Instagram is the main visual proponent of the beauty industry. Users can only post pictures and videos on the app, which means that everything has to be visually appealing in order to garner attention. This has changed makeup a lot. There are many different techniques used when applying makeup. For example, for theatrical makeup, you have to go a bit extreme because stage lights will wash out a person’s face. So, you have to go a bit darker with foundation color and define facial features with extreme definition because of the lighting and the distance that the audience views the actors. Everyone looks flawless onstage, but if you see the actors offstage, they look a bit crazy. This same thing translates to how people do their makeup for Instagram. You have to use different techniques than you would if you were going out into the real world. Lighting is really really important and it’s something that you have total control over when you’re taking a picture or filming a video. In real life, you don’t really have control over the lighting and therefor you paint your face a bit softer and in such a way that it looks flattering from different the angles that people see you. When you’re creating a look for film, you have total control of the angles and lighting and everything else that affects how the the viewer will see you. Because of this, you want to have perfectly smooth and flawless skin without and signs of pores or lines. This means that your probably going to start off with a smoothing primer, a smoothing foundation (which is probably pretty thick) and a fine powder to set the face. You may also use a photo finish setting powder to set the face or to bake. This is important because it should help to eliminate flash back (see here).
“Photo finish” makeup has become so popular that brands like Smashbox have created entire lines of products promising the most flawless skin in pictures. They sell like crazy because people think that they’re going to look like the people that they see on Instagram. But the unfortunate reality of that is that they’re only going to look like that in pictures. Makeup for film can become very heavy and cakey very quickly because it has to create a second skin on the wearer in order to smooth all the imperfections on the skin. The only way to have gorgeous skin is to take care of your actual skin instead of painting new skin on. Having a skin care regime is the only way to create what everyone has on Instagram and it’s a lot better for your skin than putting a cake face on everyday.