Insta makeup: why doesn't it suit your client?

Elena Kirichenko , professional makeup artist, experienced teacher
more than 25 years of work, YouTube blogger

I'll start with the main thing. Insta-makeup was formed according to the needs of social networks, especially one – Instagram. Makeup artists actively use the capabilities of this platform to demonstrate their skills online.

In most cases, the result is embodied in photo format. For a good photo you need:

• good model;
• good photographer;
• good light.

So to speak, three pillars of perfect beauty photography. Indeed, a good model will play an image of any complexity, from soft and natural to ultra-bright extravagant. A good photographer will, without a doubt, present the makeup artist’s idea from the most advantageous angle, and without good light this idea doesn’t make much sense at all. Well, and of course, retouching is needed to bring the photo to perfection.

But what does all this have to do with life? After all, the client you are preparing for an event and who received a trendy Insta-makeup could appear with it in natural daylight, in unnatural fluorescent lighting, surrounded by strobe lights from a club (not the worst option!) or in dim flickering in some some lounge area.

The shiny highlighters and bronzers (and Insta-makeup is incomplete without them) with which you decorated your customer’s face look ridiculous in daylight, but in fluorescent light they are simply dirty (if you attend professional beauty exhibitions, I think you have noticed this more than once effect on makeup victims). And it’s simply unrealistic to imagine how such makeup will look in a club, because it’s always unpredictable. But retouching can’t fix it in real life!

Reflective textures of various types, the use of which Instagram makeup is based on, greatly narrow the scope of its application. It is great for photography and videography in the advertising and fashion industries. In the field of commercial makeup, as they say, there are more questions than answers.

Who is not suitable for Insta makeup?

In the title of the article, I indicated that this makeup is not suitable for most women. I am ready to answer for my words!

The first to fall into the designated majority are older clients. They should not apply shiny textures to the eyelid, as this technique will emphasize the uneven texture of the skin (you can use a little satin shadow, but just a little). For the same reason, shiny highlighters and bronzers should not be applied to the rest of the face. If you are giving your older client radiant makeup for a photo, then soft light, the right angle and good photo processing will help you. But the same makeup in natural light and close contact will treacherously reveal age. And if you add wide eyebrows to it, as modern fashion requires, then the woman is guaranteed a decade plus.

The next group, oddly enough, is young girls. We are talking about young girls whose bodies are just developing, and because of this, rashes often appear on their faces. Of course, I advise such clients to definitely visit a cosmetologist, but I don’t think that teenage or problem skin is a contraindication for makeup. On the contrary, resorting to the advice of cosmetologists and makeup artists, they need to learn how to care for their skin and properly hide temporary imperfections. Hide is the key word in this case. The fact is that shiny textures will emphasize, and not smooth out, the unevenness of problem skin. Therefore, you can apply metallic, shimmer, glitter, and even all of this together to your eyes. But those areas where there are bumps from rashes should be covered exclusively with matte textures.

Reflective products are known to add volume to the shape they are applied to. For this reason, it is not advisable to apply them to areas where such volume is naturally present. For example, on rounded cheeks. As you probably already guessed, the next category of clients who are contraindicated in the radiant arsenal of Insta-makeup - reflective bases, highlighters and bronzers - are girls and women with curvy figures.

Who can do Instagram makeup?

So who is left then? I’ll try to describe a portrait of a client for whom Instagram makeup can be done without reservations. So! She has smooth, elastic skin, thick, high eyebrows, a thin face and big eyes. Doesn't remind you of anything? Of course, this is a description of the standard model appearance. I don’t know about you, but not all of my clients have such data. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, they most often have a non-standard appearance. They have different face shapes, different eye and nose shapes, their skin differs in color, type and texture.

How to work with non-standard appearance?

Of course, a non-standard appearance requires a non-standard approach! With this approach, Instagram makeup techniques are not scary. You see that the client’s nose is wide and fleshy - do not apply highlighter to it, so as not to make it visually wider. If you see wide and rounded cheekbones on your face, don’t cover them with shiny textures, they have natural volume and don’t need highlighting. A light concealer (especially one with a reflective effect) does not need to be applied under everyone’s eyes. And it doesn’t matter how you apply it: in the shape of a triangle or an oval! A light tone under the eyes visually rounds the cheeks, makes the bags under the eyes more prominent and, unfortunately, very often fails to cope with its main task - it does not cover the blue circles under the eyes (a peach corrector/concealer is needed to disguise them).

I admit, the title of my article is a provocation! I did this deliberately to draw your attention to the features of using the currently popular Insta-makeup in the commercial sphere. Agree, what works well in a professional photo studio cannot be transferred to the consumer sphere without correction. In both areas, makeup artists must achieve better results, but the approaches must still be different. After all, the customers, and therefore their goals, are different.

The customer, for example, of photo or video shooting is a photographer/videographer/producer/editor/make-up artist/stylist or an entire creative group. Pay attention to the nuance: the customer is not the model on whom you are doing makeup. The purpose of the shooting may be advertising cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, as well as promoting the specialist himself.

In commercial makeup, the person whose face you are painting on is your customer. And this customer/customer claims an individual approach to his appearance. Has the right to. After all, he/she pays for your order and decides whether you completed the task or not.

I am sure that experienced craftsmen realized this long ago and personalized their work. My thoughts are more aimed at young professionals, and I hope that the information I shared was useful to you. I wish you success!