If you are planning for a boudoir shoot and you are on a budget, you may be considering doing your own hair and make-up to save a little moolah. We get that a boudoir shoot might stretch your budget (and that’s okay! we think this is something so worth it) but with that said, here us out on our thoughts on an HMU (hair & make-up artist).
We believe every woman is beautiful, we believe that you should look like YOU in the images. But from experience we also know that lighting whether sun or studio light, can really wash away the contrast of the face. Expert make-up highlights the contours of your face, so that in photos your facial lines look striking, not washed out. The professional make-up will feel way to strong to actually wear out in public, in fact I am sure that when your HMU spins you around for the big “reveal” you are probably going to feel a little drag-queen-esq. Like you just have too much on. But keep in mind that the intensity of the make-up will brought down immensely in the actual image. This goes along with hair as well. We ask our make-up artists to make sure the hair is teased at the crown, make-ing it look 60’s big. Now that’s just our personal preference, but as you can see in the image of Lindsey below, even though her hair was Texas big in person, it looks pretty subdued in the image. Not sure why that is exactly, it just the mystery of the camera and we have learned to work with it.
DOING YOUR OWN
“I am pretty good at my own make-up and hair, can’t I just do it?!”
Well every photographer has their own policy with this. Most will allow you to, but will frown upon it. I feel like I am pretty awesome at doing my own H/M (if I do say so myself) but I still don’t trust my skills enough for a photo shoot of this caliber. Your hair is going to be pushed and pulled in all sorts of different directions, and I assure you it takes a true pro to create a solid enough do to withstand a boudoir shoot where your laying down, flipping your hair around and at times being blasted by a fan. Then what if your false lashes start to come up, oh man is that a doozie to fix in Photoshop 😉 Which brings me to the topic of false lashes…..
FALSE LASHES
Hands down a must. Not there are different variations of false lashes, so you can go more natural or more Barbie, but in the end they provide incredible pop to your eyes in an image. Here is an example of nothing changing with the make-up, but look at those darn lashes! Wowzers.
MAKE-UP QUALITY
We love mineral or more natural make-up lines like Aveda or Bare Minerals….. but not for a boudoir shoot with bright lights where more thorough coverage is needed.! Make sure that the make-up your artist is using is photo shoot quality make-up that withstand, heat, sweating and bright light.
Lindsey is clearly gorgeous still sans pro make-up (even in unflattering lighting lucky girl) but notice how much her face POPS with flattering lighting and expert contrasts. Oh la la! Hello knock out!
Have we convinced you yet?! 😉 A great hair and make-up artist is an essential part of the boudoir photo shoot. So go for it! You are worth every penny 😉
