Touch up makeup for TV interviews

By Al Varela

Dear Al: When I leave home for work my makeup looks great. My job requires me to give television interviews from time to time and when I see myself on the news I look horrible. Is there a simple way to touch up my makeup so that it will also look good on television?

The look of a makeup application can change drastically due to the different light conditions you may encounter during the day. Fluorescent lighting, incandescent light, and natural sunlight will all have a unique effect on the appearance of your makeup.

Lighting for video is generally flatter and less detail will be picked up so your makeup needs to be stronger or much of the effect will be lost. The makeup that looked great at home will look washed out on video.

There is no simple way to do media makeup. A professional makeup artist is well versed in the problems posed by lighting and video and knows many tricks to overcome those problems. But there are a few steps you can take to achieve a basic touchup and avoid looking washed out.

The first thing you can do is put together a makeup pouch with a few essential touchup items. This kit should have a foundation that is one shade darker than your normal foundation, a translucent powder, a contour powder, a brown shade of lipstick, and a deep-toned lip-liner.

Before appearing on camera place the darker shade of foundation over your existing makeup. Do not remove any makeup for this touch up. Remember to dot it on and then smooth it out with a makeup sponge to prevent it from streaking. Then brush on the translucent powder over the entire face. It is important to powder the face twice.

Use the contour powder next and apply it on the cheek bone outwards toward the ear. Also place a small amount of the contour powder on the outer corner of the eyelids to give the eyes definition.

The lip-liner is used to outline the lips and also to lightly fill in the lips. Finish this touchup by going over the lips with your lipstick. Never use a gloss over the lipstick since it will reflect too much light.

This entire touchup should take you less than 15 minutes. Always allow one minute to look into the mirror, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are ready for your close-up.

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