Social makeup is the most requested service and the most misunderstood. People often arrive asking for "something simple" and leave understanding that simple does not mean minimal: it means well decided.
Visagism, without the mysticism
Visagism is reading a face before touching it. Where the natural highlights sit, how the forehead relates to the chin, which way the eye falls, where shadow already exists without me drawing it. That specialisation changed my work more than anything else: because I stopped applying a look and started designing one.
In practice it means the same brown smoky eye does not look the same on two people. On one it lifts the eye; on another it closes it. The technique is identical; deciding where to put it changes everything.
The right skin tone, and why so many get it wrong
The most frequent mistake I correct is not colour: it is undertone. A foundation can be the right shade and the wrong undertone, and the result is that mask-like quality you can see in person but nobody can quite explain.
I always test along the jawline, in the light of the place you will actually be in, never on the wrist. And I adapt through the year: the same person does not wear the same foundation in January and in August.
Eyes that read from across a room
Eyeliner drawn for somebody else's eyelid is wasted eyeliner. If your lid has a hooded fold, a thin line disappears the moment you open your eye; the line has to be drawn with the eye open, not closed.
The same goes for a smoky eye: I choose the shades from the colour of your iris, not the colour of your dress. A warm brown makes a green eye jump in a way grey never will, however well it matches the outfit.
Photo shoots and editorials
Photography is a different register. The camera flattens the relief of a face, eats contrast, and shows texture the eye forgives. Makeup that is perfect in person can read washed out in a studio.
So when the work is for photography I ask three things first: what kind of light, what framing, and what the image is for. A professional headshot and a fashion editorial ask for opposite builds: in the first the makeup has to disappear, in the second it has to be seen.
If you work with a photographer, I am glad to speak to them directly. I started doing makeup in my sister's photography studio: the conversation between makeup and camera is where I feel at home.
How it works and what to bring
Allow sixty to seventy-five minutes. Come with clean, hydrated skin and no makeup, and, if you can, wearing what you will wear, or at least a photograph of it.
Bring references. I insist on this because words mislead: "natural" means completely different things to two people, and one image settles in five seconds an argument that takes ten minutes.
If you have sensitive skin, allergies, or have recently had an aesthetic treatment (a peel, laser, filler), tell me before booking, not on the day. Some things require waiting.
How long it lasts
A well-built social makeup holds through a full day and an evening. The longevity does not come from the product used at the end: it comes from the preparation done at the start and the way the layers are set on top of one another.
That said, there are variables I do not control: heat, very oily skin, an outdoor party in August. When I know the context I adapt the build (more mattifying in one zone, less in another), and tell you which single product to carry for touch-ups. It is usually one thing, not a whole bag.
Graduations, groups and families
Prom, christening, first communion, a family birthday: these are rarely one person. If there are several of you, tell me the number at the start. It changes what time I begin and sometimes where it makes most sense to work.
With groups I order the work by the time each person needs to be ready, not by who arrives first. It sounds like a detail and it is what stops the last person being rushed.
Where
I work from the studio in Nova Sintra, Porto, and travel to the venue when that makes more sense. In Portugal or abroad. Message me and we will work out what is most practical for you.
A photograph does not forgive a badly chosen foundation. The camera sees the skin before it sees the makeup: which is why I always start with the skin.
Larissa Wendler, makeup artist and visagiste in Porto
References
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009: the European regime for cosmetic products: composition, labelling and safety assessment of everything applied to the skin.
- INFARMED: the national competent authority for cosmetic products in Portugal.
