Hair and Makeup Inspo Photos - the do’s & dont’s
So you’ve booked your hair and makeup artist, and now they’re asking you for some inspo photos or reference photos, but what does that even mean?
An inspiration photo or reference photo is a photo of hair and makeup styles that you like and would like to have recreated on your own face and hair. Now, when it comes to choosing these beauty reference photos, some are definitely better than others, and here’s how you can find the best ones for your specific needs.
Finding inspirational photos can feel overwhelming, start with looking at your chosen makeup artist's portfolio, after all, you booked them for a reason!
Firstly, try to find something from your chosen makeup artist or hairstylist’s actual portfolio.
For makeup inspo, find a photo of someone who has similar facial features, skin tone and even age to yourself. If you can’t find this on your chosen makeup artist's page, then try looking at other makeup artists’ portfolios.
For hair inspo, now this is a bit trickier since you can’t see how long or thick it might have been before they had their hair styled, but again, try and find a photo where the hair has a similar hair colour and hair length if you plan on having your hair out.
I always say that styling hair can be quite organic, in the sense that depending on how long or thick your own hair is, it may not be able to look EXACTLY like the inspiration photo, but we try and get it as close to it as possible
Talking of the word exactly, it’s important to remember that an inspirational photo is just that, to provide inspiration for what you may do with your makeup and hair. Nothing can ever look 100% like a photo you find since we are all different, we have different facial features, skin textures, hair types, etc, so keeping this in mind will help avoid disappointment.
Beware of photos you find on places like Pinterest. Now, I love a good Pinterest board as much as the next person, and it is great for getting some ideas. However, more often than not, the photos are highly edited, and now they are often AI-generated, so they can give a very false impression of what can be achieved.
Look at the photos with some critical thinking, for example if you find a photo of a 20 something old model with full glam makeup and long repuzel like hair while you are in your late 30’s, have short hair and want a minimal makeup look, ask yourself “ do you want to have your hair and makeup done to that level or do you wish you just looked like the model overall?”
Expect the makeup or hairstyle to look different on you than it does in the photos. Often, people forget that unless it is you in the photo from not too long ago, even if the makeup artist or hairstylist uses the exact same techniques on you, it will look a bit different depending on your personal facial features.
Be open-minded and open to suggestions. Any professional hair and makeup artist will only have the best of intentions for you, so listen to ways they can adapt your chosen reference photos to work for your face and hair.
An inspirational photo is just that INSPIRATION, not a photo of what you will look like at the end
Have a special event coming up and don’t know what to do? Get in touch to book a free consultation where we can discuss options of what will work best for you.
