It’s so important that you look and feel your best for your grad photos. Investing in professional hair and makeup can go a long way towards creating grad photos you love for years. Today, I want to share with you hair and make up tips for grad photos!

I highly recommend all of my senior grad clients to invest in professional hair and makeup for their session. If it is in your budget, hiring a professional for your hair and makeup will make a drastic difference in the quality of your photos and senior portrait experience. You are already making a large investment in your senior portrait experience, so why not make it the best it can be?!

So, why exactly is it so important to get professional hair and make up done?

1. THEY ARE TRAINED PROFESSIONALS

When you are investing in a professional photographer, you want to make sure that the images look their absolute best. Professional hair + makeup artists are TRAINED to do hair + makeup so that they photograph well. While your makeup may look AMAZING in person, it will look completely different on-camera, and these professionals are trained to know the difference! They will conceal spots you don’t like, contour your face so it looks the best in every light, use colors that compliment your skin to make it look flawless, make your eyes POP with false lashes + shadows, manicure your eyebrows to perfection and more!

Professionally done hair & makeup last longer than typical hair & makeup. They also tend to hold up better in humidity and wind.

2. LESS STRESS

Preparing for a senior portrait session is stressful in and of itself. Trying to do your hair + makeup by yourself can make things ever harder. Professional camera equipment is designed to pick up every little detail in an image (even details that the eye can’t see) so hiring a professional makeup artist is the best way to go.

3. WHO DOESN’T LIKE BEING PAMPERED!?

I don’t ever want my seniors to feel like their portrait session is just simply “taking pictures”, I want it to be an EXPERIENCE. So, if my seniors arrive after an hour of being pampered + beautified, the entire experience has already started on a good note! If a senior arrives frustrated or stressed, it can affect the entire experience, including the way you look in photographs!

4. NOT IN THE BUDGET?  AT HOME MAKE UP TIPS.

If this is not in your budget, plan to wear slightly heavier make up than normal, including blush and lipstick/gloss that are at least slightly darker than your lip color. I also highly recommend false eyelashes. These can be purchased for very affordable prices at Walmart or any pharmacy in the area.

5. DON’T FORGET THE NAILS!

And, one last tip!! In all of the chaos of senior session prep…don’t forget to pamper your nails! During your shoot, a lot of the poses we do will have your hands close to your face and in the frame, so make sure that your nails look just how you want! Try to avoid any chipped polish or crazy patterns. French manicures, light/natural colors and even nails with no color at all photograph best!!

BONUS: SPRAY TANS AND WAXING

If you’re planning to do any spray tans or waxing, schedule those for a few days before the session to give your skin time to recover. I don’t suggest tanning as that has been proven to create orange skin tones, and a lot of editing to make it look natural.

Contact me for my fav local make up and hair stylist vendors!

Hope you enjoyed these hair and make up tips for grad photos! What was your favourite tip?