Before you get ready for your next close-up, you're going to want to make sure that you're makeup bag is stocked with the best HD makeup. Sure, most of us are never on TV or the silver screen, but we are the stars of our own reality show. Social media updates, selfies, wedding pictures, your professional LinkedIn profile pic... There are plenty of photo ops around the corner and you want to look great because let's face it: thanks to the internet, those unforgiving, high def photos are going to be around forever.
Today's visual technology casts a brutally honest focus on heavy makeup and every little flaw in your skin. Standard screens of the past displayed a mere 330 lines of resolution; today, standard HDTV spans 720 or 1080 lines. "Every pore, fine line or bit of shine is magnified," says Nicholas Lujan, managing educator at Make Up For Ever. A camera flash is just as unforgiving, glaring off of oily spots and blowing out your skin to an Edward Scissorhands pallor.
In the past, heavy "pan-cake" foundations covered all sins, but in HD, it looks like stucco on your face. Makeup artists took note and developed "HD" makeup — products that are full coverage but miraculously light in texture and contain deflectors and shaped pigments that bounce light. The result? A smooth, radiant complexion without zero visible cake-y buildup on camera. And these HD makeup products aren't confined to pro makeup artist kits. Click ahead to get your hands on the best HD foundations, powders, primers, concealers and even blushes that will keep you flawless next time you step into the spotlight (or just want flawless, natural coverage.)
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Kett Cosmetics
In 2000, a few years after high-definition television (HDTV) became the mandated standard for digital broadcast, makeup artist Sheila McKenna joined forces with a TV producer to create the first makeup-artist designed airbrush and compressor system, which remains the coverage of choice for news anchors at CNN. For those of us not on-screen 24/7, the line developed foundations with liquid pigments, such as Kett Cosmetics Fixx Creme Makeup Compact, $30, and the Kett Cosmetics Kett Sett Loose Powder, $22, a colorless, micronized powder that adapts to any skin tone and sets foundation without adding texture or shine. Needless to say, it's become an on-set and backstage favorite.
If you need to conceal the dark circles under your eyes, try Clarins Instant Light Brush-On Perfector, $36, which contains the brand's Light Optimizing Complex, a formula that helps illuminate the eye area and reduce the appearance of fine lines during those close-up camera shots.
Cargo's Blu-Ray line features products formulated with photochromatic pigments — pigments that change shades when exposed to a particular frequency of light -- to correct for ambient lighting and leave a more natural finish. Cargo HD Picture Perfect Blush/Highlighter, $30, contains pigments in irregular sizes to diffuse light and create an optical blurring effect for a softer, more refined complexion.
For touchups between takes, the makeup department of AMC's hit show "Mad Men" rely on MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, $32, a mineral-packed powder, to fix foundation that needs more dimension and a natural, matte finish, and MAC Blot Powder Pressed, $26, which is designed with mica and silica to absorb excess oil and provide shine control without adding any noticeable color or texture to skin.
