MUAs: Are We Relying Too Much on Photographers & Photoshop?

I am nowhere near where I need to be in my career as a makeup artist. However, I am in the pursuit of trying to perfect and better my techniques.. I have a lot to learn and a significant amount to improve on but have realized that being an artist is a continuous learning process. 

As makeup artists, we strive to be the best in our element so it really sickens me to my stomach when I hear other fellow MUAs say: "oh I kind of messed up but it's okay the photographer can photoshop that." It is almost to the point that photographers are sometimes better makeup artists than the actual artists. I try my best to not be lazy or sloppy with my artistry and make sure that the makeup I do on the models is as perfect as possible to lessen the amount of retouching and also diminish the amount of hours the photographer must spend photoshopping my errors. Part of our job as makeup artists is to perfect our techiniques and provide flawless makeup in a timely fashion.

If you are new and feel that you need more time, it would be a good idea to tell the photographer that you are going to take a little extra time because you want to make sure the makeup is perfect. Keep in mind other contributing factors such as studio rental time, model booking time, and how much time is really necessary to complete the makeup look required. I can almost assure you that photographer would rather you take fifteen extra minutes to do a better makeup job than to rush rush rush and end up with a messy look that needs plenty of touching up througout the shoot and also desperately need a tremendous amount of retouching.

Make sure that the intial makeup application serves as a solid base to with stand the entire shoot and will need minimal retouching. This will allow for you to switch just the lip or add heavier eye makeup if needed. Skin preparation prior to any makeup application is key to good skin on camera, so do not bypass this step. Take the time to walk back a bit and look at the model from a distance to more or less know how she/he will look in a further away shot. Doing this will help you discern from a different perspective if more makeup is needed, if it is even etc.

Ensuring flawless makeup is of extreme importance because it can determine whether or not a photographer will opt to use you in the future. If the makeup is poorly applied, then more retouching will be needed, which can lead to two things, one being the photographer will not be a happy camper because of all of the extra work. Also, the more retouching on photos of your makeup can lead others to wonder who actually did the makeup...you or the photographer?

Keep the art true in Makeup Artistry and make sure that your canvas is properly painted instead of having others perfect our techinique and work. It gives you more credibility and gives overworked photographers a break.