Right now, because of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are working from home and not getting to see our friends and family on a regular basis. This is why more and more of us are now using video calling to keep in touch.
The problem is, many of us are alarmed by how bad we feel we look on these calls – particularly when our friends and colleagues are looking great. So, how can you make yourself look better when video calling at home? Especially when we’re all missing our favourite beauty therapy treatments!
1. Lighting is Everything
Thanks to spending weeks – even months! – at home, many of us are feeling pale and pasty from our times indoors. Which isn’t helped by the fact that without access to our usual beauty therapy treatments like facials, our skin is feeling dull and if you wear make-up, it’s likely not sitting on your skin as nice as it used to.
So, the last thing you want to be doing is sitting on a HD video call with a harsh overhead light highlighting everything you want to mask. Yet, you might be surprised to hear that by just making a few lighting changes, your skin can look as radiant as it would after a beauty treatment.
Firstly, don’t use overhead lighting like your ceiling light, as you want your main light source to come from behind the camera. Ideally this will be natural light but you could also use a lamp or a specialised ‘selfie’ round light, that is popular amongst YouTubers.
As well as the light behind the camera, a soft light source on both your left and right side can soften your face. Again, natural light is ideal but you can also use lamps placed on either side.
2. Get to Know Your Angles
We all know what it’s like when you accidentally put the front-facing camera on our smartphones – it can feel like you have a million chins. The same can happen with our webcam for a video call, as if the angle is too low, it will make you look like you have more chins than you do and everyone will be looking up your nostrils rather than into your eyes.
Instead, make sure your webcam is placed at eye-level or above, as this will be far more flattering to you. Just give your camera a test by trying out your angles, either moving your camera about or, if your laptop camera is integrated, try raising your laptop with some books until you find an angle that suits you best.
3. Be Aware of Your Background
It doesn’t matter how good your angles or your home beauty therapy regime is, you will never look good if your background is a mess. So, while most of us have had to make makeshift offices at home and will need to contend with kids and animals while you try to work, it’s still important to set yourself up with a nice background.
If you really want to make your face stand out, you want a plain background. This should ideally be plain, such as a white, beige or grey wall. Or, you could sit in front of some neutral curtains. The worst thing you can do is have a pile of washing or dirty dishes in the background. As no matter how well you’ve worked on your skin and angles, people will be too focused on that – making you not look good.
4. Work on Your Skin
While your hair might be looking a tad chaotic as you can’t get to your hairdresser, your beauty therapy treatments can be mimicked to an extent at home. Which means, if you’ve been forgetting to moisturise and cleanse as well as comfort eating lots of sugar and fat, it’s time to get your act together – especially when any facial flaws can look 10 times worse on camera.
So, make sure that you are using your beauty treatment products to get your skin looking as fresh and moisturised as possible. As then, when your camera hits your face, you will look healthy and glowing rather than tired and spotty to your colleagues or friends.
5. Be Careful with Make-Up Products
When we think about a video call, we tend to think that we should put on a lot of make-up, as this will cover up lots of flaws. However, it doesn’t actually work like that. Indeed, wearing a lot of make-up can actually make you look worse on camera, as it can look cakey and a very matte finish can make you look older than you are.
Instead, aim for a more natural and minimal look that makes you look young and dewy skinned. For instance, rather than using a heavy foundation, you may wish to try a tinted moisturiser that will both hydrate your skin and help cover any blemishes or uneven skin tone.
Tinted moisturiser is also ideal for men that want to look their best on camera.
6. Choose Clothing That Makes You Feel Good
Think about that confidence you feel when you walk out of a salon after a haircut or beauty treatment. The very fact that you feel good, means others will soak in that confidence and agree that you look amazing.
For the same confidence on a work or social call, pick out an outfit that makes you feel good. As this will make you sit up a little straighter, feel less self-conscious and therefore look better. Whereas, any old house clothes will make you feel slobbish. So, get dressed up! It might just be to sit in your home, but you’ll feel much better for it.
7. Test it Out!
The absolute worst thing you can do is only test out how you look on camera a few minutes before your call. As, the likelihood is, you’re going to panic that you don’t look right – which will only lead to you looking flustered and worse when your call begins.
To prevent this, keep testing your camera out with different lighting, angles and using different make-up. That way you will know exactly what works for you on camera.
