We’ve teamed up with the lovely folks from BirchBox, the monthly beauty box specialists, to share their super sneaky tricks for results that will be ready to display on your wall forever. We’ve also included a little gift inside their September ‘Happy Days’ box!

There comes a time in every woman’s life – be it graduation, your wedding day or something equally special – when she must take her make-up game to the next level. The high def level. After all, you know these photos are going to be around forever! While a smear of tinted moisturiser and swipe of mascara will more than suffice for an average workday, special events call for special preparations:

Prep Your Pores

With the popularity of HD photo and video, we’ve gotten up close and personal with the pores of our favourite celebs – and home technology is catching up FAST. Be sure your skin is in zoom-lens shape with the help of skincare designed to smooth, brighten and tone your complexion. Look for exfoliators that gently buff away dead skin cells, radiance enhancers and hydrating lotions to soften skin with ingredients like tea tree and flaxseed extract to minimise the appearance of pores.

Prime To Last

It’s hard enough to get a camera-ready complexion without having to worry about making it last. That’s where a long-lasting primer comes in. Look for a mixture of moisturising ingredients – think olive and soybean oils – to act like double-stick tape and secure your make-up in place for hours on end – without clogging your pores.

Contour Like A Celeb

If you want to go one step further, you could take a leaf out of multiple celeb make-up artists’ rulebooks and get contouring. Not only will layering products create flawless coverage, you’ll also score light-reflecting cheekbones and an enviable photo-ready glow. What you’ll need: a foolproof, medium-coverage foundation or BB cream, a glowy highlighter pencil or liquid, a buildable cream blush, matte bronzer and an arsenal of brushes for detailed application. Here are our tips to contour for your face shape!

Go Big (To Look Normal)

Any make-up artist will advise the soon-to-be-snapped to apply more make-up than they normally would in order to have their features show up under bright camera flashes. For eyes, this means extra coats of a thickening mascara and maybe some false lashes. While bright eyeshadow may not roll in your next board meeting, consider playing with colour for your next big event– a bold lip or a metallic smoky eye can work wonders in photos.

Find Your Forever Products

Ever tried a new product you’ve shelled out for, only to get the event photos back and realise that it doesn’t suit you as much as you’d hoped? Birchbox deliver travel-sized versions of hand-picked beauty products for your skin, body, hair and make-up collections. You can try out the products in the comfort of your own home, snap some pics and – when you know you’ve got a winner – pick up the full-size versions online. We’ll give you plenty of tips and tricks in our online magazine and in-box editorial.

BirchBox Recommends:

Skincare & Primer: Dr. Brandt’s phenomenal range including, a sheer formula that makes skin look noticeably smoother and pore-free. Benefit’s Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer is what our own co-founder Katia leans on uses on her nonstop days.

Contouring: Benefit’s Big Easy BB cream and Chella’s versatile Highlighter Pencil

Eyes & Lips: Benefit’s lash-boosting They’re Real! are great. We love theBalm’s Balm Voyage palette, which combines neutrals with bold colours for an extra boost. For lips, try easy-to-apply eye-catching shades like LAQA&Co’s Fat Lip Pencils in Lambchop and Ring of Fire.

Voila! Now you just need to choose how you’re going to display your new photos from all the fab choices at PhotoBox…

– Maura Lynch & Beth Squires

BONUS!

For a LIMITED time you’ll also receive FREE SHIPPING on your first Birchbox subscription of monthly beauty samples. – simply enter promo code BBXPHOTO on Birchbox.