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Achieving that glamour model sheen

Over the years I have tried many things to get that “glamour model sheen.”  Vaseline, baby oil, tanners, bronzers, etc.  Some of you may be asking, “Why should I spend time slathering something on just to get all greasy and oily?” Here are my reasons:

  • A little bit of sheen smooths out the skin and reduces skin imperfects, making it look smooth and soft
  • The sheen creates a little highlight that gives depth to your body and will help you look skinnier (It’s kind of like the difference between looking at a cylinder shape instead of a rectangular block.  Which one looks bigger and heavier?)
  • A nice sheen helps give a little extra “pop” to the photos


Model: Sydney A. wearing the Fall collection of 2011 vegetable oil. I ran out of silicon lube or else we would have used that.

If this is something you’d like to try out, here are a few of my favorites:

Vegetable Oil

One of my current favorites is vegetable oil. I learned about the vegetable oil trick from Rolando Gomez  (P.S. I love his books on glamour photography). From what I’ve heard on the grapevine, vegetable oil is great for your skin (The Properties of Vegetable Oil and Skin Care). These “oil moisturizers are less greasy [than something like Vaseline]” (Winter Dry Skin). If you don’t put on too much, and you rub it in very well, you will find that you do not feel oily or greasy after 20 minutes or so. As such, the oil won’t rub off on your clothing or leave grease marks everywhere (it can still be slippery, so be careful). One of the drawbacks is that it doesn’t have the best smell.

Arbonne Baby Oil

I also love Arbonne Baby Oil (sorry if this sounds like a little infomercial, but I use their products and like them a lot). It smells amazing, leaves your skin ultra soft, and gives a similar sheen to vegetable oil (maybe a little less “sheeny”). The drawback is that it feels a little greasier than vegetable oil.  You would still apply in a similar manner to vegetable oil.

Silicon-Based Lube:

When I want to achieve that “wet” look and have nice, big water droplets stay on the model’s skin, I like to use a silicon-based lube. You can put this on over your oil application (see above). The reason I love this technique so much is because the silicone is water-resistant.  So water does not get absorbed into the skin, but beads up on the surface.  PS – That’s why if you use any water-based product, water will just soak into the skin and won’t look as “wet”.  You have to be strategic in how you use this because it gets MESSY! It will get all over your clothes.  For these reasons, silicon-based lube works well for water shots where you’re just wearing a bikini. Oh yeah, you’ll want to be careful if you’re wearing a $300 Beach Bunny suit :)


Model: Jenna Banks wearing the Summer 2011 vegetable oil collection

Application Tips:

All of these ideas can get messy, and can be hard to apply.  While applying the oil and letting it soak in, I would recommend putting your hair up with a clip because once your hair touches oil it will get all…well, oily. For ease of dispensing, I bought a soap pump from Target which works pretty well.

Other Cool Products:

Two other tricks I will use are Victoria’s Secret Supermodel shimmery bronzer, which makes skin look AMAZING: shiny, sparkly, and an added tan. This stuff gets EVERYWHERE, so you have to be careful about how and when you use it (which is also why I don’t like tanning lotions and bronzers for general use).  A few shoots ago, one of the models sprayed ALL of her skin with glitter spray. I loved how this looked and use it more now.  The Victoria’s Secret Sexy spray is cool and smells nice.

Anyhow, those are some of the things I have used, but I’m sure everyone has their own preference. Play around, try some of these. It would be great if you leave a comment about what you tried, what you like about it, and what you don’t! I’m always up to learn cool new tricks.

Glamtography

I am Reuben. I take pretty pictures of pretty people for Glamtography. Please do not ask me to shoot nude or implied--I always wear clothes when I shoot ;)

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  • Frankie Pereira

    Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll check the vegetable oil. Some time ago I was shooting a figure nude concept and needed the wet sweaty look. Tried different places for glycerine but couldn’t find it. Went with baby oil and a water sprayer and it worked well, but I understand that the glycerine is better. Thanks for sharing your tips.

    Ciao

  • http://www.modelmayhem.com/glamtography reuben dixon

    You’re welcome! And yes, there are all kinds of different ways (and products) to try. I just tried out a different brand of silicone last night to see how I like that.

  • http://www.Orcatek.com Orcatek

    I use pam cooking oil in the spray can. Works great.

  • Tladrt48

    you usually find glycerin at a pharmacy and you may have to ask where it is kept.

  • Vincent – Photo Mode

    Never thought about vegetable oil. Will look into it. At the beach you can’t go past Reef Deep Tanning Oils (you know the stuff that smells like coconuts – ever seen a cocnut that wasn’t tanned – lol). It’s very greasy but looks sensational.

  • Lionfish

    The only thing I use is spray olive oil. It’s available in the hair products section in stores like Rite-Aid. Looks great and isn’t greasy or get everywhere.

  • Julie – Jules K Photography

    On the flip side, when I have photographed men on location, outdoors, whether shirtless or nude, I find that baby oil gel works really well, and brings out their muscles in the shots. It isn’t as runny and messy as regular baby oil.

  • Anonymous

    I like to use this technique for art nudes, my favourite stuff is Vaseline’s cocoa butter gel body oil, it’s like baby oil but less runny. And it smells AMAZING! :)

  • http://www.facebook.com/vegasadam Adam Sternberg

    Having used all of these products that Reuben has suggested I recommend none of them. 15 years of experience has taught me that all of these either stink, create an unholy mess in the studio, are difficult to remove, stain everything they come into contact with, ruin clothing or swimsuits, or are just a complete pain to use. The best thing I’ve used so far, and will never deviate from because of how well it works, is a 50/50 mix of glycerin and water, applied through a small spray bottle. It looks better than all those suggested by the author, is easier to use, cleans up and removed well, and best of all it is the only one of all of these suggested that is actually good for the model’s skin. Go with this and you won’t go wrong.

  • 123

    The one product that wasn’t mentioned that most photographers use is 50/50 glycerin. I +1 on the rest of what Adam said too.

  • T.J.

    I’ve been trying to use the 50/50 glycerine mixture, but it keeps clogging up my spray bottles. What kind of spray bottle should I use for this?

  • http://www.facebook.com/vegasadam Adam Sternberg

    I use the small spray bottles you get in the cosmetics section of any store like Wal-Mart. They hold about 1 pint and they work great. The key is to shake it up real well before you start spraying and when you are done, take off the nozzle part and put it in a glass of hot water and pump some of the water through to clean it out. This prevents it from clogging between uses.

  • stripper lotion works best!

    There’s a lotion, been on the market for years, has a hint of shimmer/glitter in it — works wonders! Doesn’t stink! Doesn’t stain! Smells great! Has been known to get on male photographers which causes trouble when arriving home to their wives.

    Handy tip: Glycerin has been know to dry out skin, and some even have (horrible) allergic reactions to it.

  • http://starforeman.com Star

    be careful though, glycerin should not be placed near the eyes it can be as painful as pepper spray if it gets in the eyes. Near the eyes use a bit of clear lip gloss.

    Personally I use baby oil on men’s abs, and sometimes I utilize just a touch, with a q-tip, to create highlights on the collarbone and cheeks. Your best choice is to hire a professional make-up artist.

  • http://twitter.com/IDiivil Christine

    Please, please, please keep in mind to let your models wash off or wipe down well after any sort of application… washing off being the most preferable choice. I myself have had many issues with vegetable/baby oil causing skin reactions within 1-2 hours (usually the time I need to spend driving home from a shoot) and have heard many more stories from fellow models over how their skin reacts badly.

    Just needed to point that out so no one is left sent home with all that still on them!

    - IDiivil @ Mayhem #1682208

  • http://www.facebook.com/katherinedangeruss Ketherine Danger Russ

    I like to use Egyptian Magic. Creates a wonderful, hydrated glow.

  • Saxony

    Olive oil works great. Smells okay, doesn’t stain anything.

  • Ace

    question, would you apply the oil after makeup is put on or after? hope this is not a stupid question.

  • Twinspikes

    Must caution when using vegetable oil … I have know models to slow cook resulting in burns on there body when in very hot climates

  • Scott

    Have to say that the best product for a glamour “sheen” is soap and glory spray, this stuff is a MUST tool in any glamour photographers kit. That and working your magic in re-touch….doge and burn baby :)

  • http://www.modelmayhem.com/glamtography reuben dixon

    Definitely not a stupid question! I neglected to mention that I only apply any “shiny stuff” to the model’s body and not their face. I try to keep their face as dry as possible with makeup on.

  • http://twitter.com/beautinsuccess Beautiful Success

    CVS has a cocoa/shea butter, Brazil nut oil dry spray, it makes skin so soft, smells good isn’t messy even application nice glow. but it’s like $8.00 so otherwise the Vaseline gel and baby oil gel(same thing) is good.

  • http://twitter.com/KennethAston Kenneth Aston Jr

    How about just hire a pro MUA

  • Arsneovolatile

    Baby oil in a spray bottle and then water in another spray bottle. And definitely wipe down afterward. Be nice and have these warming up by the heater before you spray. Your models can be really chilled by the application in a cool studio.