You may have a photoshoot coming up whether it is for an event, a LinkedIn headshot, or a work profile photo, or just because you want to have one for personal reasons, it is no question that you, as the subject, want to look your best in the photographs.

You might have the best photographers you could find, like our friends from Beauty Within Portraiture. Likewise, you might have gotten sets of gorgeous different outfit options and reserved the perfect location. The question is, are you ready to pose in front of the camera? If you have decided to face the challenge of doing your own hair and makeup, a little part of you must be anxious. But do not worry because that is perfectly normal!

At Simona Janek, one of our advocacies is women’s empowerment. We aim to help females lift themselves up! Let us share a secret. The prerequisite to looking your best is feeling your best. This can be achieved with striking confidence, backed by preparation, primarily in terms of beauty. Hence, let us walk you through a list of beauty tips that will complement your natural beauty. These will help you feel fierce and appear glamorously stunning on your next photoshoot!

1. Get a Facial

The best way to ensure that your face is in its best condition is to exfoliate your skin twice or thrice per week before your photo shoot. Better yet, also get a facial done by a professional in the weeks leading up to it. With this, your skin will get a deep cleaning treatment, which guarantees that it is free from dead skin cells and other impurities on the top layer. The fresh, healthy skin underneath will appear, making it ready to help you slay a photoshoot!

2. Start with Hydrated Skin

After getting a facial while simultaneously exfoliating your skin, you can mainly focus on hydrating it daily. This will make your skin glow naturally in person and the picture! Use a moisturizer without fragrances or any ingredient that can potentially induce reactions and inflammation, which may produce facial marks and redness. Instead, utilize non-greasy and lightweight moisturizer for fresh and young-looking skin.  Don’t forget to exfoliate and moisturize the rest of your body too.

3. Visit Your Hairdresser

Most of us get preoccupied with our skincare routine that we tend to unintentionally neglect hair care. Yes, the hair is part of your overall look. Hence, make preparations for it, too!

If you need to get a haircut or have your roots done, the best time to have it is the week before your photoshoot. Depending on your preference, you can get a trim to make it tidier or make significant modifications such as having it coloured. You can also take advice from your hairstylist about which hairstyle will suit your face for the photo shoot.

4. Treat Your Hair with Deep Conditioning

Nourishing your hair with deep conditioning treatment is the haircare counterpart of your skincare. With this, your hair will definitely gain strength and health. In return, it will grant you a fabulous look!

5. Go, Matte

A glowy complexion looks good in person, but in photos, you do not want your skin to appear shiny and reflective since this does not show up very well in photographs. The reason for this is that it may make it seem like you have very oily skin or may reflect too much light. You would want your features to appear flat. Hence, when putting makeup on, make sure your skin is matte. If your skin is prone to oiliness, you can take advantage of primers or mattifiers to prevent your face from shining.

You can also dust translucent powder on the middle of your face, but make sure you do not overdo it.

6. Add Colour, but Limit the Shine

If you don’t wear much makeup and want to appear as natural as possible, make your features stand out by applying blush, contouring for cheekbones, and adding definition and colour to your brows. Don’t forget your lips, even a tinted gloss will help bring them out. However, lessen the use of shimmery, glitter, and shiny products for these may reflect too much light to the camera lens. On the other hand, these luminous products may come in handy as subtle effects at the inner corners of the eyes and on top of the cheekbones in case you want these emphasized. Just be light-handed.

7. Add Contrast

Adding contrast is applicable if the shoot is situated in a dark setting. Using a camera flash in a dark room may result in overexposure of the face. Hence, prevent this by adjusting the colours and shades of your makeup accordingly.

8. Do not Overcover

Need to cover a zit?  Find a concealer that perfectly matches your skin colour, do not cover your whole face with it. Instead, make use of a matte concealer at a necessary amount that can cover only the area. Using a fine brush makes this easy to achieve.

9. Brighten Up Your Eyes

One of the things that ultimately define a photograph is body language through the eyes. Remember: these connect the subject to the viewer. The clearer your eyes appear, the more the rest of your face radiates. To achieve this, try squeezing a few drops of redness-reducing eye drops before your photoshoot. Also, to get your eyes to pop in photographs, apply some eyeliner on your top and bottom lashes. Don’t forget lots of mascara or wear false eyelashes.

When it comes to correcting dark circles, it’s best to skip another layer of brightening concealer for this may be difficult to hide on film. Instead, utilize colour correcting concealers that are opposite in colour to your dark circles. Peach or orange is best for blue circles while yellow fit purple ones. For green circles, concealers with red undertones will diligently do the work.

10. Plump Up Your Lips

If you want noticeable lips, you can plump them up by contouring. You can do this by tracing their edges using pencils with a shade darker than your lipstick before putting it on. You can also fill in the middle part of your lips with a colour that is a shade lighter than the lipstick used.

Follow these steps to feel photoshoot ready! If you want to advance your skills, master your own makeup application. Equipped with professional beauty techniques and in-depth knowledge of glam products, Simona and her team can guide you through a 2-hour hands-on makeup tutorial. This will also help you integrate your beauty regime into your daily routine. Check out her website to learn more or to book a session.

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