Getting ready for your photo session is a bit different than getting ready for work or going out. Modeling takes some advanced preparation to ensure that you look your best, and that means preparing days ahead of time. We’ve outlined some of our top tips to make sure that your session goes smoothly.
1) Prepare Your Skin
Giving your skin a healthy glow, reducing blemishes, and preparing it for a day of makeup, takes some preplanning. Our makeup expert highly recommends that you begin exfoliating your skin up to a week before your shoot. This will help to give a clearer look and reduce blemishes and noticeable pores.
At least a night before the shoot, we also recommend using a lip mask. This will help to ensure that you don’t have chapped lips, and will prepare you for a smooth look when you have lip color applied for the shoot.
And don’t forget to moisturize your skin. Using a moisturizer the night before your shoot will help to ensure that your makeup sits correctly on your skin during your shoot. Body moisturizer will also help to give your entire body a silkier look, especially during the winter months and dry weather.
2) Hair Prep
We recommend washing your hair the night before your shoot, rather than the day of. That way your hair has plenty of time to thoroughly dry. Dry hair will better hold any curling and styling done by our stylist, so you don’t get droopy or flat looks as the shoot progresses.
Speaking of curls! Many of our clients choose to curl their hair for their shoot. If you plan on having your hair curled, please do not straighten it or style it before your shoot! Once it has been straightened, it will not hold the curls or styling we do later. In other words, you’ll end up with flat looking hair halfway through your shoot.
3) Stay Hydrated & Eat
Posing for photos means that for prolonged periods of time you’ll be holding your body in various positions and angles that you’re not used to. Think of it like going to the gym or doing yoga for an hour. It can be a workout! That’s why we encourage you to arrive to your shoot fully hydrated, and make sure you bring water to drink during your session.
And definitely don’t starve yourself before or during your session. It’s always a good idea to bring a few snacks so you can keep up your energy and mood.
4) Stretch!
Like we said, your session can be not only a workout, but you’ll need to be able to hold yourself in potentially awkward (but super sexy) positions that involve back arching, twisting, etc. That’s why we recommend that for the week leading up to your session you should be doing full body stretching every day, particularly on your back, neck, and legs.
5) Avoid Skin Creases & Lines
You know how you can see the pattern your socks leave on your legs when you take them off? We need to avoid that for your shoot! Bras, socks, underwear, and other tight fitting clothing and undergarments can create lines or creases in your skin that can last as long as 30 minutes or more once you take them off.
The morning of your shoot, and especially on your way to the session, we recommend that you wear something that won’t be constricting or leave lines, like a loose sweatshirt, sweatpants, etc. The last thing you want is to have to wait to start your shoot while these lines subside.
So remember, no bra, no socks, and no underwear before your shoot!
6) Body Hair?
Whether you love your body hair, or would prefer to be hair free, however you show up for your session is how your photos will appear. If you’re comfortable with body hair, that’s fine with us, just be aware that we can’t edit it out if it’s there.
If you intend to wax before your session, we recommend that you do so a few days before your shoot to avoid irritation and redness that may show in your pictures. This is particularly true if this is your first time waxing and you don’t know how your skin will react. If this is the case, then you may want to give it some more time to ensure that your skin has time to settle before your session.
If you’re shaving, make sure to try to avoid razor burn the morning of your shoot, and ensure that you’re not missing spots. If you’re not an everyday shaver, then you may want to do it the day before so you don’t have any visible irritation.
7) Don’t Be An Oompa Loompa
You want to look good for your photo shoot, so that means having a great tan right? Not necessarily! We highly recommend that you avoid tanning or extreme sun exposure for at least a week before your shoot.
Tan lines, redness, peeling skin, and an orange cast can all be byproducts of a tanning session or sunburn, and will negatively affect your pictures. Tan lines in particular can’t be removed during editing, and will remain in your final product.
Even more importantly,avoid spray tans! Spray tans will lead to orange skin on-camera, which is extremely difficult to correct. Also avoid any lotions that have any coloring or tint. These are very common so be sure to check before lathering up.
Spray tans, coloring, uneven tans, and burnt skin also impact your makeup, since these tones are difficult for our makeup artists to match correctly. You may not notice these color variations in person, but they will show on camera.
8) Makeup
Our Full Boudoir session includes professional hair, makeup, and eyelash styling. If you have concerns about skin sensitivity, you may want to bring your own foundation. Our makeup artist will make sure that it is the correct color match for your skin. If it’s not, she will recommend some of her products that may work better for you.
Color matching foundation can be difficult, and our team knows what works best on camera. They can help you make sure that your foundation is the best color for your skin and complexion.
9) Fingers and Toes
Your hands and feet will be part of your photos, so you’ll want to make sure that your finger and toenails are how you want them to look. Even if you prefer natural looking nails, you’ll want to consider a manicure and pedicure to make sure they’re well-maintained. The last thing you want to do is try to hide your nails during the shoot.
If you do wear polish, be sure that your nails aren’t chipped, or uneven. If you’re getting a manicure before your shoot, we recommend that you don’t do it on the same day; that way you’re not feeling rushed the day of your appointment.
Summary
A little preparation before your boudoir session will not only make sure that you look great, but will have you feeling more relaxed and confident. So remember, hydrate, stretch, don’t tan or spray tan, shave or trim in advance (if you like), go commando the day of your session, get those nails looking good, and don’t straighten your hair!
And as always, if you have any questions or concerns leading up to your session, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
