Photographing Your True Beauty by Ashley Sleep
So you’ve booked a photo shoot! Whether it’s a super glam boudoir shoot or a more natural family photo shoot, one of the first things women think about alongside outfit choice and hair style is how to do their make up. Depending on the look you decide to go for I’ve created a couple of easy go-to looks that are sure to have you feeling like your best self on your special day.
I’m a Younique Presenter so all of the products I’ve used can be found at the link below. Younique products are not tested on animals, are paraben free and use naturally sourced ingredients so are usually suitable for all skin types including sensitive skin. I’ll also pop down my email address so if there are any questions about the looks or products you can just email me.
All About That Base!
Getting your base foundation looking flawless is the best start to any make up look. It’s like giving yourself the best possible blank canvas and creating your masterpiece from there. Of course if you’re taking great care of your skin then it’ll make your make up applying job so much easier – you can take a look at customising your very own skin care routine at my website to create personalised products that are totally unique to what your skin needs, you’ll find it under YouOlogy. Now, depending on the skin type you have will determine which foundation is best for you;
Dry/No Blemishes
BB Cream is the perfect base for you. It’ll give you a flawless coverage, hydrate your skin and give a beautiful dewy look. It’s also super lightweight so great for that natural look.
Dry/Combination/Blemishes to Cover
Our Touch Liquid Foundation is going to be the perfect fit for you, like ice-cream to a cone…they’re just better together and that’s how you’ll feel with our Liquid Foundation. It gives full coverage and is mattifying but still lets a little dewy look pop through. Because it’s liquid you wont feel like your skin is drying out. Although it gives a full coverage its also really lightweight so you don’t feel like your caked in make up, which is never a nice feeling.
Combination/Oily/Blemishes to Cover
Pressed Powder will be your new bestie! It gives a full coverage and is super matte so there’ll be no shine glaring back at you when you go to view those beautiful photos! It also gives a full coverage so any blemishes will be masked, exactly what you want when capturing a moment in time on your photo shoot.
Conceal, Conceal, Conceal!!
So, your big day has arrived, you’re super excited for your photo shoot…you look in the mirror and BAM! The residents of Spot City have taken over your face and made you the Mayor! Not ideal when you know you’ll have a camera in your face and want to be looking your best! Have no fear, our Concealer is here! Our Touch Skin Perfecting Concealer is literally insane! It can cover tattoos….TATTOOS!!! You only need the tiniest amount and you’ll be golden, no blemishes in sight. It’s also fab for covering those dark circles for all of my new Mummy’s if you’re heading for a newborn shoot. Remember to go for one or two shades lighter than the colour of your foundation if you’re aiming to use your concealer to hide those dark circles.
Lock It In!!
Now, you’ve decided on which product you’re best suited to in order to create that flawless base, perfect. What you’ll need for your photo shoot is either a Loose Powder foundation to dust lightly over your face to prevent any shine OR a Translucent Setting Powder if you’re happy that you don’t need anymore coverage and just want to ensure there won’t be any glare from your perfectly prepped base.
The Look!
It’s time to decide on the look you want to go for! I imagine you’ll have in your mind the kind of look you’d like depending on the type of photoshoot you’ve booked. For example, if you’ve booked an ultra glamorous boudoir shoot you could go for a super smokey seductive eye paired with a bold lip or incorporate a theme like the 1950’s and keep it simple with an understated black liquid winged eye liner, luscious lashes and a red lip. Of course if you’re heading for a family shoot then keeping it a bit more toned down might be your vibe, perfecting that flawless skin and adding a neutral lip colour might be all you need….of course if you’re on your way for a newborn shoot with your precious little bundle then a full make up look might feel like far too much effort – trust me, I feel ya! A little BB Cream, concealer, bronzer, mascara and a nude lip will work wonders for those tired eyes and have you feeling beautiful again in no time at all.
So depending on what you’re after I’ve created three make up looks below that you can use as a reference to decide on what you’d like to go for – you might even want to take the eye look from one, the lips from another…that’s the beautiful thing about make up, you can do what you like to let your own personal style shine through!
The ‘Natural Look’
For the ‘Natural Look’ I think your skin should do the talking, get that base looking totally flawless and you’re most of the way there, simply add a little bronzer to give depth to your face, a touch of highlighter to pick up on your beautiful bone structure, some Epic Mascara to lengthen, curl and define each individual lash while not looking clumpy or heavy and an understated nude lip. This look really lets your true beauty shine through, it’s all about enhancing what you have not covering up and painting on a new face. Let your natural beauty show and work that camera knowing you’re confident in your own skin! The products I used for this look are listed below;
*Touch Glorious Face Primer
*Touch Skin Perfecting Concealer
*Touch Liquid Foundation
*Beachfront Bronzer in Sunset
*Touch a la Mode Cream to Powder Luminizer in Benevolent
*Moodstruck Epic Mascara in black
*Moodstruck Precision Brow Liner in Dark Brown
*Lip Bon Bon in Vanilla
*Splash Liquid Lipstick in Sublime
The ‘Pin Up Look’
Think classic 1950’s glam! It’s so simple to create and uses less products than you’d probably think! You can easily lengthen the wing on your winged eyeliner to create a super glam look or just pop a little liquid liner on for more of an everyday glamorous feel – it’s totally up to you and how you feel. Pair that with a bold red lip and you’re good to go!! The red lip I chose to use for this look was simply a lip liner pencil! I wanted a very matte look for lips so popped on my Vanilla Bon Bon Lip Balm for some Lip Care then decided just to use the pencil rather than a lipstick and love the result it gave…plus it’ll stay put for hours!! I used a lot of the same products from the ‘Natural Look’ but added a few extras that make a huge difference;
*Touch Glorious Face Primer
*Touch Skin Perfecting Concealer
*Touch Liquid Foundation
*Beachfront Bronzer in Sunset
*Touch a la Mode Cream to Powder Luminizer in Benevolent
*Lip Bon Bon in Vanilla
*Moodstruck Epic Mascara in Black
*Moodstruck 3D Fibre Lashes Lash Enhancer
*Moodstruck Precision Dip and Draw Eyeliner in Perfect
*Moodstruck Precision Brow Liner in Dark Brown
*Moodstruck Pressed Shadow in Gentle
*Moodstruck Precision Pencil in Popular
The ‘Smokey Eye Look’
The coveted smokey eye! It’s literally a staple look for a red carpet appearance so if you’re looking to feel the most glamorous then this is the look for you, there’s a reason it’s been sought after to re-create for decades…it’s classic, sexy and makes your eyes pop ready for the camera to capture one of the most prominent features of your face. It’s something that i’m sure we’ve all tried to teach ourselves, even from the tender age of 10 or however old you were when you started playing with make up – eyeshadow has been a skill to be mastered. Since joining Younique I discovered that it’s less about the product and more about the tool. As long as you have a great Blending Brush you can’t really go wrong. Our Blending Brush has completely turned my make up application technique upside down! I never knew I needed a blending brush until I used this one and within seconds felt like a Hollywood Make Up Artist! The last thing you want on your photo shoot is to see harsh eyeshadow lines on your lids, so blend, blend, blend!! You don’t need to use every single shadow that comes in a palette either. Choose three colours and work with them. Usually a neutral base colour for the whole eye lid are, a dark outer lid colour and maybe something with a little sparkle or shimmer for the centre of your lid to make your eyes pop! I like to add a little sparkle to the inner corner of my eye too as an extra little highlight point. Don’t forget, if you’re aiming for the ‘Smokey Eye’ then use the darker colour shadow and carefully line the bottom of your under eye area keeping the colour as tight to your lashes as possible. Finish with Pencil Eyeliner in your waterline, Liquid Eyeliner on the top lid and some killer Epic Mascara and you’ll look fabulous! Dust off any pesky drops of powder and if you need to, re-apply a tiny amount of concealer under your eyes. Now depending on how bold you want to be you can either pair this look with a super dark lip for a dramatic look, reign it in with a pale nude which will focus the attention mainly on your eyes or meet halfway and use nude colours but with a darker undertone. I used two colours of our Splash Liquid Lipstick – Stellar to line and Sublime to fill in the rest of the lip. This gave a very pouty look which was exactly what I wanted. For this look I’ve once again listed the products below.
*Touch Glorious Face Primer
*Touch Skin perfecting Concealer
*Touch Liquid Foundation
*Beachfront Bronzer in Sunset
*Touch a la Mode Cream to Powder Luminizer in Benevolent
*Lip Bon Bon in Vanilla
*Splash Liquid Lipstick in Stellar and Sublime
*Moodstruck Addiction Shadow Palette Number 2
*Moodstruck Epic Mascara in Black
*Moodstruck 3D Fibre Lashes Lash Enhancer
*Moodstruck Dip and Draw Precision Eyeliner in Perfect
*Moodstruck Precision Brow Liner in Dark Brown
More About Skin Care
YouOlogy is our new revolutionary Skin Care Line. It works by tailoring a whole range of skin care that is specific to you and your skin care needs by asking a few simple questions to do with your age, lifestyle, skin care concerns and skin type. It then calculates the best possible outcome for 
your skin out of over 40,000 combinations and delivers it to you with options of which if not all of the products you’d be suited to. The core line involves a Day Cream, Night Cream, Serum and Cleanser. All of the base make up of the products is the same however depending on the results you receive you can choose three of six possible boosters available for each product and have them sent to you to mix up at home – you feel like a little scientist, it’s so much fun! For example, I’m in my 30’s, have combination skin, have had acne and want to focus on anti-ageing so my skin care routine involves a cleanser that has boosters for exfoliating, pore diminishing and replenishing. My Day Cream involves boosters for oil control, pore diminishing and an environmental shield. My Night Cream has a replenishment booster, an elasticity booster and a time correcting booster and my Serum helps with line minimising, brightening and glow. What more could I want?! That’s my AshleyOlogy. You can discover yours using the link at the top and if you have any queries or questions just send me an email.
I hope this has been helpful for you – I’d love to hear your thoughts. Don’t hesitate to get in touch. And ENJOY YOUR PHOTO SHOOT!
PLEASE NOTE: All photos used in this blog taken, supplied and © Ashley Sleep
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