The trend in Senior Portrait Photography is to offer hair and makeup for your clients, and there are many reasons for this.  Not only does your senior feel pampered and beautiful before their session, they also look camera-ready and stylish.  A lot of times teens don’t know the proper amount of makeup to apply for a photo shoot, so having it professionally done allows them to relax and let the professionals do it.

But as a photographer, how do you find the right makeup artist to work with?  I get this question a lot and I have a few tips to share that will hopefully help you in finding that perfect makeup artist and hair stylist to work with.

#1 – ASK – I know this seems simple but just asking around to find makeup and hair stylists could be the key to finding one that you will work well with. We all know that word of mouth is how most businesses get their clients and this is a perfect example of that.  I personally found my makeup and hair stylist through my kids’ pre-school.  Not the typical place you would think to find one but because I talked to the moms at the school, I found out that one of the mother’s of a little boy in my kid’s class was a makeup and hair stylist.  Ask senior clients who they have used for prom, ask brides if you happen to photograph brides, ask your friends, ask anyone you can and you just never know where that will lead you.  And of course Facebook is a brilliant place to find anything.  Just put it out there and I guarantee your friends will comment with who they know and have used.

#2 – MAKEUP COUNTERS – Call your favorite brand at your local department store and ask if any of the makeup artists do freelance work.  I found my wedding makeup artist doing this very thing and have gotten names of backup makeup artists by calling these makeup counters.  Most of the people that work at Mac, Bobby Brown, etc do it because they love makeup.  It is more than just a job to them, they love it!  And they have been trained to do it because these higher end makeup brands want their employees to do it right!  By doing this, you can go in and have them do your makeup at the counter to see if their style fits your needs.

#3 – HAIR SALONS – Call your local hair salons and ask them who they would recommend.  Because they are in the beauty business, they probably know the best people to suggest or may even have a makeup artist on staff.  Also, I have found that a lot of times hair stylists also do makeup and vice versa.  Having someone that does both is a life saver because it is only one person that you have to coordinate schedules with and it is a one-stop shop!

#4 – INTERVIEW – Once you find a makeup artist and/or hair stylist that you like, interview them.  It is important to ask questions and find out all about this person, their work and style.  The makeup artist and hair stylist are essentially going to be a part of your team and they are probably the first person your senior interacts with the day of their session.  You want to be sure that they are professional and go well with your brand.  Make sure to talk about schedules and let them know the days you typically photograph seniors.  Ask if they are a wedding makeup artist as well.  This is important because if they are then their schedules are almost always going to be booked on Saturdays, especially during certain times of the year.  You will have to decide for yourself if you are willing to work around that for your sessions.  Ask about price.  This is important because your senior is already spending money to book a session with you but you also want to make sure they are able to get professional hair and makeup.  If you can negotiate with the artist, let them know that you will send your clients to them exclusively (provided they are available), you may be able to work out a special price for your seniors.  These teens will need a makeup artist or hair stylist for proms or high school pageants so by using a specific artist for your sessions, you will be introducing these teens to the artist and give this artist the chance to be hired for other events by these same teens.

#5 – SHARE A CALENDAR – Once you find a makeup artist and hair stylist, share your calendars.  This will make it so much easier to schedule your senior sessions when you can go and check their calendar to make sure you are picking the right date.  Discuss ahead of time the days you most likely schedule senior sessions so your makeup or hair stylist knows these days.  When you are determining a date for a senior session, looking at the makeup or hair stylists calendar makes it easy to know what dates are available without the hassle of texting, emailing or calling back and forth to find a date.  That way you can go ahead and reserve the date, if it is available, and your makeup artist or hair stylist will see it immediately on their calendar.

The above tips will hopefully help you find a makeup artist or hair stylist and allow you to add this to your senior photo sessions.  I would love to hear how you found your makeup or hair stylist.  Comment below.  We can all learn from others so sharing your experience on this topic will be educational to everyone!