Have you noticed anything strange with the face of President Joe Biden? And can we guess the reason?
Do you notice anything in particular? Do you see anything strange? … With his face color? Biden is orange. Maybe I’m just imagining, but I’ve looked through quite a lot of videos, and news programs, and I definitely sense a tendency towards a more yellow skin tone. Biden is orange!
I have already covered Donald Trump’s orange face in an article, and many others have wondered about it. One idea was that the former President’s strange color came from the make-up. The Bronx Colors low-end product: Boosting Hydrating Concealer in Orange, had to take the blame. But maybe it wasn’t at all a make-up thing… And maybe it wasn’t even Trump in any special way…
Maybe it was the White House itself?
Donald Trump claimed that his orange face was because of the bulbs, that were “…the worst”, he said on more than one occasion. And he continued saying they were low-energy lamps, and that they were hazardous when ready for disposal. More about that later.
Could he be right? Is it possible that the light inside the White House makes whoever enters there, change the color of the face? And now Biden is orange just like Trump was?
Let’s check the possible light sources.
The spectrum that a light bulb emits, can vary extensively. Once upon a time, when we still had the incandescent bulbs, we were more limited, although all kinds of different warmths and colors were available. There were special light bulbs for greenhouses, aquariums, outdoor equipment, and for different indoor settings. But now, with the new technologies entering our houses, the possible variations are almost unlimited.
There are certain common properties though. The incandescent light bulb has a more even, smooth emission, that is leaning towards a more red-ish color. Sun-light is more blu, and low energy lamps like led, and fluorescent have a more narrow and irregular spectrum. These can be of practically any color though, but if they are warm-white, under 3000 Kelvin, they would probably appear more yellow than an incandescent bulb. The led light is more focused, and narrow in its spectrum, so when it’s orange, it’s more orange than its incandescent counterpart.
… And the make-up?
Yep, even if we don’t ad the Bronx Concealer to the plausible causes, make-up plays an important role of the life of any public person. Could they both be using similar products or even similar make-up artists inside the White House?
Light emission Spectrum
The really orange-yellow alternative…
Then we have the last possibility… The HPS-lamp. It’s a bulb that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. They come in two versions, low-pressure, and high-pressure. The low-pressure is very yellow, while the high-pressure HPS-lamp is still very yellowish, but in a more tolerable nuance. In the past, street lighting used to be HPS. It is still used as such, but the typical warm character is not as present as it once was.
But how probable is it that they have HPS-lamps inside the white house? Well, not at all very likely. And it would show. Everything would look as a deserted city street at midnight. Still, the various types and colors of the illumination give us a wide range of possible solutions. If they use normal led bulbs, but in a warm white color, then that color would tend towards a less complete palette of colors than an old incandescent bulb would…. Even if it was the same color.
The last clue.
Donald Trump also said that the lamps were hazardous when ready for disposal. HPS-bulbs contain mercury, while LEDs do not.
Unfortunately, also low energy compact fluorescent lamps contain mercury, so it doesn’t get us any further.
The lamps are probable of the latter kind… CFLs, and fluorescent tubes. And if so, we cannot say what kind of color they are in every lamp base. Not without asking someone who has access to the white house.
I do believe we can exclude that President Biden is orange because of Bronx Colors Boosting Hydrating Concealer in Orange.
No, we don’t know. I think the mystery is as unsolved as it could possibly be. And maybe the face color of the President of the United States is less important than any other aspects of him, and his office. I will continue to investigate, though.
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