Can You Wear Sunscreen / Makeup with SPF at Your Wedding?

Hey girls!

In the previous post, I wrote about how I decided to do my own makeup for my wedding.

That means I needed to prepare all the cosmetics and know all the details.

There were two main concerns:

1. How can I avoid getting a whitish appearance on my face in flash photographs?

2. How can I prevent my makeup from coming off?

Today, I will write about how I dealt with concern #1.

I've heard that you are not supposed to wear makeup with SPF since it will create a whitish appearance in flash photographs.

I wanted to prevent that from happening so I searched online.

I learned that you can wear sunscreen (without titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which both reflect camera flashes) but it's better not to have SPF in your foundation or face powder on your wedding day.

I'd like to mention that titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are minerals and good ingredients for sunscreens except for flash photography occasions.

So I checked my sunscreen for my face: Clinique Super City Block SPF 40.

It does contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

However, since I will apply foundation and face powder over the sunscreen, I decided to use this for my trial run and see how it turned out.

Next, I checked my foundations: Clinique Even Better Makeup (SFP15) in #16 golden neutral and DHC Q10 Cream Foundation (SPF18) in yellow ocher 01.

(Note: DHC Q10 Cream Foundation has been discontinued. Q10 Moisture Care Liquid Foundation is available as of writing this.)

Both of them contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

I was disappointed since I liked these foundations, but I wanted to look my best on my wedding day, so I decided to look for another foundation.

I searched online and it seemed the following two foundations are good for photography: Make Up For Ever HD High Definition Foundation and Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet Foundation.

(Note: HD High Definition Foundation has been discontinued. Ultra HD Foundation is available as of writing this.)

I went to Sephora and got the following samples: HD Foundation in shade #117, #120, #123, and #125, and Mat Velvet Foundation in shade #20, #30, #35, and #40.

I also visited an Estee Lauder counter and got samples of Double Wear Foundation.

When I tried HD foundation, I felt that I wanted more coverage for my wedding.

As for Mat Velvet Foundation, it looked too matte for my taste.

Even after trying the ones that were supposed to look great in pictures, they didn't look so great on me.

That disappointed me and also reminded me of how I like the look when I wear the Clinique and DHC foundations.

So I wore these foundations, applied other makeups including face powder, and took pictures.

I used this face powder: Lancome Absolue Powder (shade: Absolute Pearl). This doesn't contain SPF/titanium dioxide/zinc oxide.

I really liked the look.

I didn't feel that my face had a whitish appearance in pictures although my sunscreen and foundations contained titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

I used these items on my wedding day and professional photos/personal photos turned out very well.

(This doesn't guarantee that you won't get a whitish appearance on your face, so definitely do a trial run.)

I ended up not trying the Estee Lauder foundation.

In conclusion, I recommend that you try foundations that don't contain titanium dioxide or zinc oxide since you don't need to worry about getting a whitish appearance on your face.

However, if you have difficulty in finding the right one for you that doesn't contain them, you could try one with these ingredients and do a photo shoot to see if flash photographs turn out well. 

I will write about tips to prevent your makeup from coming off in the next post.

Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading and have a great day :)