While I recommend hiring a makeup artist for your photos, not everyone has $100 in their budget to pay for professional makeup artist’s talents. Here are a few of my do’s and don'ts for DIY makeup for photos.
1. Don't use any shiny or glittery products. It may look fun to use a little glittery eye shadow, but any makeup product with glitter will show up like small flecks in photos and will probably have to be edited out. The same holds true for other products like foundation. Steer clear of glossy or shiny products. Apply matte powder liberally and bring powder to your shoot in case you need it part way through the session.
2. Don’t get too heavy-handed with makeup and don’t contour. I cringe when people say, “you’ll need a lot more makeup for photos than you would normally wear.” That may be true for boudoir or glamour photos, but it is not true for headshots. You may want a tad more foundation and powder than normal, but your makeup should look like you are going to a job interview. Dimension will be created with portrait lighting, so it’s not advisable to follow the current trend of sculpting features with makeup.
3. Do wax or pluck your eyebrows a couple of days in advance. Trying to reshape the brows through retouching process is possible, it is not included in the basic retouching that comes with my sessions. If you ask my to reshape your brows with Photoshop, it may cost more than getting them waxed in real life. Fill in your eye brows if you have any thin areas.
Give yourself plenty of time to do your makeup in a room with good, natural light. With the right preparation and planning, you can have great results with DIY makeup.
