If you’re a lash artist, you might be wondering why you need to use a ring light for eyelash extensions or for eyebrow tattooing. Buying professional lighting may be more expensive to start with, but it will soon pay for itself as the quality of light is better, and allows you to do your job more effectively and professionally.
This article is going to look at 5 great reasons to use a ring light to effectively apply lash extensions or tattoos, and give you the lowdown on the best ring lighting for this kind of work.
1. Bendable Light to See Your Clients Better
Good old natural light is great, but it’s not reliable! Plus, unless your workstation is right next to a huge window, you’re going to struggle.
A light with a bendable gooseneck such as the Spectrum Aurora Gold Luxe II 19" ring light is ideal for positioning in just the right place to see what you’re working on clearly, as is the Spectrum Aurora 18" Diamond Luxe II ring light.
These two pro-spec ring lights have bendable goosenecks included in the kit, but you can buy a Spectrum Aurora Bendable Gooseneck for ring lights, such as the Spectrum Mini Pearl II ring light.
For extra stability and peace of mind, you should use a sandbag on the legs of your light stand such as the Spectrum Heavy Duty Sandbag for Boom Arms and Light Stands so you can be sure that your light won’t topple onto your client!
2. Natural Light Wherever, Whenever
If you travel to clients, you can’t guarantee that there will be plenty of natural light for you to work by, and what happens if you need to work after dark?
This is one of the reasons good lighting for eyelash extensions and eyebrow tattooing is necessary. Another is to provide you with better clarity for detailed work, as well as helping to reduce eye strain.
The best ring lighting is balanced to look like daylight instead of artificial light, and both the Spectrum Aurora 18" Diamond Luxe II and the Spectrum Aurora Gold Luxe II 19" ring light can be set to 5500K – daylight balance. This allows you and your clients to see what the results will look like in daylight when you set the ring light to daylight colour mode.
The smaller Spectrum Mini Pearl II ring light is also daylight balanced for your convenience.
3. Adjustable Brightness for Sensitive Clients
Having an adjustable brightness level is a bonus in lighting for eyelash extensions and eyebrow tattoos. It allows you to dim the light down to a comfortable level if your client has a sensitivity to light. It also lets you make the light brighter if you are working in a very dim area.
Our Spectrum Aurora Gold Luxe II 19" ring light, the Spectrum Aurora 18" Diamond Luxe II, and the Spectrum Mini Pearl II ring light all come with adjustable brightness levels from 0-100.
4. Lightweight and Portable
Having a ring light that is light and easy to transport makes life a great deal easier! If you travel often to clients, having a ring light with a carry case like the Spectrum Aurora Gold Luxe II 19" ring light, Spectrum Aurora 18" Diamond Luxe II or the Spectrum Mini Pearl II ring light really makes a difference.
Even if you are just moving your light around the studio between appointments, a lightweight one that you can pick up and carry easily is a must.
5. Perfect Before/After Photos for Social Media Content
Social media is the perfect way to promote your work, and ring lights make it easy to create brilliant before/after photos of your clients.
Our Spectrum Aurora Gold Luxe II 19" ring light, Spectrum Aurora 18" Diamond Luxe II and the Spectrum Aurora Mini Pearl II ring light are great for giving soft, shadowless lighting. Ring lights are one of the best choices for minimizing blemishes and skin imperfections, while allowing for amazing close-up detail.
The circular shape casts a soft halo of light all round your subject, as well as giving pleasing circular catchlights in the iris of the eyes. You can also shoot hands-free with either a phone or a camera if you have a bracket to fit them on.
The light won’t get in the way of your photos either – you just point the lens right through the middle of the ring and shoot!
Conclusion
Having good lighting is an important part of your beauty business for the reasons above, but ring lighting is also great for creating videos as well as photos if you decide to create some promotional material.
Here’s a couple of extra tips for you:
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Don’t forget you can use a magnifier in the middle of your ring light to make it much easier to isolate the lashes. If you wear glasses, then you can buy handy magnifier glasses that clip on to your own glasses.
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When you are photographing client’s lashes, put a little sticker on the ceiling and get them to look at it while you are shooting. It gives much more accurate and better-looking photos.
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Get in close to the eyelashes or eyebrows, and crop after the photo has been taken. Going in so close to your client’s face may be a bit uncomfortable at first, but the closer you get your lens, the sharper and more detailed your photo will be, as opposed to cropping close after taking the image. Just warn your client what you’re about to do first so they’re not freaked out!
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If you are taking a photo that shows part of the background, make sure it is clean, tidy, and looks good. You don’t want to put potential clients off!
- Take some photos from different angles and change the distance, to show the lashes or brows from another perspective.
Whatever lighting for eyelash extensions and eyebrow tattooing you choose, the choice will come down to your personal preference, as well as budget and space considerations. I hope this article has helped you decide which ring light to choose – whatever you do, a ring light is a great buy to give you a professional lighting setup.
