Make up or air brush for pictures?

[PeterPan]

So we want to have some family pictures made, and I don't wear make up. Ever. But I know from a photography standpoint, it makes a big difference. I have an offer for $60 per person (which I guess would be $120 total for me and dd) to do air brushing. I thought the girl did both, but now she does only air brushing. She was the one the photog sent us to. Added twist is just hoping my face doesn't get all angry in the 3 hours between the session and the photos. 

Do it, do makeup ourself, don't do it, do something else? 

[Katy]

I would skip the makeup.  And I say that as someone who loves makeup and spends a ridiculous amount of money on it.  If the photographer is good with soft indirect lighting you should look good, but realistically like yourself.   I think your family deserves pictures that look the way you actually look.  You wouldn't obsess about whether you were wearing makeup (whether you look good enough as you are) if you were a man. If you get the pictures back and you hate them then re-evaluate whether you want to start learning more about makeup or whether your whole family objectively looks bad because of harsh lighting, lens warp, etc and you should get a different photographer...  But otherwise skip the whole thing and take some photos the way you actually look.

[PeterPan]

8 minutes ago, Katy said:

take some photos the way you actually look.

Hmm, it's a thought. But that's probably why I stopped taking family pictures, because I didn't like the way I looked, lol. 

[PeterPan]

Ok, maybe I could turn this a more productive way. If I DON'T want to do the air brush, but I DO want to look mildly smoothed and tidy and appropriate for the photos, what do I do? Is there a place in the big city where they do this for people? Maybe with semi natural products? Like I'm googling and seeing videos about "bare minerals". But I don't want some 18 yo in a store with tubes, haha. 

That I could try ahead and do myself day of. Or just give up and get airbrushed.

[Katy]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

Hmm, it's a thought. But that's probably why I stopped taking family pictures, because I didn't like the way I looked, lol. 

 

If you've accepted the way you look enough to decide to ignore it rather than change it, that's real.

If you don't like the way you look but you never consciously made the choice, make the choice.  Decide to love yourself as you are now, the way you look now.  It's fine to decide to learn makeup if that's what you want, but that's not who you are right now.  And forgive me, but I think you have biological children, right?  So they must look somewhat like you.  Are you as critical of their looks as you are your own?  Doesn't your body deserve just as much love and grace as you give them?

If you'd rather look somewhat more polished than typical but still like yourself, I'd hire a makeup artist and ask for a natural look.  If you have a Sephora near you, you can schedule having your makeup done if you're interested in learning more about makeup. You can buy whichever products appeal to you, and if you get it home and hate it you can return it for something else.

[catz]

If you really want to do makeup I’d hire someone to do it that day and say you want to be very natural looking. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Sephora sessions are $50. I would do that over airbrushing from a sensory point of view.

Pick a light natural look, but honestly, most women over 40 need a bit of extra color. We just kinda fade a bit, iykwim. I wear makeup to look like I did without makeup at 25. Otherwise, I just look a bit tired and ill.

[KungFuPanda]

Some light, natural make-up would be much cheaper than $60 per person for air brushing and you could use it again.  A little tinted moisturizer, tinted lip balm, and mascara can do wonders.  My eyebrows and eyelashes are nearly invisible without make-up so a five minute effort has big returns.  It's becoming REALLY hard to find, but brown (not black-brown) mascara gives me a soft, natural look. I like tinted lip balms, like burt's bees more than real lipstick. Even though my hair is a coppery red, a blonde eyebrow color is more natural looking on me than anything brown or auburn.  

This advice feels hypocritical because an hour ago I removed a TON of make-up from a show I did today.  I went hard on the eyeliner and did the tricks to make my deep-set eyes look larger, contoured away my budding double chin, glued on false eyelashes, contoured my cheeks, and wore deep red lips.  I would NEVER do all of that for a family photo.  It's not how I really look at home.  I would do the light touches I mentioned in the first paragraph so my face didn't look washed out by the professional lighting.  

Edited January 6, 2020 by KungFuPanda

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

A little tinted moisturizer, tinted lip balm, and mascara can do wonders. 

I could live with that! I do know where to find the tinted Burt's Bees, hehe. I've seen it in the store but never tried because I usually use the regular stuff.

I think that's why I was cautious about the air brushing. I'm not wanting to look really different, just sharp enough that I actually show up. And I can see if the effect with just these three things is enough to get me there. If it is, then I can cancel the appt. 

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Pick a light natural look, but honestly, most women over 40 need a bit of extra color. We just kinda fade a bit, iykwim. I wear makeup to look like I did without makeup at 25. Otherwise, I just look a bit tired and ill.

Yup, that's my concern.

 

[Jentrovert]

We haven't had family pics in a while, but when we did, I did have makeup done by a pro. She airbrushed the foundation (new to me) and then did the rest with stuff I recognized, lol. It didn't feel too bad until about the 4 hour mark, and by then I could wash everything off. 

This was someone recommended by the photographer, someone who does makeup for pics a LOT. I don't think I would trust a random makeup person to know about photo lighting, etc.

I don't regret doing it at all. While the makeup looked really heavy to me irl, in the photos it looks much more natural and "me". Just a nicer version of me. 

Having done it a few times, now I might choose to do my own makeup, because I have a good idea of how heavy I should go. Before, I would not have gotten it nearly heavy enough to show up at all in the pics.

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Jentrovert said:

I don't regret doing it at all. While the makeup looked really heavy to me irl, in the photos it looks much more natural and "me". Just a nicer version of me. 

Oh thank you, you're making me feel a lot better about the choice! I was looking at myself in the mirror last night and realizing that with my current redness and puffiness from my thyroid being off and me not feeling quite as well, it's really the right call. There's no reason for that to be the focus of attention in the picture. And it's not always that way, but for right now it is, meaning it's the right thing to do. 

And you're right, it hadn't occurred to me that if I let them do it the first time, then I would know how for the next, lol. 

So how did you get it OFF? Will normal make-up wipes work? I think my dd will have something kind of natural. 

[catz]

Normal make up wipes will work but if your face is red and sensitive, I'd go with something designed for sensitive skin.  My daughter is allergic to regular make up wipes.  Regular soap and water will work for the most part or whatever you normally use on your face.  Eye makeup will come off with Vaseline or something oil based like that. There are more natural options available that have like some food grade oil as a base.  

Edited January 6, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[Jentrovert]

My face isn't sensitive. I just used regular cleanser, but washed twice. And eye makeup remover. 

[Katy]

Any kind of oil you're not allergic to that you have in your kitchen can be used to remove eye makeup. Many oil cleansers are something light like sesame oil.  But any oil will work.  Coconut oil, olive oil, even canola oil.  Then just wash using whatever you already use to wash your face.

[Pen]

Air brushing you? Or air brushing the photos?

I’d let photos have whatever they do these days to reduce look of pimples etc

For you I agree with do it yourself simple least toxic makeup like some mascara and lip gloss.  Or none if you prefer is also okay, but just brightened lips and defined lashes might do a lot in pix. 

[PeterPan]

Well I'm back! You were right @prairiewindmomma that makeup was rough from a sensory point of view. Getting it on was really tense. Not so much the spraying, but the brushing, the eyes, the mascara. But once it was on, I could survive.

So the pictures will be fine and the look was exactly what I wanted, glad I did it. Instead of people looking at my rosacea, they'll be looking at my eyes. And normally my face isn't even that red. Just with not feeling as well lately, it just wasn't as nice. Dd commented on that, that *with* the makeup I looked more like I normally do when I feel well. And turns out my eyes are pretty cute with mascara on top and a dab of highlighter. The airbrush for pictures level of makeup is more than you'd want for everyday, but it did clue me in that just slight things would probably get me there if I wanted something for an occasion.

So anyways, it was a success, it worked, I survived!

On January 6, 2020 at 1:26 PM, Katy said:

Coconut oil, olive oil, even canola oil.  Then just wash using whatever you already use to wash your face.

Yup, that's what we ended up doing, olive oil then wipes then cool water than aloe to calm it down. I never would have believed it when dd said to use oil if you hadn't told me first. But it worked! 

[Jentrovert]

Yay, I'm glad it went well! Now there's just the wait for the pics.

[PeterPan]

12 minutes ago, Jentrovert said:

Yay, I'm glad it went well! Now there's just the wait for the pics.

Yup, you were the reason I felt confident going forward, so thanks! 

[Jentrovert]

23 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Yup, you were the reason I felt confident going forward, so thanks! 

 

You're welcome! 

[prairiewindmomma]

You did it! Congrats! I know that is huge!

If you ever want to talk makeup from a sensory point of view...there are some tricks. I have started working with my dd to help her be able to tolerate it in time. She’s only 11 so we’ve been starting with lotions just to get her used to having stuff on her skin. I have also started using really, really soft brushes on her face. You can totally apply foundation with a brush and it actually covers better than with a sponge or your fingers!

[Garga]

4 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Well I'm back! You were right @prairiewindmomma that makeup was rough from a sensory point of view. Getting it on was really tense. Not so much the spraying, but the brushing, the eyes, the mascara. But once it was on, I could survive.

So the pictures will be fine and the look was exactly what I wanted, glad I did it. Instead of people looking at my rosacea, they'll be looking at my eyes. And normally my face isn't even that red. Just with not feeling as well lately, it just wasn't as nice. Dd commented on that, that *with* the makeup I looked more like I normally do when I feel well. And turns out my eyes are pretty cute with mascara on top and a dab of highlighter. The airbrush for pictures level of makeup is more than you'd want for everyday, but it did clue me in that just slight things would probably get me there if I wanted something for an occasion.

So anyways, it was a success, it worked, I survived!

Yup, that's what we ended up doing, olive oil then wipes then cool water than aloe to calm it down. I never would have believed it when dd said to use oil if you hadn't told me first. But it worked! 

Photography is my hobby and I often “photoshop” people in the pictures I take of them.  If there’s a big ol’ pimple on someone’s face, I’m thinking, “That pimple will be gone in a few days. My friend doesn’t want a temporary blemish memorialized in their picture forever.” I will get rid of things that are temporary so that the person looks like themselves the most.  I won’t do things like remove moles or things like that, unless they were to ask me too, as that’s how they really look.  I have been asked by some older relatives (in their 70s) to smooth out their saggy skin on their necks—men and women have asked me to do that.  

One woman I know, whose pictures I took, was preparing to start an orphanage in a third-world country. She asks for donations and wanted to give out cards to people with her picture and information on them.  I took her picture for her to put on her card.  But the day I took the picture, she had just come off a night shift at the hospital where she worked as a nurse. She hadn’t been to bed yet and had some serious dark circles under her eyes and her skin was washed out and she had flyaway hair and her shirt was wrinkled.

I was able to lighten the dark circles to match the rest of her skin, give her her normal rosy glow, get rid of the little flyaways sticking up off her head and even “iron” out her shirt, by using a tool designed to minimize wrinkles on faces (it works great on wrinkly clothes, too!)

She looked exactly like her own self, but her best self and not her “worked all night and haven’t been to bed yet” self.  (She did start the orphanage and has been in the other country for about 8 years now and loves every minute of it.)

I see nothing wrong with using whatever you need to use to show your best self in a picture.  I don’t think people should show a fake self in a picture;  but a best self?  Yes.

[PeterPan]

19 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

You did it! Congrats! I know that is huge!

If you ever want to talk makeup from a sensory point of view...there are some tricks. I have started working with my dd to help her be able to tolerate it in time. She’s only 11 so we’ve been starting with lotions just to get her used to having stuff on her skin. I have also started using really, really soft brushes on her face. You can totally apply foundation with a brush and it actually covers better than with a sponge or your fingers!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm probably just not going to be a makeup person, lol. I mean, even in my teen years when I was trying stuff I never went farther than mascara, lol. Yeah, she had all kinds of brushes. I'm kind of funny, because when I got the manicure (no polish, just tidy/trim/buff) yesterday for the first time I didn't feel it when she nicked me. But touch me lightly with the stupid brushes and I'm all tense, go figure. 

So yeah, we'll see, but odds of me doing anything for every day (or even special occasions) are about nill.