. They are like a breath of fresh air!
