HD Ready and Safe for All!

This past weekend, I was assigned to a commercial job and I had to make sure the talent was HD ready with a fresh, clean look. As soon as the talent sat in my chair, we had a brief chit-chat and I asked her, "Is there anything you are allergic to?" I was not prepared for what she was going to tell me:  -Petroleum
-Mineral Oil
-Gluten
-Parabens



So I calmly looked at my foundations, looked at my lip balm, looked at my concealers, looked at my lipsticks and realized: OMG. That was almost ALL my favorite products.   I will admit, I freaked out for a second :-O

More like 20 seconds.

No, more like 1 whole minute.

I was frantically searching for something with OUT these ingredients..... and then I smiled. ;-) In case you EVER have a client that is super sensitive to certain ingredients, here is a brief list of products that are safe for EVERY one to use AND they are HD ready. These are the products that I had in my kit that worked for my client:

 Face Moisturizer: Kiehl's Face Moisturizer

This has no frangrance, contains SPF 15, and doesn't leave the client feeling under or over moisturized; it's perfectly balanced for all skin types. Kiehl's also has an alternative for people that may be allergic to spf.  Eye Cream: Kiehl's Facial Fuel Eye De-Puffer

They key ingredient in this cooling eye cream is caffeine. Caffeine reduces puffiness which is a great natural alternative to hiding those bags under your eyes! After a few minutes, it reduces the puffiness which is GREAT for HD camera.  Eye Primer: E.L.F. Mineral Eye Primer

I found out this was 100% mineral based which means: No parabens, no dyes, no chemicals, nothing too crazy in this primer. Not only is it safe but it works very fast and adheres to eye shadows very well.  Eye Shadow & Skin: Dinair Airbrush

I applied water based Dinair as her eye shadow, her concealer, and her foundation. I applied them all with synthetic brushes & my fingers first, then followed up with a thin layer of foundation with the airbrush gun on top. I lightly powdered over everything to make sure her skin doesn't 'crack'. Sometimes, water based airbrush tends to 'crack' in the skin if there is too much product dispersed at one time, so I lightly go over it with my fingers or powder to take out the 'cracks' in the skin. My client was relieved that I was using water based products because she mentioned problems she had with silicone based airbrush products in the past. A majority of my favorite concealers contained petroleum which I was very surprised about, so I stuck with airbrush for her skin and applied the airbrush a few extra times over her blemishes. The end result: She looked very natural and her skin looked refreshed under camera.  Mascara: Clear Gel from The Body Shop

I used a clear gel and a mascara wand, used a small amount of black eyeshadow and created my own mascara for her. I didn't want to chance it with the mascara's I had in my kit, I didn't have the time to google the ingredients for each mascara brand I had, so I custom made it for her.  Lips: NYX

I used this palette that I purchased from the American Beauty Show. I was very happy, surprised and relieved to see that the main ingredient was beeswax in this palette. The talent loved it and it showed up beautifully on camera.  At the end of the day, I was happy to have this challenge and try new things that I would not have done before. I suggest to new and seasoned artists to be open to trying new things and don't stay stuck with your 'favorite' brands or doing things the same way that you usually do while on set; switch it up and try some thing new to prepare yourself for any situation that is thrown at you while working.  I hope this helps! :-)