What I notice about makeup on headshot day

Most people think carefully about what to wear to a headshot session. Outfits, colours, whether the striped shirt is too much. That matters, and I'm glad people think about it.

Makeup tends to get less attention. It usually happens on the morning of the session, quickly, the same way it always does. For most situations, that's completely fine. But studio lighting behaves differently to daylight or bathroom mirrors, and a few small decisions can change how your images turn out.

I'm not a makeup artist. I don't advise on specific products, brands, or techniques. What I can tell you is what I see through the camera. After photographing a lot of people under professional lighting, you start to notice patterns.

Matte wins almost everywhere

Studio lights pick up anything reflective. A highlighter that looks perfectly subtle at home will create a hotspot on your cheekbones under studio lighting, a bright patch that competes with your face for attention. It's a harder problem to fix in post-processing than it is to avoid in the first place.

The practical rule is matte: foundation, powder, eyeshadow. The one exception is lips. A little gloss creates dimension and definition in a close-up, and stops the face reading as flat.

I photographed someone a while ago who'd arrived with a beautiful shimmer highlight across her cheekbones and brow bone. In the mirror before the session, it looked exactly right. Under the lights, the highlight was drawing the eye away from her expression. I use a L'Oréal mattifying cream that reduces shine without disturbing the makeup underneath, and once we'd taken the shimmer down her eyes became the focal point again. She said afterwards she'd never have known without being told.

Eyebrows matter more than you'd expect

Because headshots are cropped close to the face, eyebrows take up more of the frame than in most photography. That's worth knowing. Hard-lined brows, or brows filled heavily in a shade that doesn't quite match your root colour, pull focus. In a headshot, you want the attention on your eyes and expression, not on the framing around them.

Softly filled, brushed-through brows that match your natural tone almost always work better. The goal is shape and definition, not drama.

I often see clients who've been filling their brows the same way for years, and it works perfectly well for everything in their daily life. For a headshot, where the camera is close and the crop is tight, it reads differently. It's a small adjustment to make on the day, not a big change, but worth thinking about beforehand.

Lips that disappear

This one catches people off guard. A lip shade that closely matches your skin tone can simply disappear in a photograph, particularly when the image is reproduced small on a screen, or in a black and white version.

You don't need bold colour. You just need enough separation from your skin tone that your lips read as a distinct feature. One or two shades deeper than your natural lip colour is usually plenty. A clear gloss works too. It adds a little definition without changing your look at all.

I've had clients in the selection review who've pointed to a photo and said something looked slightly off, and we've worked out it was the lips blending into the skin. A touch of colour and the image sharpens up. It's a small thing that has a noticeable effect when you're looking at 40 images in a row.

Have your makeup with you

Touch-ups happen. Studio lighting will reveal things that weren't obvious beforehand: a little shine on the forehead, an uneven patch, a lip that's faded mid-session. Having your kit there means a two-minute fix rather than something I need to work around later.

If we're doing multiple outfit changes, a quick refresh between looks keeps everything consistent across the set. It also just takes the pressure off. You don't need everything to be perfect from the start, because we can adjust as we go.

The standard to aim for: an important meeting, not a night out

Heavy makeup reads as heavy in a close-up. The images that look the most natural tend to come from clients who arrived having done what they'd do for a significant meeting, not a wedding, not an evening out.

That's not about wearing less. It's about makeup that supports how you look rather than competing with it. In a headshot, the aim is to look clearly, recognisably like yourself on a good day.

I say this not to add to the preparation list, but to simplify it. You don't need anything special. You just need what you'd reach for when you want to look like a good version of yourself. That's the standard, and it's an easier one than most people expect.

If you're thinking through everything you need to prepare, the preparation page covers clothing, what to bring, and what to expect on the day. If you're deciding what to wear specifically, Top Five Tips: What to Wear for Your Headshot and What to Wear for Professional Headshots: A Corporate and Team Guide both go into more detail.

If you're ready to book or just want to check dates, check availability here.