We all want our skin to look picture perfect in our portraits. And while you can’t magically get rid of a zip overnight, there are several things you can do in the months, weeks, and days leading up to your senior, engagement, or family photo session that will get your skin looking its best.
I reached out to several professional estheticians and makeup artists for their tips on how we can achieve picture perfect skin in time for our portrait sessions. Here’s what they said:
Treat yourself to a facial
Regular monthly facials will give your skin its best chance to look its best but if monthly facials isn’t in the budget, treat yourself to one facial and do it at least one month before your portrait session. An added benefit of getting a facial from an esthetician, is the fact that you can ask a local skin expert direct questions about your skin’s specific needs.
And if a professional facial isn’t in the cards, an at-home sheet mask will work in a pinch!
Stick with your skin routine
Don’t add any new products to your skincare routine if your session is less than 8 weeks away. If you want to try new face lotion, foundation, or anything else, do it well in advance because new products can cause breakouts, dry skin, and other issues.
Stick with your tried and true products and continue your skincare routine in the A.M. and P.M. That means washing your face and using facial moisturize at least once a day…if not twice.
Use SPF & avoid excessive tanning
This should go without saying but I’m 100% guilty of skipping this step and I’m willing to bet you are too. Use SPF on your face, neck, and chest every single day. Burns and peeling skin is never a good look in portraits and there’s really nothing your photographer can do to make peeling face skin look good.
Aside from it protecting your skin against future woes like skin cancer and wrinkles, when you apply and reapply SPF you’ll end up getting a better tan that will actually last longer.
In the weeks leading up to your session, avoid excessive tanning so you don’t run the risk of sunburns or dramatic tan lines.
Exfoliate
Lightly exfoliating your face 1 to 2 times a week. Doing so will help buff away dry skin, minimize pores, even out skin tone and texture, and will help your face makeup go on smoothly.
I’ve become a bit of a snob about what facial exfoliants I use ever since one of my associates became an esthetician. I don’t like using exfoliants with little microbeads in them – not only are they really hard on your skin but they’re also really bad for the environment. My go to facial exfoliant is Phytomer’s Vegetal Exfoliant. It’s a peel rather than a scrub and is so gentle on my sensitive skin. It’s on the pricier side of things but a little goes a long way! If I use it once a week, I’ll get a couple month’s use out of one tube.
If you’d like more information, I’d be happy to connect you to one of my trusted skin experts!
Still looking for your senior photo photographer?
share:
Leave a Reply
How do we even start to say thank you for all the work and effort you put into our wedding day?
- Josie and Scott
Lauren played such a meaningful role in our wedding, capturing the day in photos that we'll look back on for the rest of our lives. She kept Scott and me calm and sane - Lauren is a miracle worker! She put in 100% effort and gave us her very best, and that means so much to me. Seeing our photographs makes me so excited and so happy that Lauren was with us on this journey.
Lauren made the process so easy and made us feel so comfortable!
- Amy and Luke
We just wanted to say thank you again so much for your amazing work. You were seriously incredible to work with and we loved the locations you suggested for both our engagement shoot and the spots in Stillwater. We were very worried about getting professional photos done since we had never done it before, but you made the process so easy and made us feel so comfortable. Thank you!
Working with Lauren was easy breezy and FUN! She gave us our most treasured photos ever!
- GRACE AND NICK
There was a chunk of time in our wedding planning when we thought we'd go without a professional photographer to save on cost (terrible idea!) but once we met with Lauren, we knew we'd be in good hands. She checked in often and asked questions that got us thinking about other parts of the wedding that we probably would've missed. Lauren captured exactly who we are as a couple!
Lauren's enthusiasm and passion make the photo-taking process so fun – she made me feel like a star!
- Alisa AND Adam
Lauren and her team are so much fun to work with! She made us feel so comfortable on the day of our wedding, providing both silly and helpful cues to help us relax and be ourselves in our photos. Lauren’s background in dance is super helpful in recognizing simple posture changes that make a big difference, too. Oh, and the photos we got are just stunning!
Lauren was pivotal in making our wedding day perfect!
- Emma AND Erik
My husband and I looked FOR MONTHS to find the perfect photographer and after meeting Lauren we knew was the best fit for us. She made our day so much fun and easy. She found little opportunities to make the perfect photo all with a calm ease that comes from someone who has an artistic eye along with experience in understanding the flow of a wedding.
Not only is Lauren an amazing human being, but she is an awesome photographer!
- Haley AND Erick
I've been in several weddings and have worked with a multitude of photographers and I never felt as confident as I did with Lauren. I love how professional she is. She helped with the timeline way in advance and we stuck to that timeline the day of. She was also able to professionally and firmly keep unruly family members settled and focused and navigated family drama beautifully!
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW