5 reasons to hire a professional makeup artist for your next shoot

The advertisements you see on television, in magazines, and on Instagram are not just a photographer and a model/actor working together, but a whole team of professionals collaborating to create something unique and high-end. It’s about hiring people who are experienced in their field and bring their A-game and expertise every day to work.

Professional Makeup Artists Raise Production Value

You can't just hire anyone to slap on some makeup and expect your talent to look their best. Instead, you need a professional makeup and hair artist who truly understands the nuances of what makes people look his or her best. And yes, I said His because men also need grooming to look good on camera.

Having a professional makeup artist on your set will improve the quality of the production. Most people do not know how much effort goes into doing makeup for photos or videos. When you see the final product of an amateur vs. a professional makeup artist who knows what they are doing, It increases the perceived value of the image/product since our eyes naturally gravitate to a person’s face first and that is how we make our initial judgment of whatever we are looking at.

The result is not just beautiful makeup, it’s confidence

Confidence translates on camera. Celebrities don’t do their own makeup for appearances for a reason. Actors and Actresses get makeup done every day during filming to help put them into character both visually and psychologically. Make-up artists are trained to make you the talent feel confident, sexy, stunning, and simply amazing by making them look great.

Doing my job well means less work for others

This means less time in post-production for photographers and retouchers so clients get the final project faster and it won’t look fake or overly retouched. Lighting technicians also should not have to overcompensate for the glam department on set if the makeup isn’t reading well.

Professional MUAs are dependable help keep the production on time

Yes, putting on makeup is part of the job. But, we are one of the first people on set and we are often the first people the models see at work. If we are late, it puts the whole production behind. My teacher in makeup school taught us “If you are 15 minutes early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late. And if you are 15 minutes late, you will not get hired again.“ Since graduating from beauty school a decade ago, I have always followed this phrase and expect this from my makeup assistants as well.

The industry here in Miami / South Florida is small, it does not matter how great your work is. If you are not reliable, word spreads quickly and you are out of a job quickly.

Being on time also means being able to follow the production schedule. If I am given a very short amount of time per face, I know how to budget my time and spend my time focusing on the most important part of the look so I don’t need to ask for more time or have it looking like a rushed job.

Real pros are overprepared

I have a literal suitcase full of tricks up my sleeves of doodads and whatchamacallits useful in situations like wardrobe malfunctions, injury/sickness, sunburns, preventing sunburns, talent showing up with excess body hair, tattoo coverage and camouflage, light special fx, making makeup and hair still look good in extreme humidity and heat, keeping talent from overheating, dealing with heatstroke, chipped manicures, and the list goes on and on. I have seen it all happen on set and I come prepared for most situations that may arise.

Yes, ‘makeup artists’ are a dime a dozen, especially nowadays with social media. But investing in your brand by hiring a true professional and experienced makeup artist will guarantee you get both quality and quantity on your next photoshoot.

If you are ready to book a HMU artist, HMU