Gearing up to have your photo taken? Whether it’s family photos or a headshot, if you landed here, you likely want to make sure that your makeup looks flawless and compliments the photos. Over the years I’ve gone through a ton of products and have landed on quite a few faves that I feel like work best in photographs. I wanted to share what makeup to wear when having your photo taken so you had a go-to list to pull from. Just keep in mind, everyone is gorgeous in their own skin and makeup is fun, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself!
Depending on the aesthetic you’re going for things like lipstick color and eyeshadow palettes can be switched out. In this set of photos, I really wanted my eyes to pop so I went with bright neon pink. But I will share a couple of neutral palettes as well if that’s your thing.
The last thing you want is for your makeup to slide, melt, transfer off of your face when you’re trying to get the perfect shot so the first product that I would definitely not skip would be prime. The Too Faced Hangover Primer has become my holy grail. I have been using it for months without switching unless I have to test something, and I keep finding myself going back to this primer because it’s that good. It’s great for all skin type but especially fantastic if you have dry skin. It keeps your moisturized as your makeup wears and you won’t find yourself with any dry or flakey patches.
Next up, and probably the two most important product for when you’re looking for makeup that you’re going to be photographed in is going to be foundation and concealer. When I’m picking out a foundation for photos I want something that’s going to last, have medium to full coverage, blend well and be buildable if necessary. For me, that’s the Wet n Wild Photo Focus foundation. The liquid form has been my favorite drugstore foundation for quite some time and the stick foundation is AS GOOD and easier to use so I’ve been reaching for that more and more. This lasts through every weather condition, works on every skin type, and is just perfect for photographing. It looks as close to real skin as you can get. For concealer, I want something that’s lightweight but has coverage and brightens. The Nars Creamy Radiant concealer has been my go-to concealer for years and years. It’s so good!
Whenever I’m gonna do photos, I always add a liquid highlighter before any powders just so I can have that extra bit of glow. I’m incredibly pale and tend to look a little flat without highlight. Any liquid highlight will do, this one is affordable and gorgeous.
Powders. The powders are just as important as the liquids you’re putting on your face. And because you want everything to stay in place and look smooth all day, I would reach for the Too Faced Primed & Poreless powder. It sets everything in place so your makeup stays amazing and it also basically erases your pores so you’re going to look smooth and flawless in the photos! Bronzer is a great way to warm up your face like I said I’m super pale and I want to look a bit sun-kissed so I go ahead and bronze my face to warm it up. My favorite bronzer that doesn’t look orange when photographed and lasts all day is the Tarte Park Avenue Princess. I don’t always reach for blush on a daily basis but I do for photographs so I can accentuate my features. I reach for this ELF blush, it’s an online-only blush in the prettiest mauve shade that works great for so many skin tones. More highlight? Yes more! I go over the liquid highlight that I used with powder. My favorite highlight of all time is the Sleek Solstice palette, I mix the purple and gold powders together for the perfect blend.
You want to be sure to set everything in place. You can’t go wrong with the Urban Decay All Nighter spray!
Those are my top picks when it comes to what makeup to wear for photos! Eyeshadow and lipstick are, of course, going to be dependent on the look your going for. For the photo above I went with the James Charles X Morphe palette, a bit of glitter added to the lid, and for the lipstick, I went with this one right here. I’m listing some of my fave neutral palettes below if that’s your thing!
Photo Credit: Kayla Cher Photography
