Hourglass Cosmetics,
GIRL Lip Stylo™

Julia Kuzmenko McKim photographed, retouched, color-matched, and created some of the additional shade versions along with the in-house team for the GIRL Lip Stylo lipstick campaign for Hourglass Cosmetics (web, POS, PDP, social).

These frames are a fraction of the campaign and eComm work I photographed and retouched for Hourglass Cosmetics’ GIRL Lip Stylo collection.

For all their seeming simplicity, macro lip images are arguably some of the most demanding work in beauty photography. By the time of this project, I had done enough macro lip shoots to know what usually makes or breaks them: the correct choice of model, proper lighting, camera angles, and the condition of the lip texture and skin around the mouth before the shoot and between shade changes. This project reaffirmed for me that the choice of model stands above all others.

That lesson solidified my approach to pre-production for macro lip projects. While I made correct recommendations for this photoshoot, I did not insist enough on all points, assuming I could not argue with the established client. However, taught by a couple of near misses, I realized that I would be doing my clients a disservice if I did not explain the many challenges of this type of work, with vivid examples of what a failed production can look like.

The best results come when the client and I work through the traps together in pre-production: I help choose the model, we narrow the shade list to what has to be captured in camera, and which shades I can easily color-match in post. And when I cannot bring my own makeup artist, I work closely with the brand’s artist throughout each stage of the production.