Is fluorescent lighting true lighting? I was told that it is false lighting and that it distorts color and image but then I was also told that It's true lighting and thats how objects really look to others. I have florescent lighting in my room but it looks a lot different to how I look in a mirror at school with fluorescent lighting. How can I tell what I really look like?Is how I look under fluorescent lighting how I look to other people? I look really funny under it..I also feel like its mostly just when I'm in a white room with fluorescent lighting that I look my worst.
Kayla, this is a good question. The answer actually is it depends. There are different kinds of fluorescent lights, and depending on the color temperature (yes, that's a real term) of the bulb, it changes the way objects look as seen under that light. Cool light has a bluish hue and is typically in the range of 5000k. Warm light has a yellowish hue and typically falls in the range of 2500 to 3500k, by comparison. The typical soft white household bulb tends to be in the 3000k range. The standard long fluorescent tube tends to be on the cold side, which commonly is perceived as being harsh and distorting. The lighting section at Home Depot by us has a display that shows the same. picture under different lights. By looking at this, you can get a good understanding of how the color temperature of a particular bulb affects the way things look. Although actual daylight is on the order of 6500k, that winds up looking very harsh in the context of a home. Cooler lights are brighter, so they are often used in institutional settings, but they are not the kind of warm friendly lights most people want in their homes. This accounts for your feeling that you look your worst under fluorescent lights in a white room - it gives an almost bluish cast to your skin; very harsh! Everybody looks awful under cold fluorescent lights, though some people probably look even worse depending on their natural skin color and clothing....but depending on the specific bulb that's in place, it'll change how everything looks.
