Today I’m meeting with my makeup artist Monina to talk about how to prep for a boudoir shoot. She’s not only a makeup artist – she’s a licensed esthetician and can give great insight into skin care as well as how to prepare for your hair and makeup! Most importantly, she’s a delightful human and we’ve loved working with her and getting to know her over the past 7 years.

Meet Our Makeup Artist – Monina!

BayAreaBoudoir: Okay hi Monina! First thing’s first: tell me about your background! How did you get into esthetician work and hair and makeup?

Monina: When I was in elementary school I developed pretty bad acne. By the time I was in high school, it was what they call “acne vulgaris”, where the skin looks lumpy and red. So of course it’s already awkward being a teenager, but then when you have really bad skin and people making fun of you it makes it hard to want to engage and go to school and do things. And my personality is – I wanted to do everything! But then I’d look in the mirror and I wouldn’t want to go out. Wouldn’t want to leave the house. So by the time I got to 7th grade I begged my mom if I could start wearing makeup.

In an Asian household we weren’t allowed to tweeze or wax or wear makeup or do anything like that. So it was a pretty big ask from my mom to let me start wearing makeup just so I could cover up the red. It allowed me to not hate looking in the mirror. Then I got good at it and by the time I got to college I was doing everyone else’s makeup.

 

My skin wasn’t getting any better. When I got to college I actually found an esthetician and I didn’t even know what that was. I found out that there was something you can do about acne without having to go to the doctors. The esthetician said that there was a connection between your gut and your skin health. After 3 months her and I realized what my food triggers were. The number one trigger was milk and dairy cheese which was all I ever drank. That put me on the path of really loving and understanding that your skin health has something to do with your gut  – then that put me on another journey. After getting rid of my triggers, 90% of my acne finally cleared up! Of course that gave me a passion for skincare and gut health.

Meanwhile, I was doing everyone’s makeup, but it was just as a gift. Then after the 5th or sixth wedding I did, someone called me and asked for my pricing, and that kind of put me on my journey. So it was an accident getting into bridal makeup – I went to school for psychology! After working for many years in other fields, my husband finally said – “Why don’t you just do the makeup full time?” That’s when I quit my job and started off doing hair and makeup with a home studio. I wanted to offer skincare to my brides – they all came in with the same issue I had.

They didn’t know how to take care of their skin so I started actually sending them out to my esthetician that I was seeing and she’d do a great job with them. So that’s when I decided – “you know, I need to get my esthetic license.” So I went back to school. Luckily it didn’t take that long – my son was three weeks old when I was taking my state board exam. I have a heart for people who struggle with with skin conditions. Especially acne, especially teenagers.

Prep for Boudoir Shoot – Waxing

BAB: Amazing! What a surprising career trajectory! Though it seems like it might have been meant to be. Now I know from working with you that you also do a lot prep for professional photo shoots, including boudoir. How would you say somebody should prepare their skin for a boudoir shoot?

Monina: Yes! So to prep for a Boudoir Shoot, since they’re typically wearing lingerie, I would definitely recommend getting waxing done. If you’ve never had waxing done, do a test run with somebody at least a month before. As an esthetician we usually recommend a 3-week growth of hair to get the best possible results. So if you do it 4 weeks before then you know for sure you’ll have enough time to go in and do it again. That’s what I recommend for bikini, Brazilian, legs, underarm, and face waxes. If you’re going to do any type of waxing on the face I would recommend dermaplaning as opposed to waxing.

Waxing can cause a lot of histamine and inflammation on the face, especially if you’re not using the right type of wax. So I would highly recommend to do the test run. It’s the same thing with eyelash extensions – some people can have an allergic reaction to the glue (it’s usually the glue, not the lashes itself). So you just want to make sure that there’s no adverse reaction prior to coming in for your shoot.

Prep for a Boudoir Shoot – Hair and Makeup

If there’s certain skin care that you have to use or hair care that you have to do, I recommend bringing those products with you to the shoot and letting the artist know. Especially if there’s anything you’re allergic to. Also, it’s good to know if somebody has any allergies to latex – lash glue often has latex in it, though there are latex-free glues. 

For hair, I always recommend to wash you hair the day before. We want a little bit of natural oils in the hair because that will actually help style the hair. Also, we always recommend that you arrive with your hair completely dry. 

For makeup, your face should be mostly bare but have some moisturizer. Wash your face in the morning and put some light moisturizer on. If you’re going to be driving for a long distance, sunscreen as well.

BAB: AMAzing! Do you have any recommendations for tanning? I don’t allow bad self-tanner in my studio as it can rub off or leave uneven marks on the skin, and prolonged time in the sun isn’t healthy in general. Plus, we don’t want to risk sunburn or weird tan lines. 

Monina: Yes! Go get it professionally done. And if you do, do a test run 3 weeks before and then again a few days before your shoot.  Here are my recommendations – they are fabulous!

https://www.instagram.com/goldenglow_bayarea

https://www.instagram.com/bronzepalms

Recently, Monina finally took the plunge and got her own flower bath photo session! Here’s what she said:

“I finally decided to do my own makeup and hair and step in front of the camera. And I cannot tell you how nervous I was leading up to the shoot day. But once I got into position for the first shot, my amazing and talented friend Liza Head of Juniper Spring Photography made it so simple and easy that it actually became a fun process. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the final results. Liza thank you for such an amazing experience.”