Smoky Eyes, Contour, and Filming: Top Tips When Filming a Makeup Tutorial

When your smoky eye is competing with shadows on your face, filming a makeup tutorial can feel hopeless. But don’t worry! It doesn’t take a professional studio to produce a tutorial that will appeal to your audience. Use the following lighting and filming tips and create a tutorial you’re proud of.

Design Your Background

A messy background distracts viewers from the point of the video – your face. Keep the focus on your makeup by cleaning up your background. 

If you don’t have an aesthetic corner in your bedroom, or you don’t feel like tidying, use a backdrop. You don’t have to go as far as a green screen, but something simple and plain is sure to make your makeup stand out. 

When choosing a backdrop, go for pale colors. Bright and dark colors can affect your lighting and the colors of your makeup. If you don’t have a professional backdrop setup, why not use a bedsheet or a curtain? Don’t let a lack of equipment hold you back. Get creative with your setup and get recording your makeup looks!

Good Lighting Is Essential 

The point of a makeup tutorial is to show exactly what you’re doing so that viewers can learn from you. If they can’t see what you’re doing, they’re going to find tips elsewhere. 

Good lighting is essential when filming a makeup tutorial. 

Natural Light 

If you have a choice between artificial and natural light, try to go for natural. Filming while facing a window gives you a crisp video and helps show the details of your makeup look. Natural light is perfect for everything, from dramatic stage makeup to a subtle, natural makeup tutorial.

Check your weather app to schedule your filming days around when the sun will be its brightest. Remember that temperature ≠ brightness; look for cloudy vs clear days. 

Ring Lighting 

Whether you work all day or live in the gloomiest town in America, sometimes natural light just isn’t possible.

Ring lights are marvelous inventions that give you reliable light that’s perfect for filming. Most ring lights have a temperature of 5400K so they can mimic natural daylight and provide a soft, radial glow. They also give a continuous stream of light, so you don’t have to worry about flickers while you’re filming. 

LEDs

LED lights help your makeup colors pop without creating harsh shadows across your face. Place a few strips of white LEDs around your room to brighten your video and keep your makeup skills on show. 

Reflectors 

Reflectors are an underrated piece of filming equipment. Made to disperse light, they keep you from overheating or being overwhelmed by the brightness of your film lights. 

Use reflectors to soften shadows and brighten dark areas in your video. 

Designing Your Lighting Setup 

Even the highest quality lighting equipment goes to waste if it isn’t positioned correctly. A general rule of thumb is to create a triangle of lights with you in the middle. 

When using natural lighting, place your mirror near the window and make sure all your makeup products are handy before you start filming. If you have harsh shadows on your face, move a foot or two away from the window or put up a sheer curtain to soften the sun’s rays. 

During Filming

Now that your lighting setup keeps your makeup look visible, make sure your voice is captured too. Unless you’re going to overlay your video with ambient music and type out your instructions, you need a high-quality voice recording!

Some cameras come with built-in mics, but it’s best to use a separate mic if you’re serious about creating video content. 

Can They Hear You? 

When filming your tutorial, speak loudly and clearly. There’s no need to shout, but mumbling slows down the editing process or ruins the audio entirely. 

Keep your mic as close to your mouth as possible without getting in the way of filming. Reliable audio software helps amplify your voice further and ensures your instructions and commentary are crisp and clear.

Talk to Your Audience

Engaging with your audience is the best way to get them to come back. With open dialog, you invite viewers to engage with your content. Talk to your viewers about the brushes you’re using, or how you’ve simplified techniques to make an easy makeup tutorial. Ask for their opinions and feedback. Try to respond to comments that catch your attention – this generates loyalty and shows your viewers you care about them! Above all, don’t be scared to be authentically you. Viewers can sense when you’re being genuine and will appreciate you for it.

Sound Balancing 

There is nothing worse than watching a video where some parts of the audio are too soft to hear and others are deafening. 

After editing your video, which we’ll talk more about in a second, make sure to watch through the entire thing with headphones. This gives you the best chance of catching unbalanced audio before it irritates your viewers’ ears

Editing Magic!

Don’t worry about making mistakes or stumbling on your words. There’s plenty of time in the post-production stage to cut out blips. The crop video function is a lifesaver! 

Emphasize your personality with your editing. Even simple zooms can add oomph to a joke’s punchline or keep transitions smooth. 

Create a Makeup Tutorial You’re Proud Of

Whether you’re a seasoned beauty vlogger or this is your first makeup tutorial video, there are always ways to improve your craft and produce higher-quality video content. 

If you’ve found this information useful, you’ll find other interesting content under our ‘fashion’ tab.