If you are shooting a Christmas video, have been asked to do a festive message in a company video, need to create a Happy Christmas message to your clients or just want to look your best in family films, then here are some tips the professionals use to look your best on camera this Christmas.
I’ve worked with tons of professional TV presenters who have to look good on camera at all times. Most of us have a small kit of our favourite affordable products, so we can get camera ready in less than 10 minutes.
If you’re feeling hesitant about getting on camera, don’t worry, I get it!!
Most people worry about how they look – clients have told me they feel too old, too fat and even too bald to put themselves on screen.
But having some of my tips for looking good on camera, it can help with your confidence.
Remember…
If you look more confident on camera, you project your message professionally. When you project your message professionally, you get people to listen.
If people listen, they want to hear more from you again and again.
Marketing job done!
Make-Up – Why Use it?
When you are shooting on your smartphone, you are shooting in HD (high definition) which magnifies images.
This is great for food shoots or showcasing details on products, everything looks zingy and extra clear, but when it comes to our faces it means any blemish, line or imperfection also looks extra clear – which is not exactly what we want!!
Mattifying Products
The key to looking good is to look matte on camera. You don’t want to look shiny at all!
We’ve tried masses and masses of mattifying products, and our favourite by far that works for everyone is Benefits Pore Professional.
This is a colourless cream that can be applied to all skin types and if you are bald can also be applied on the top of your head to stop the super shine. It’s basically a blurring out primer that evens out your skin tone, stops shine and minimises your pores.
If you do nothing else at all before you get on camera, use this one product.
FOUNDATION
Clients often tell me that they think applying heavy foundation is needed when you are on camera, but on HD, every single bit of skin texture is amplified. So we need to reduce skin texture with lightweight foundations formulas.
Stay away from loose powders, shimmers and shines and go for creams or liquids.
You don’t want to be adding dewy or luminescent finishes, you just want matte matte matte.
Put on with a big, fluffy brush to give the airbrushed look that professional makeup artists for TV create.
Use as little product as you can, start on your T zone and work out.
Remember, the first place the brush touches is where most of the product goes, so start in the centre of your face and work outwards. We are aiming for an even look.
We really like Fenty Beauty PRO FILTR Soft Matte Longwear Foundation that comes in 50 shades. Just one pump is enough for your whole face!
Add some glow
Use a blush or bronzer on your cheeks to get that healthy glow!
A great tip from makeup artist Gucci Westerman is to buff some colour on using circular motions on the upper face. She advises not to apply with the traditional up and down movements under your cheekbones, this can look really ageing.
So just stick to the upper half of your face and gently add colour. It makes a huge difference!
Contour
If you want to add contours, you can, but please don’t feel you have to. A lot of clients in their fifties say they have no idea how to do this, so don’t feel you’re the only one!
Many older presenters feel that contouring makes them look older, and hollowing out their cheeks can exaggerate the loss of density. If you want to just stick to peachy toned blush to lift the face in a more natural way, just do that.
Contours are what adds definition to our face, and the trick here is to add these where your natural contours are.
> Under your jaw line
> Under your cheekbones
> Around the outside of your face
If you are going to use a contouring product, go for one that is powder or pressed powder, as they are much easier to use if you are not a pro.
Use a warm shade or a bronzer, but make sure it does not have any glitter or shimmer in it. Our favourite product if you want an easy fix is Smashbox Step by Step Contour Kit.
There are tons of really good make up videos and guides online for face shape advice and contouring if you want more info on this topic.
Brow Control
One thing that can be extremely distracting to viewers are unruly or uneven eyebrows.
Make sure you tame them if necessary or just put a bit of product on to keep them slick and neat.
We like the Pixi Brow Tamer, but you can use Vaseline, hair wax or anything suitable you have lying around.
Lips
A lip balm like Blistex is great to add a bit of lip definition without tons of shine – don’t feel you have to have big lips on camera.
If big red lips are your signature look, then go for it, but otherwise play it down and make sure you keep it matte!
If you want a foolproof cost-effective answer then we recommend Burtsbees products. They do natural lip balms from £3.99 and their tinted 100% Natural Tinted Lip Balm has never a client down.
Glasses
