Tips to phot shoot
- Eliminate Salt and Alcohol: No closer than a week out from your shoot, cut back on salt and limit or all together stop consuming alcohol. If you are out multiple nights a week drinking with friends, opt for a soda water or cranberry juice. Both salt and alcohol cause you to retain water, especially in your face, which can make you appear bloated on camera. Avoid particularly salty foods, this means no sushi! "Sushi-Face" is a real thing and models avoid it like the plague!
Self tan or Spray Tan: If you are doing a fitness or bikini shoot and want to have a tan, start on it a few days in advance so you have time for it to even out and look "natural." If you are self tanning, you can build it slowly to the shade you want, and if it is a spray tan, you will have a couple days to even out dark spots by exfoliating.
Whiten Your Teeth: If you drink coffee or red wine, or smoke, there is a good chance your teeth are collecting stain, even if you brush regularly. A few days before your shoot, start whitening your teeth. Over the counter whitening strips work very well, and you will be happy your teeth pop in the photos and sparkle when you smile!
Get a Manicure: This is particularly important for print modeling, as your hands are often in and around your face, or touching parts of your clothes. If you don't want to pay for a manicure, it's fine to do it yourself. Clean, file, and shape your nails, then add a clear coat or neutral polish. Never come to set with bright colors on your nails unless specified to do so. It can be distracting and looks unnatural.
Exfoliate Skin and Moisturize: Three to five days before the shoot, prepare your skin by exfoliating. One of the easiest ways is using a salt or sugar scrub in the shower. Following every shower, moisturize your whole body. Repeat daily. This process will remove dead and dry skin, helping you to glow all over and love the skin you are in!
Epsom Salt Bath: This is an age old tactic for print and runway models. It is believed that very hot water and Epsom salts can draw excess moisture and bloating from the body. You want to do this the night before, and moisturize well after you have done this as it will leave your skin dry as well. After your bath, try to limit liquid intake until after your shoot.
-A change of clothes to wear while your hair and makeup is being styled. Opt for button down shirts as they don't have to go over your head when it's time to change. Don't wear anything tight that will leave indentations on your skin when you take it off.
-A clean, bare, moisturized face if you know you will be having your makeup done on set.
-Make sure if you bring sunglasses, they are not a pair that will leave marks on your nose. These marks take FOREVER to go away!
-Bobby pins the color of your hair
-Makeup wipes/oil blotting wipes
-Small toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. Especially on long shoots, you might be eating lunch, and you want to start the second half of the say as fresh as possible.
-Nude undergarments if you will be wearing clothing that is not yours. Bring bras and panties that show no line, and do not show through light colored apparel. Bring multiple bra types such as strapless and racer-back styles.
-If it is a swimwear shoot, it is protocol for the model to bring panty-liners since you do not own the suits you will be wearing during the shoot.
While we can give you all the beauty tricks and tips to prep you for success, ultimately what matters the most is that you bring an excited and upbeat attitude, ready to step out of your comfort zone and have fun! True joy shows up on camera, and a model who is having a great time is the most beautiful kind. Break a leg!