2.3 Hair and Makeup

Hi I'm Cindy Burgess for Tots Plus. In this lesson, I'll cover some simple hair and makeup tricks that will have you camera ready in no time. Let's start with makeup. It used to be that if you were going to appear on camera under hot, bright lights, You needed to wear heavy pancake makeup so you wouldn't look washed out. Well thankfully, video cameras and lights have come a long way since then. Now if you wear a thick layer of makeup, you'll look like you're wearing a mask. Because high definition video cameras show every pore and wrinkle. Your goal should be to look as natural as possible. That said, very few people have perfect skin. I certainly don't, I have battled acne my entire life. Makeup will help even out your skin tone and hide those blemishes. Let's take a look at what you should include in a basic makeup kit. I like to use little bags like this that you can pick up at most drug stores. You can also use a pencil case or even a little plastic ziplock bag. This way everything's in one place. And you can just throw it in a drawer or your work bag. Now the first thing you should include in that makeup kit is some pressed powder. Your biggest enemy on camera is shine, particularly in what's known as the T-zone or this area of your face across the forehead and down the nose. That's shaped like the letter T. Pressed powder comes in many different shades and even translucent if you don't want to add color. Gentleman, if you don't know what press powder is, ask any woman in her life she will be able to help you out. Now pressed powder is very easy to apply. You just take the little sponge or pad that comes with the make up. You rub it into the powder. And then you wipe it on your face. Guys, if you're folically challenged, don't forget about the top of your head. Pat a little bit of powder there as well to cut down on reflection from any lights. I also recommend a concealer stick. They look like this. These are great for covering dark circles under your eyes, blemishes and other small imperfections like scars. And they, of course, come in different shades as well. It's also not a bad idea to throw a little lip balm into that makeup kit, to help keep your lips moist. So, pressed powder, concealer and lip balm, these are the absolute basics. Men, you probably won't need anything more. Ladies, you're likely experienced with makeup, so just do what you normally do. Just remember to finish with some powder so you don't shine. Now let's talk about hair. One thing I was always told as a news anchor was to find a hairstyle I liked and that suited my lifestyle and stick with it. The reason is simple. T.V. stations spend a lot of money on billboards and promotional materials. They don't want to have to change them every time someone changes their hairstyle. They want viewers to have a consistent experience across all platforms. So that what they see on TV is the same as what they see on a billboard. Is the same as what they see on the station's website. Remember your look is all part of your personal branding. Keeping it consistent will help your audience identify with you. And it will save you time and money. You won't have to update promotional materials like headshots, brochures, and web pages as often. Okay. So you've decided on a hairstyle. Here are a few tricks and tips that I've learned over the years. Guys, if you're clean shaven, run a razor over your face before you go on camera. Especially if you have dark hair. A couple of reasons for this. One, it's much easier to apply powder to a smooth face and two, stubble tends to look like dirt on camera. There's no two ways about it. I think the biggest thing to be conscious of what it comes to hair is to keep it out of your eyes. Remember We communicate with our eyes, and if you've got pieces of hair constantly falling into them, people are going to be distracted from your message. There's nothing worse than watching someone who's constantly flipping their head to get their hair out of their eyes. Hairspray is great for keeping hair in place. Just throw a little can of this into your makeup bag as well. The other thing to watch out for is flyaway hairs. Those little hairs that stick up all over, these really show up under lights, especially when you use a backdrop or green screen. Just spray a little hairspray on your head. Now smooth your hair with your hands to tame those fly a ways. The other thing that works really well for this, if you don't happen to have any hair spray is hand or body lotion. All you do is rub a small amount on your hands and then smooth your hands over your hair. So, a small bottle of hand lotion can go into your makeup bag as well. If you live in a part of the world that has cold dry winters you know all about static cling and how it can make your hair stick out, right. Well you can wet your hands and run them over your hair is a quick fix. But this doesn't really solve the problem. As soon as your hair dries, you're back to that static cling. Well, here's a great little trick that I use all the time. Just take a dryer sheet and run it over your hair. These are designed to get rid of the static cling on your clothes. But they will do the exact same thing for your hair. And as a special bonus. [SOUND] Your hair will smell great. [LAUGH] So those are the basics of hair and makeup. And this wraps up our chapter on image and appearance. You should now have a good idea of how to create the right look for you on camera. In the next chapter will focus on creating the right sound. I'm Cindy Burgess for tutsplus. Thanks for watching.