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Makeup: Basics

Lesson 10 from: Skin 101: Lighting, Retouching and Understanding Skin

Lindsay Adler

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Lesson Info

10. Makeup: Basics

Next Lesson: Shoot: Contouring

Lesson Info

Makeup: Basics

I'm jumping ahead but I have a massive amount of contouring we'll talk about that okay so make up make up makes your lives a lot easier in many ways people think that you can photo shop to make the skin look perfect you can do so much in photo shop and you can spend a lot of time but when you have great makeup it makes all the difference in the world let's assume that the person just looks a tiny bit better even if they feel more confident they've made your job easier because now they're not like you got a blemish I want to turn this way like once they have their makeup done they feel more confident so even if it wasn't a drastic makeover still makes your job easier so I would like to talk a little bit about makeup because this is going to help us out tomorrow as we're talking about dry skin as we're talking about oily skin as we're talking about people with red skin and I would like to talk a little bit about the role of makeup so my number one tip for makeup for skin this is a make u...

p artist if you can and I know that that's not practical for everybody I get that I have been working with the makeup artist now for five years and I will not do a shoot without one that's part and that's that I built that into my business because I know that it makes my job easier and it makes my results look better it gives me higher and results so if you can get to that point definitely work it in so that is included in the service that you offer and that's where I'm at now innit it makes a huge difference in the amount I have to retouch and in the look of the images so we have a make up artist that is going to be joining us and I interviewed her a little bit before this class I could ask her some questions that people commonly have about makeup and so what we're gonna do is have a little bit of a conversation we would love to invite some questions and we're going to tell you what's important for a photographer to know this isn't like you need to become a makeup artist and always hire makeup artist but there's some things that can save you and also communicating with a makeup artist if you do hire one like how do you explain what you're looking for so I would like to invite my coma out here to check with us and this is her information if you'd like to take a look at the work she does she's awesome and she did this thank you I appreciate it so how are we gonna make up artist for fourteen years wow and did you go to school for it or did you just learn it the hard way like most of us yes yes learned it the hard way I used to take tear sheets out of magazines this is way before the days of youtube you couldn't just look up how to call into her and then mimic it on friends and models in order to learn so I would take care sheets out of magazines and hang them all over my room at the time and I would anybody who would sit still for me I would practice and I would wipe it off and I do it again and I'll wipe it off they do it again until I perfected a look so I was constantly challenging myself and practicing on a daily basis in order to gain the skills that I had in the beginning since then I've pursued you know additional education I was a trainer for a cosmetic brand as well so I always say that was one point in my career where I felt like I learned the most because I had to be able to explain why I was doing everything not just how you like that I feel tio so I'm gonna ask you a couple questions I do have a lot of notes we talked a little bit but if there's one thing that you wanted to tell photographer is that they should know about makeup on a shoot what would what would that be so wow um use it uh and also if you are working with a makeup artist it's really important to communicate the type of lighting you're going to use a good makeup artist is going to know the different types of lighting and what that's going to due to the skin to the contour things of that sort so then I'm going to just the makeup accordingly to the type of light that you're going to use s o that's always something really good to communicate and so if somebody was looking to work with a makeup artist they'd never worked with one before where do you think is a good place to find somebody if you're just starting working with makeup artist yeah so model mayhem I think a lot of people really put that site on the lower platform but it's a great way when you're a new makeup artist or photographer to kind of get your name out there and meat and communicate with other people within the industry so whether that's going to be working with another makeup artist or finding models or photographers it's a great way to get on there and look at people's work and find some people who might be willing to do some trade work or work for really inexpensive or free so when I first started trying to use makeup so help me was more than just improving skin but for me it was to make someone feel comfortable and I also try to turn my shoots into an experience because let's be honest especially for the way I was shooting when I was doing portrait everybody can get a nice head shot somewhere but I wanted it to be an experience so they'd remember that most all generalizing but a lot of consumers don't know the difference between a good portrait and a really great one but they know the difference between a good experience and a great experience and they'd remember the great experience so part of it is for me was the pampering days in the hair and makeup and being able to feel their best and I photographed the girl a couple weeks ago that had never really had a real photo session and when she walked in like I mean she had a whole posture head down nervous when she looked in the mirror she's like let's do this you know and that's that's what I need so that I don't have to try and pull something out of them from the from their expression and otherwise when I first was looking for makeup artist me personally one of the first places that went with to a local salon on guy I said listen I'm trying to build my portfolio and this isn't this isn't paid work but I'd like some more experience is there anything creatively like to work with me on and so my argument or my sales pitch was that this is for experience and you can use these images for samples for your own work and you know hopefully when I get clients for paying for makeup in the future I can hire you and so I'm trying to build a relationship so where my studio was when I had a portrait studio just around the corner was a hair and makeup salon and that's one of the places I started and then in university there was also a cosmetology school about like a mile away from my university and I reset to them and got recommendations of students that wanted to practice and wanted to build their portfolios so that's why nowadays if someone looks at my work and says I love it and I think part of that is definitely makeup so we that's required so I'm able to show them the importance that makeup plays and not in social media too it's really nice but let's say I'm working with the coma I can say oh check out this makeup artists work you could pop over to instagram pop over to wherever and kind of get a feel for their working with another artist not just a photographer is an artist but also a makeup artist so let's take a look I'm totally in the way of this okay so some problems that you run into some ways to ruin skin is okay first of all not using makeup another one is if there's rough oily or blotchy skin so we're gonna address a couple tips for the essential photographers kit like if you don't have a makeup part of some things that you try to keep around to try to help out with these problem areas another one that can really ruin the skin is makeup that doesn't match the skin tone or when the face is yellow in the body's pink not matching skin tones that's when something that I will and a three show you how to match but it's I would much rather not have to match if it could match in the first place and then lastly if there's chris lines or not good blending these are all things that could be problematic so explain this to me um I I will go ahead and I'll look in the mirror right now and I look and I go oh that's a lot of make up for going out maybe for afternoon tea perhaps however it records differently to camera it's hoping you guys be able to see my eyes and kind of get the expression on my face so what you mentioned this to me about this explain it a little bit yeah absolutely so the camera with the different lighting even a natural light but if somebody is going to use a really soft to blown out a serial light it actually kind of pizza or tones the makeup down a good percentage is approximately twenty five percent so how many of you guys have actually taken selfie of yourself when you thought you had a ton of makeup on and you went out you felt really fantastic looked at the picture and it looked like you had nothing on I think every woman I've ever met has right so in photography it's different because you have to apply a lot more for to even show on the camera so a good rule of thumb is that great twenty five percent opie about twenty five percent more than you would on a daily basis for it to show at the intensity level you're looking for on camera so we discussed this and I thought this was a really great idea is that if your clients don't you're not hiring a makeup artist and they don't have much experience she recommended to say ok when you're practicing to do your make up for the day take selfies with flash and take a look and see if the makeup is translating if it's not it's not showing up in photography's you need to go a little bit heavier and I thought that was a really great point absolutely yeah okay um uh all right so we put this together actually I ask her these questions and she provided her recommendation so these air specifically mccomas recommendations for photographers makeup kit okay I don't do makeup I like on myself hardly at all I really don't so I'm not that great like I dont come in and do my subjects makeup so this is meant to be like life saving things that really going to help you out in emergencies so we wanted to cover a couple things for oily skin dry skin and whatnot so we kind of walk us through what these things are and why you would need them yes absolutely so I would recommend either a translucent attack powder or a block film there's going to be the perfect products to use in order to tone down shine on the skin we all know that the camera likes to pick up extra shine so with block film if you are nervous about using a brush and a powder and you're not quite that advanced yet then blocked from you literally pressure press it into the skin peel it off you don't do any wiping very easy it's going to absorb excess oil on the skin a translucent powder you want to apply a little less you don't need a place for liberally otherwise you might get a little bit of a white cakey glow on the skin but if you apply softly what it's going to do again it's just a absorb that excess oil it's going to help keep the make up set for the day is going to ratify the skin and it doesn't build so you're not going to get cakey unless you're literally you know filling a brush with it patting somebody so things please okay so one of the questions I had is that like the idea when a woman in the movie would say I'm going to block my nose like to powder my nose is that like just a tone on shine and stuff exactly okay so that actually so someone shining you do that one of those things that I like that she said is one of the problems I run into is my studios in upstate new york or was in upstate new york now it's a new york city and shooting outside on a really hot day the make up would start to milk so does that help you said set it a little bit doesn't happen not run absolutely also using a primer under the foundation help it from separating and keeping it to run but yes using I would use the translator lucent powder over a block film if you're having a problem with any kind of separation or bleeding of the makeup that's going to help to really set into place and I always recommend that you stippling into the skin do you guys know it's stippling us correct you're pressing it into this bin with your brush if this was your brush here you would press it into the skin as opposed to wiping it you don't want to wipe away any of the makeup you president keep everything we're supposed to be but still modify this skin okay so hd concealer you concealer I think is one of the really important quick quick fix items that you could keep in a as a photographer for the times when somebody comes in and they have an orange foundation on or there really dark under the area where they have acne that needs to be covered if you were to carry three to four shades of a good hd concealer in your kit those air going tto be lifesavers for brightening the under eye area for helping to balance out uneven colors in the skin and for covering any additional blemishes redness or things in the skin that you want to tone down yeah I want one of the things that I know I'll just tell you since I don't know make up I'm like okay I might keep that around but I wouldn't do it because it's just not something that I'm comfortable with but what I thought was really interesting is I ask you how do you get people to not have makeup that doesn't match their skin and I thought you had a good point yeah I always recommend not match yourself so if you go into your local cosmetic retailer and find somebody always they find somebody who's makeup that you really like and then you can ask them to match you to your appropriate skin color so typically they're going to use three different tones swipe those on your scan see which one disappears and that's going to be your best color I always recommend to have them apply it to you at counter so that you can see it and make sure that you're one tone from here to here so not you photographers tell this to your client say you know before your chute if you haven't ever had professional makeup done maybe you can stop by the local meg makeup counter and see if you can get a foundation that you know really fits your skin tone so if you khun get them to do that it can save you a step of not having it match because a lot of people just pick something up that doesn't match at all and then I'm trying to match skin tones in every photo so if you can encourage them tio take it a little step further it should make your job easier yeah absolutely clear brow joel this is something that is a quick fix for multiple things unruly eyebrows it's also agree thing to use to tame down flyways in the hair so if you and without giving kind of that current she or hard shiny effect some hair sprays can if you take the launch and just brush down those unruly here's at the top it's like another great fix so that's good product to have also coconut oil so this is great for anybody who has dry skin on their face on their legs elbows if they're a little bit ashy their hair's really dry this is going to help to tame their hair you can literally use coconut oil for almost anything so it's one thing that I think of the multi purpose product that's great carrie yeah I know that's actually so that's one for sure I have in my studio with or without a make up artist I didn't know this since I am super pale but it was photographing a lot of people with darker skin and we did have their makeup all done up perfect and then I was shooting and I look and their legs were grey and lifeless like didn't have enough color and I couldn't figure out why and so I was talking to some of my friends and they said oh well you've got a you got a moisturized you've gotto go ahead and put coconut oil on it so if you've ever had that problem or you've ever noticed that the skin tones don't match coconut oil or moisturizing is going to bring back some of that color um so that absolute difference okay let's go to this alright tips for your clients assholes like makeup I mean is there a certain type of applicator that you have to use it because I wouldn't want to just show up in a a photoshoot for someone to take out a ton of makeup but then how you gonna put it on sure absolutely I guess it would depend on which product agrees for translucent powder a good brush either real big puffy brush is going to work really well a face brush you always want to make sure to get enough approach on there and then tap off your access before for going into your client's face I actually I'm obsessed with this brush right here which a lot of face brushes are I'd say an average fifty to sixty dollars for good powder brush this is actually a paint brush this is eleven dollar paint brush I use it every day with long obsessed with that it's just literally about it and michael's it's a paintbrush I was like that's going to make a good powder brush its canal this second c yeah totally low cornell to seventy maxine's mop apparently I love maxine's mop okay huh okay so here's some tips for your clients alright so actually what I had for my portrait studio is I actually gave them a pdf is really beautifully designed that let people know what you can do to best prepare for your photoshoot for your senior portrait for your engagement session and so part of the things on there you know did say go to make connor to try to get thes skin tone matched and things like that however I definitely had some warnings of things you do not want to do oh and I met I also had like colors to wear colors not to where just general tips so I didn't have to say it I also had in this this packet tips for different body types so it's kind of analyse what clothing is going to fit best on you and I encourage people to get clothing that actually fit instead of just what was like a lot of women that were a little heavier would wear clothing it was way too big like really really big and it's fine in person but doesn't photograph that well so I had a lot of tips like that we hear some of the tips that I had I definitely encourage no nose break hand what happens if someone has a really terrible straighten yes it leaves really beautiful lines on the skins sometimes where you will be nice and white under here and have literally line with this kind of orangey tan blow elsewhere it will get into the brows you'll see orange hairlines attends to catch people don't moisturize enough on the elbows on the knees on the ankles and you just end up orange knees ankles now is there anything to do or do they need to go see a makeup artist like there's nothing to really do to fix that right yeah well I mean people have said using lemon juice works to kind of tone it down something acidic with god you know it's a little bit tough but yeah it's really really hard to fix I recently had to do it for bride and we had to use very like heavy tattoo cover with bronze air over the top it is harder to have it so have that really orange orange carrot kind of ten I'm going to get I made at it is that full body I'm gonna get this guy to the photo shop I mean I've had it a little bit that's like yeah totally and that was actually something that I thought was kind of cool in a caf for one you know being able to select that tone and slightly change the hue so I could basically create a mask of her skin tone and then make it less orange and said a little bit more of the red yellow range so that's cool they're definitely ways to do it in photo shop but I did like that element of calf one in many ways has ever tried on that was good these were for sure definitely in my guide and it the reason they put it in a guide if you can say you look very professional and prepared like it looks really good because you're providing them a guide for your photo shoot you know but also then you don't have to say like awkward things like if you wax your female mustache way you don't have uh so is that if waxing at least two days before so there's no readiness our anything and then the other one that was huge and I have actually had this happens to me is not to try any new products anything within a few days three days of your chute on and this includes like shampoo because if you have a new product of shampoo and it gets on your skin you have you break out from it and you know game over no new lotions no new makeup like try so if you're telling someone go find something that matches your skin tone tell them to do it a little bit in advance so they can practice with it and make sure that they don't have a reaction I had this happen before I had a big presentation I got this new moisturizer and they're like so I definitely put that in the guy how about this one explained going met so the lighting that people use in photography is going to pick up any additional shimmer on the skin if you use glitter products typically those little flecks of later you're going to end up with these little blown out dogs wherever that is applied in the camera and you know as a photographer you're not super happy to have to go in and photoshopped those little blown out dots so feel free to say you know glitter doesn't translate well to the camera so please avoid good or makeup on the day so if that glitters their style they just know it's the camera's fault not there's always lay in the camera exactly um oh yeah I definitely always applying makeup in good light like if you has there applying makeup in a bathroom with a single tungsten light right above and then all this thing you're doing daily portrait it can easily not look good so I have that in the guide as well and then you said going heavier heavier than usual so consider these and I really do recommend the guide so you don't have to say these things but instead they can read it and it feels like this is an experience for going to that whole experience thing again um okay so if you aren't going to have a make up artist and you want your clients to learn how to do their own makeup you had a couple of tips that I thought were really useful yeah I actually recommend not only to go to your local retailer they can teach you will sit down and do lessons with you something they're really excited to teo to do makeup and teach you their tips and tricks they are makeup artist it's after all also obviously practicing selfies so you're going to do your makeup took a picture and look at it adjust it take another picture look at it use a good set of brushes do not underestimate the power of good brushes and no I'm going to head there is something else that you said it oh I do have that list yes there's a list of youtube channels that have a few slides to tell you your subjects to go watch if they haven't seen it there's like four for gurus that I tend to watch a lot so we will get to that but you had a couple of tips allright your subject shows up and they have really dry skin now I know my makeup artist back at home one of the things that she would often do for me is she would use moroccan oil um rocket oil on my face with when I was really dry in the winter and then let it dry for a while and then put makeup on after it it's it makes you feel your skin feel billowy and lovely andi have you can't even use it in your hair it's it's it's a nice all purpose thank you what do you recommend for really dressing he said frequents free skin moisturizers yeah the canons of migrants free skin moisturizer if you're looking for something that's going to be pretty basic a product that I am obsessed with is called home you know plans mean it's a french product he can't bite here in the us so you can either go to the boron website here or I like to get out on amazon and what special what is right and what is it it's basically like battling on steroids so if you think about gasoline but make it a matte texture add an antiseptic to it and super super moisturizing and healing properties that is romeo plasma so it's great if your client is got you know exuma breakouts dry skin irritated skin good on breakouts if they have cold and are really red and you know rash around the nose any of those kind of things this product is an instinct quick fix excellent all right really oily skin you touched on it briefly yes so I loved he's an oil absorbing primer first and foremost to just get rid of whatever additional excess oil is on the skin before even applying foundation then I will use a match foundation I'll never use a dui or I won't add any kind of shiner glow to it translucent powder absolutely to set the foundation and also touch up with throughout the shoot that again that's going mad if I the skin that's going absorb any excess oil throughout the day and then block film is always something that I'm not going to be there I leave with my client especially my oily skin clients and was that what that little like little fan brush you're doing to my cheeks with that like a translucent powder your she's planning yes actually I think this little fan I land on my cheeks I had a feeling it was to kind of get rid of some of the shine absolutely awesome and these blotting films on that slide for the makeup artist's kit this is one that I've also had for a long time if someone has really really oily skin it picked up in camera so much more than it does in person the ones she recommended I want to take advice from her I mean I've just bought blotting paper from cbs before but I'm not sure what she said is probably going to be a better route how about when you're putting makeup on very very dark skin so obviously like you said here lots of moisturizer really let a apply it and let it set in especially to the ash here areas the nis that all those ankle areas contouring so this is contouring is great for every skin but particularly with the darker skin I tend to add more highlight versus contour they have a natural contour in their skin we're going to talk about contouring so just hold that yeah so adding highlights also baby oil are coconut oil just to add a beautiful glow to the skin I like to warm it up in my hands and literally just press it into the skin the bass collarbones all the way down it's going to give a beautiful glow it's going to be nice and supple looking here's a great one that I want to remember not to forget to tell you it's awesome makeup artist back at home she always applies some sort of oil or shimmer or something to the top of the clavicle because it makes them pop and that's something that we consider as beautiful in beauty photography so she's always think some type of shimmer oil something right on the clavicles there so it it translate beautifully in photography I love that so if you're working with a makeup artist like sometimes you forget oil it looks amazing okay so this is a list of some of the makeup artists that are on youtube that she recommends that you'd send your clients to tio educate themselves if they'd like to know more about makeup and I don't say that my client like looks like you suck at your makeup you need teo instead it would be something like in that little guide if you'd like to learn a little bit more to prepare for makeup on your big photo shoot day here's a couple of people that I recommend you check out on youtube something like that and this isn't after you printed out it could be you know online as well

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Makeup Contour Reference
Retouching Checklist
Frequency Separation
Retouching Files
Keynote 1
Keynote 2
Gear Guide
Skin Retouching Action File

Ratings and Reviews

Kirsi Todd
 

Lindsay is probably my favourite instructor (and that is saying a lot, as there are many incredible instructors). She is so clear in her teaching and she also seems like such a nice and humble person despite her incredible success. This course is one of the best courses I have ever seen. Thank you Lindsay and Creative Live!

Aliah Husain
 

Lindsay is an INCREDIBLE photographer and teacher, and also seems like a wonderful person! This class is great for beginners and more advanced photographers, as well. She goes into tons of detail on all the technical stuff like lighting and editing, and it is fascinating to see her interact with and shoot her models, work with her equipment, and photoshop like a pro. Huge amounts of information for what you pay for. If you are looking to improve your skills in photographing and retouching people, purchase this class!!

Andrew Lederman
 

Great course. Lindsay Adler is one of the best instructors for any creative live classes that I have seen. Simple and easy to understand, clear workflow, very friendly and non condescending like some other instructors. Could you put a link (maybe I just didn't see it) to where to download the actions used in this tutorial?

Student Work

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