Photo Tip: Mineral Makeup

As mineral makeups become more popular, I find myself spending more and more time touching up skin in photographs. While mineral makeup has many qualities that may make it great for day-to-day wear, some of its ingredients will cause problems in photos. Specifically, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide do not photograph well. These two ingredients are excellent non-chemical sunscreens because they reflect and scatter light. However, their reflective characteristic can leave your skin looking very shimmery and almost shiny in photographs, especially when flash is used. True, some girls want to look glowy, dewy, and luminescent on their wedding day. However, in my opinion, the extra sheen that you get from mineral makeup is just distracting and will make you look like you were sweaty in many of the photographs.

I know that some girls have used mineral makeup on their wedding days and will say that their photos turned out beautiful. Different skin, humidity, lighting etc may affect the outcome, and the shine will not always be obvious. Sometimes only your photographer really knows how your skin looked in the untouched photos. My advice is to avoid the possibility and just avoid these ingredients when you will be in front of the camera.