We talk a lot about bridal hair and makeup trends at Beauty Asylum, we are shifting the focus to artistry application essentials and tips. Today we are switching it up with this blog post to bring you some knowledge. First, thank you to the wonderful husband and wife team Jason and Natalie at Hales Photo and Wild Dingo Studios- they captured a raw snippet from behind the scenes of our commercial shoot and allowed us to share.

It’s important as a commercial makeup artist & hairstylist to be able to see your talent on screen. The lighting set up is crucial for artists to know because

1. all photographers photograph differently based on their editing and their light set up

2. this will determine how little or how much makeup to apply on your talent.

Of course we want the client to look amazing but we also want the makeup to look seamless. In the bridal world I prefer to know if the photographer is using film or digital. I will look up the photographer and make sure we pair the best stylist with the over all aesthetic our bride is going for with her wedding day look.

This leads me to the two pictures you see below.

The first two images are test shots from Hales Photo. The first image popped up on their screen & Owner/stylist Jessica Lyness Kendall & Senior Makeup Artist Kristin Jordan could immediately see that the client needed more contour (aka bronzer) along the jawline/neck, cheek area, and hairline. “Stepping in” as we like to say and we wait as a courtesy to the photog and vice versa. Once we get the ‘ok’ then we quickly make adjustments.

It’s essential to make sure the coloring is correct with foundation and bronzer. Beware of overly grey and cool to brown contour powders/palettes- they are just not flattering at all in my opinion. The cooler shades can hollow the face making it look very chiseled and cold. Instead, look for shades of bronzer that tend to go warmer to flatter the face. Most importantly, stay away from anything with shimmer. This WILL NOT photograph well for anything corporate related unless the shoot is under lights, at a studio, and it’s specially geared towards highlight

Where did you apply the contour/bronzer?

Do you apply bronzer/contour in the same exact place on everyone?

Everyone has a different face shape. Sometimes I like to take a step back and look at each face. I ask myself a) do I need to make the face appear longer or shorter? b) anywhere one applies contour- it will make it appear further away giving the allusion of more depth.

Kit Essentials

bronzer/contour:

Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder- multiple shades with ZERO shimmer and light reflecting particles.

Anastasia Powder Contour Kit - two palettes based on depth of skin tone