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Natural daylight provides the truest representation of colors, undertones, and blending. It minimizes distortions caused by warm or cool artificial lighting, ensuring foundations, concealers, and powders match the client’s skin accurately. When daylight is unavailable, daylight-balanced bulbs (5,000–5,500K) mimic natural light closely and are recommended in professional salons and makeup stations. Dim incandescent light casts a warm, yellow-red glow that can make skin appear more even but misrepresents undertones, leading to mismatched products. Fluorescent light often skews cool/green, which can exaggerate redness or dullness. Candlelight is flattering but unrealistic for professional work. Proper lighting allows the cosmetologist to identify texture, color correction needs, and finish accurately. This standard is reinforced in makeup training as lighting directly affects client satisfaction, photographs, and event-readiness. In practice, portable daylight mirrors and ring lights are widely used to replicate consistent conditions and avoid common mismatches between salon and real-world environments.