Day of the Dead portrait photo shoot
I’ve had a few questions about my recent Day of the Dead photo shoot (how long it took, products used, etc.) so I thought I’d do a little blog post to provide some extra details for anyone curious about it.
It all began with the drawing you can see below which my uber-talented hair and makeup artist, Vivian Chen (Instagram: @mua.vivianchean) came up with. Vivian brought it to the studio on the day of the shoot and used it as a guide while applying the makeup.
The red roses were purchased from my neighborhood dollar store and made a little fancier in Photoshop.
The red dress the model is wearing is actually a piece of lingerie I’ve had at the studio for a long time- this was the first I’ve used it in a shoot and it photographed fantastically well (which just goes to show you never know how something will look on camera until you try it).
The makeup process took Vivian about 2.5 hours all told.
To produce the blue effect on the eyelids, Vivian used Mac Lasting Pigment Kitschmas (a silver pink colour) on top of a black base (for the complete list of products use, please see below).
The particular shade of red lip you see on the model was mixed at the studio and not available in stores.
Once makeup was completed, hair took about 30 minutes and then we were ready to go- the finished result is what you see above!
The original concept as drawn by Hair and Makeup Artist Vivian Chen.
Hair and Makeup artist Vivian Chen hard at work getting model Laura Lage ready for her photo shoot.
The lip colour Vivian is applying is actually a mix of various shades of reds and browns blended at the studio.
Hair followed and was a fairly short 30 minutes compared to the 2.5 hours required for makeup.
Complete List of Products used:
Skincare—
La Roche - Posay: Soothing Lotion
The Ordinary: Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5
Cetaphil: Moisturizing Lotion
Primer—
Derma Shield
Face—
Kryolan: Aqua Color (off white)
Eyes—
Make Up For Ever: 12 Flash Color Case (Black 011)
Gold Leaf (From Micheal’s)
Pailette (From Dollar Store)
White Pearl Halves Sticker (From Dollar Store)
M.A.C: Pigment (Kitschmas + old gold)
Quo: Lashes (808)
Patterns—
European Body Art: Vibe Paint (Metallic Gold + Metallic Brown)
Make Up For Ever: 12 Flash Color Case (Leaf Green 008 + Red 024)
NYX: Ultimate Shadow Palette (Red)
Lip—
M.A.C: Liptensity Lipstick (Marsala)
+Matte Lipstick (Proud to be Canadian)
Make Up For Ever: 12 Flash Color Case (Brown 023)
Body—
VDL: Lumilayer Primer
M.A.C: Prep+Prim Fix+