How to do Senior Portrait makeup

Alina Abidi • September 6, 2015

For three years, taking a picture is an important part of Running of the Bulls. Some students do their hair a little more nicely, wear a shirt with a pretty neckline, practice their smile in the mirror. The pictures taken at ROTB are stamped onto an ID card, which will last a year, and printed in the yearbook, which will last forever. We care, at least a little, about our picture. That is, until senior year. Some seniors wear big glasses and goofy smiles, and others get in trouble for sharing a bright pink scarf with their friends. Because for seniors, the actual pictures, the ones we’ll look back on in ten or twenty years, are taken with care and precision, with a tasteful background and a black suit and neat black bowtie or a black dickey that vaguely resembles a top.

Watch below to see one makeup look for the big day, or to pick up some tricks for the next ROTB or sports photo day as senior Alex Sakellar applies a natural look to senior Paula Perez.

Sakellar explains the benefits of and how to apply:

Primer
Foundation/Concealer
Powder
Eyebrow color
Eyeshadow
Eyeliner
False eyelashes/Mascara
Lip color

Scroll below for detailed notes.

0:30 Primer. Sakellar uses Benefit’s Porefessional because it provides a matte base.

0:45 Foundation and concealer. She suggests a long lasting foundation to last through photos and a bright concealer to highlight specific features.

1:15 Powder. Sakellar recommends a big brush to even out the face makeup, and either Benefit’s Hoola bronzer, or, for darker skin, Too Faced’s Chocolate Soleil.

1:40 Eyebrows. She lightly fills in Perez’s eyebrows and runs through them with a mascara brush to keep them neat.

1:58 Eyeshadow. Sakellar uses a primer, a light base color all over, a dark color in the crease, a sparkly brown in the outer corner and a neutral brown to blend.

2:28 Eyeliner. Sakellar draws a slightly winged eyeliner and recommends a light tightlining as well.

2:45 False eyelashes. She suggests wearing false eyelashes as opposed to just mascara, and curling and applying mascara after

3:10 Lip color. Sakellar uses a moisturizing, subtle tinted lip balm to finish the look.