Shiny skin in photos can look amazing and even if you're not shooting sports or swimwear, the shiny skin can make colours and lighting really pop.
Shiny skin in photos is becoming increasingly popular, and whether it's for sports, beachwear, or even regular fashion, that metallic sheen is showing up everywhere. Long gone are the days when we were desperately trying to matt-down skin to avoid the shine; now makeup artists are regularly being asked to produce the 'dewey' skin look.
In the past, we were conscious of our cameras' highlight limitations, and we had to be very wary of oily skin clipping the highlights in our shots. Now that cameras are far more capable, we love that skin sheen, as it helps sculpt and shape the body through highlights and tone that's simply not possible with dry, flat-looking skin.
How to enhance the skin shine
The following five tips are what I use, but bear in mind that these tips are really for adding shine to the body, not the face. If you're after the shiny, dewy face, then a professional makeup artist is definitely recommended. The reason is that the face will have a lot of makeup on it, and adding oils on top of that to get the shine will very quickly ruin the makeup beneath. Makeup artists generally have to use an entirely different process to add shine to skin that also has makeup applied, but if you're after some quick tips to add shine to the rest of the body, read on.
1. Baby Oil
This is the classic 'go-to' solution for skin shine. It's very cheap, very readily available and requires no knowledge to make it work. Simply ask the model to apply liberally to the skin, and you're ready to shoot. One thing I will add is that different skin types will require more regular applications. Some naturally oily skin will just need one application, but drier skin types will need the oil topped up every few minutes, as it is rapidly absorbed.
2. Glycerin
This one is a little less well-known but incredibly effective. Glycerin is often found in pharmacies and chemists, as it's used to treat very dry skin, such as in eczema sufferers. Glycerin is clear, odourless and (apparently) sweet-tasting, and it's also very cheap. The key quality that we're looking for is that it's very thick... like, spoon-thick.
This viscosity creates the perfect combination for what we're after when it comes to creating shiny skin. Food photographers will often use glycerin to simulate those perfect beads of water on fruit that you see in shots, so if you're after a sport-look with a lot of shiny sweat on the skin, glycerin is the solution.
3. After Shower Mist
This one is a little harder to describe and get a hold of, but if you find a good one, this mist can produce some great shiny skin looks. The premise behind this product is that it produces a very fine, clear mist straight out of the can, making it very fast and easy to apply and resulting in an even spread across the skin.
The core thing you're looking for in this product is that it's 'clear' when you spray it. I have tried countless mists in the past, but they often have a moisturising element, which leaves a white spray that needs to be rubbed in; you need to find one that sprays totally clear. I'm using a relatively pricey one here, but the simple water-in-a-can ones are cheaper and also work.
4. Hair Sheen Spray
This sheen spray gives a look similar to baby oil but doesn't require hand application. The downside of baby oil is that it needs to be rubbed into the skin by hand, which can reduce the skin's shine as it gets absorbed; this spray negates that, as it can be sprayed from a distance without needing to be rubbed in. This sheen spray is designed for extremely dry hair, and its core ingredient is olive oil, meaning that once your model is covered in it, it will stay on the skin a lot longer than baby oil before being absorbed. This is a specialist hair spray, but it is often found in most Afro-Caribbean hair shops or in the World Beauty section of larger stores, including supermarkets.
5. The Glycerin/Water Combo
As I mentioned above, the glycerin is very thick and globular, so although great for shine, it can be a real pain to apply to the body. As a result, I have a glycerin-and-water mix in a separate water spray holder that I can spray onto the body with much more ease. You can experiment with various amounts of each yourself, but I've found that three parts water to one part glycerin is a good place to start. I also find this mix can be a great addition to skin that already has baby oil applied to it. Once the skin has been oiled, spray this on top to get that beaded water effect.
Pro Tip: If you haven't used the solution in a while, just give it a shake to make sure the glycerin and water are mixed and spray as you normally would.
Closing Comments
As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to check out this article. I hope you found a couple of these shiny skin techniques useful, but let me know if you have any alternatives :)
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-cut out and keep- (click to enlarge)
