Tip: How to do your Makeup for Photos

Picture credit of Shiratski

Have you noticed how many times, your portrait shots just never do you or your makeup justice? The most common complaint is of you looking washed out in photographs especially portrait shots for when you are having your yearbook photos or driving license or passport photos or even your identity card photos taken. I too hate my identification photos but some tips I picked off the internet and from makeupalley.com has helped a little.

No sunscreen or SPF
– The rationale behind this is because most sunscreen or products with SPF contain light reflecting ingredients like titanium dioxide or zinc dioxide. It is what reflects the sun and UV rays and will react the same with the photographer’s flash thereby washing you out.

Mix a LITTLE gel bronzer with your foundation to make it slightly warmer
– This apparently looks better in pictures though I have not tried it.

Define your eyebrows
– If you have defined eyebrows then just tidy them up. If you have sparse eye brows, now is the time to draw them in with a pencil or brush, and define them. You don’t want to look like you have no eyebrows in your photos right?

Use a matte base and eyeshadow in neutral colours
– Using matte and neutral colours on your eyes help to make it look more natural in photos, unless you are planning to showcase your colourful eyeshadow. Be warned though, that having color on eyes dates the photo and you don’t want to look back in 10 years and cringe at your photos.

Use a grey eyeliner and blend everything very well
– Blending is very important because the flash tends to pick up even the smallest imperfection. Apparently, a grey eyeliner photographs better. I haven’t tried this though.

Define your eyes with eyeliner
– I have small Asian eyes and I found that using a thick eyeliner on the upper lid to define my eyes helped make my eyes look bigger in photographs.

Use a neutral /tawny blush
– I have a large selection of blushes but none that fall in the neutral category! What I did use was a matte blush because using shimmer on the cheeks causes the flash to reflect off the shimmer and makes your skin look oily. Using a matte blush adds colour without the shine.

Define your lips and use a lip color that is close to your natural lip colour. No gloss
– Again, photos or flash tend to make things look less defined, so define your lips and cupid’s bow and use a lip colour that is close to natural so it doesn’t look fake. Gloss causes the light to reflect off the lips which may cause unflattering photos.

Chin up slightly for the picture and don’t smile TOO widely
– Don’t raise your chin too high though or you risk having all sorts of unflattering angles highlighted. Raising your chin also defines your neck.

I followed as many of these tips as I could when I had to take some photos for my driving license and identification card recently. I skipped the sunscreen just for the day, and used foundation without SPF. Then, I drew in my brows and used some matte eyeshadow in beige and brown from Bobbi Brown and gel eyeliner. My blush was a peachy matte blush, also from Bobbi Brown and my lips were a slightly glossy T’estimo rose lipstick that was just a shade darker than my normal lip colour.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my portrait shot taken head on did not look as awful as I expected, and I too did not look made up or artificial. For once, I’m not going to cringe when I am asked to produce my identity card or driver’s license!