So today I was catching up on my reading.  That sounded so scholarly… right!?!?  LOL!! I actually was catching up on my magazine readings… haha!  I have always loved magazines (although, I have to admit I don’t always read them until months and months after I get them).  When I was growing up I was obsessed with Cosmo, Elle, and Glamour (of course).  Then when I went into fashion design I was all about “W”.

Now I’m really into “Rangefinder” and “Professional Photographer”.  Since I don’t often sit down to really read them (they just stack up on my living room coffee table), my hubby is always bugging me that I’m just wasting that subscription.  Today he even threatened to throw away the 2 years worth of magazines! Ghasp!!! How dare he… I know!!!

So to prove my point to him that I do get a lot from my subscriptions – I sat down for a couple of hours today and read like 10 magazines back to back!  This is how our conversation played out right after I was done – hubby: “so now that you’ve read them we can start throwing them away now… right”… me: ghasp “oh heck no! These magz are treasures… they’re so inspiring… you touch them and I toss your sports magz!”.  End of argument.

LOL!!!

Soooo… I basically wanted to share a great magazine article with you guys.  It’s an article from the March issue of “Professional Photographer”, it was written by Lorna Gentry – and it’s all about makeup and photography… my two favorite subjects!!  I sat there reading it and I kept nodding my head as I read – as if Lorna needed to see my approval! Lol!

So here’s the article almost word-by-word, with a few notes from me. 

This first Tip she shared totally made me laugh because we’ve all encountered it, but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it – Do not go to a tanning booth or use a spray tan right before the wedding… (and let’s not even mention bottled tan lotions… those of us who have tried them have been through the umpa-loompa look before! Soooooo not cute!!!).  There really is little we can do even in post production to correct the umpa-loompa look… haha!

1.   Blend… Blend… Blend.  You can use your everyday makeup, but use more than you normally use every day.  You don’t want to look washed out, so you’ll need more makeup than usual so that it shows through beautifully in pictures.

2.  Sometimes less is more.  Use less makeup for a day wedding and more for evenings.  You can get dramatic with eye makeup.  I personally LOVE dramatic eye makeup – seriously it’s the best, and easiest, way to add glamour and drama to images!

3.  Don’t skimp on concealer.  Use a moisturized concealer on the thin, sensitive skin under the eyes.  If your concealer isn’t moisturizing, blend it with a skin cream.  For blemishes, first treat them with a natural or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, then cover with concealer.

4.  Do a makeup trial run.  It’s the only sure-fire, stress-free way to make certain that your makeup will look beautiful.  I can’t even emphasize this enough! You have no idea how many brides I’ve met who have changed their mind about wedding makeup after doing their trial run.  Some of my brides have even told me how they decided to change makeup artists after they realized how unhappy they were with the pre-wedding experience.  You don’t want to go through a bad experience on your wedding day.  You won’t have time to execute a plan B or to really restart from scratch- you want to hash out all the issues before the wedding day.  If you’re going to use fake lashes, make sure you have worn them at least once before – otherwise you’ll feel anxious about them on your wedding day.

5.  Not all mineral makeup is created equal.  Titanium dioxide, a chemical used as sun block, can reflect flash, giving the bride a ghostly appearance.  In 2009 makeup artist Annie May launched a line of mineral makeup especially formulated for photography called Advanced Mineral Makeup.  May promises it won’t white-out the bride under flash.  I’ve never really seen this issue personally before… but it’s definitely something to think about.

6.  Use waterproof makeup with staying power.  You don’t want to spend your reception in the bathroom reapplying your makeup.  Foundation, eyeliner and mascara all should be waterproof.  And in case you cry (and you probably will), have a tissue or handkerchief handy to gently blot your tears right at the eye.  Just to add to this a little bit – you want to make sure that you don’t need to keep reapplying throughout the day. I have had several weddings where the brides makeup kept having to be reapplied so much that it cut our actual ‘camera time’ drastically, it really interfered with the flow of the images.  Of course, I personally didn’t think the makeup needed that much reapplication, but the bride felt a little too self conscious in the heat (which is understandable).  That handkerchief for your tears is great to gently blot the sweat from  your forehead (unless your wedding is in Palm Springs at noon in the middle of summer… in which case I just wish you luck! LOL!!)

7.  Keep your lips moisturized and colored. Dry lips look dreadful in photos.  Have someone carry your lipstick for you and touch up often.  Matte and gloss lipstick both photograph well, and be sure to blend lip liner for enhanced definition. Yeah…. What she said!! LOL!!

8.  Don’t forget the groom. If the groom is red faced due to too much sun (or drinking), a little powder can help.  That goes for shiny heads, too. And it’s a good idea to skip a tube of Chapstick in the groom’s pocket for his dry lips, as well as a handkerchief to dab well-wishers’ makeup smudges off his suit.  I had never thought of this before… LOVED the idea of the sheer powder for shiny foreheads!!!

9.  Don’t sprinkle on Glitter.  In photographs, it tends to look like little white spots, as if there’s something wrong with the camera.  OMG!! Don’t get me started on how much I dislike glitter on photographs! I had one sweet bride once that carried around her glitter stick (for lack of a better word for it).  She kept reapplying this thick glitter to her neck, arms, back, front, sides. I mean – EVERYWHERE.  I can’t even go into how long it took me in post production to get that glitter to fade back and not look like she had white polka-dots all over her!!!   I laugh now… but I wasn’t laughing then… haha! Glitter is just not photogenic.  Might I suggest shimmering lotion instead?… I mean, if you want some bling bling… focus on the jewelry. 

10.  Remember to apply foundation and powder to your neck, shoulders and décolletage – you want your head to look like it belongs to your body! LOL!

And just because any post is better with a picture… some of nature’s fabulous and flawless beauty!