Picture Day Do's and Don'ts

I had my very first picture day last year at school. And it was awful. I showered the morning before and didn't even touch my hair so I had no idea what it looked like. No makeup, also. The photographer kept getting me to move my face in awkward positions and when the pictures came back it didn't even look like me; more like some gremlin with only one eye and the awkwardest smile ever. They were terrible and I hated them. 

Luckily, this year I am much more prepared, and now, thanks to these tips, you too can never suffer another embarrassing school photo. Hopefully.

DON'T

-Do anything drastic the night before or day of. The worst thing you can do is decide to try out a new acne cream or a facial peel that makes your skin's worst day look good. Ditto for trying out new makeup products or hairstyles. Stick with what you know makes you look good.

-Smile too early. If you have to hold your smile for five seconds, it WILL look more and more psychotic after every second. Trust me. Most photographers will count down. Aim to smile at around two or three, NOT five or six.

-Do a fake smile. There is absolutely nothing worse than a fake smile. If you have a genuine, happy smile almost everything else can be forgiven. But with a fake smile, everything looks bad.

-Wear very glossy lipgloss. This will take over your entire photo and you will look back on it and regret it. Trust me. Lay off of it.

DO

-Wear makeup. I mean, you don't have to, but it does help A LOT. One of my least favourite things about my photo was how my eyes had completely disappeared and my face looked washed out. Don't wear a crazy smokey eye or bright red lipstick or anything, but a little bit of foundation, some bronzer to avoid washing out, blush and a neutral or sheer lipstick/stain will go a LONG way. ESPECIALLY eyeliner and mascara to make sure your eyes stand out. Don't do anything unnatural or that you haven't tried before.

-Practice. I know this sounds stupid, like who practices for picture day? But if you practice your smile every day for two minutes in the mirror for a week, you will feel much more confident knowing what you're going to do on the day of. Picture something that makes you happy and get used to the way your smile feels. 

-Get comfortable. When you arrive at the photo-taking-place, make yourself as comfortable as you can, or at least fake it. Awkwardness does show through in photos, so be confident.

-Keep your hair framing your face. This is true for 99% of people. Go for MORE volume in your hair as opposed to less, as I always find that the camera tends to shrink hair a little bit and make it look more flat. Curls can be very flattering as well, but whatever you do make sure you've done the hairstyle more than once so there's no surprises on picture day morning.