Rue Boudoir

Sasha Safdiah has been a professional makeup artist for 18 years and is a regular in the Rue Boudoir studio. If you have questions you’d like Sasha to cover in future columns, leave them in the comments!When I work in the studio I can’t help but notice that the makeup I do in the studio is always done differently than a face that I would do for someone who is going to be wearing  makeup for an occasion. Bright studio pro lighting usually washes out half of the makeup. So I’m gonna share some tips with you on how to get camera ready. At some point or another we will all have our pic taken by a professional for some reason.

Before you start any makeup application you must make sure the lighting is as natural as possible so you can mimic the outdoors as much as possible. Studio lights are very strong and are as close to sunlight as anything else.

1. The first thing you must do is prime your face. If you don’t use a good primer (such as Smashbox Photo Finish) then your skin will most likely look uneven.

2. Do NOT overdo the foundation. Only cover the spots that need covering. Otherwise, you will look like you caked it on. The studio lights pick up everything. Cakes are for baking and not for the face.

3. Something that not many people know is that foundations with SPF in it are not camera friendly. Usually the main ingredient in those formulas is Titanium Dioxide. When the camera flashes it’ll pick up on the white from the chemical and it shows through in pics. So unless you want to look like Casper the Ghost I suggest you leave out the SPF.

4.Stay away from pink tones in bronzers or blush for the camera. It will make you look blotchy. My most used concealer that I can never keep in stock long enough is a yellow tinted concealer. It makes all my clients look fresh and rested. Stay away from pink!!!

5. Keep the skin matte. I like to use foundations, bronzers and blushes that have no shimmer in them because the shimmery kinds tend to make the skin look oily. Lights will pick up on any shine and magnify it, especially in the T-Zone area.

6. Deeply colored lips always look better in pictures. I know everyone wants to look like JLO or KIM K. In reality these girls have so many layers of makeup that they have completely changed their skin color so they can wear those nudes. Keep it natural and try a light peach or an orange and anything in the red family. Keep the red subtle if you don’t want to go overboard.It never looks as shocking when you look at the photos.

7. Brows!!!!!!!!!!! Shade in your brows. It changes the entire face. So many of my clients have well groomed brows. But, in the end you need to pencil them in to make them look even better. Even the thickest brows need some extra help. Start off with a very thin angle brush and fill them in while shaping them to your liking.

8. Lastly, take a dark bronzer powder and lightly contour your cheekbones and dust it around your hairline. If you don’t then you risk your face looking very flat.

Ok sexy ladies, there you have it. So the next time you are taking pictures for your Facebook profile pic and want to look amazing, follow these tips. I’m sure you’ll get the comments, “When did you start modeling?” You can thank me later.

Sasha

xo