Underwater Modelling Preparation
Underwater modelling is an incredible way to bring performance art, water, and photography together, but it’s a challenging medium that can be made easier with a few tips from Hannah Mermaid.
BRING A DIVE MASK to your underwater workshop. You wont be wearing it when the photos are taken, but you will need it to be able to see underwater when Hannah is demonstrating the poses, and to watch other participants perform underwater.
BRING A HARD DRIVE with at least 100 GIG space to hold the photos and videos that have been taken of you.
Underwater Makeup
The First Rule of Underwater Makeup: Don’t touch your face whilst in the water, it may rub off the makeup.
The second rule: Test makeup before you shoot with it. Not all “waterproof” makeup is actually water proof.
You can generally go a bit heavier on the makeup underwater, as it can disappear on camera. Warm colors pop better, whereas blues and greens can blend in and dissappear with the colors of the water. Don’t be afraid to do heavier contouring and blush, as skin tones can look much paler and flatter underwater. Make sure to match your face tone to your body tone.
The most important part is to have a good waterproof mascara or eyelash extensions, lip stain, and eyebrow pencil
Avoid Water-based products as they will dissolve in water. Waterproof makeup can be difficult to remove. You can try Vaseline, PawPaw ointment, or Castor oil as a natural makeup remover and skin cleanser.
Hannah recommends professional lash extensions instead of any mascara, as even the best mascara isn’t perfect. Try to avoid stick on lashes as the lash glue doesn’t hold, and they will come off in the water.
Avoid cream eyeshadows. They will smudge and smear.
Use a finishing powder to set the makeup in, and if you want extra hold you can finish with a setting spray like NYX.
Hannah’s Recommended Products:
*Welcome to Hannah’s Favorite Mermaid-Friendly Products!*
Dive into this curated Amazon list of essentials for the mermaid lifestyle—whether you’re prepping for an underwater photoshoot or living your everyday sea-siren dreams! Here you’ll find our top picks for waterproof makeup, reliable wig glue, reef-safe sunscreen, and other treasures we trust in the professional mermaid kit.
Outfits
You don’t need to spend a lot to create some great underwater costumes, here’s some tips to make it easier:
Mermaid Tails
For a mermaid top, Hannah recommends getting a well fitted colored bra to match your tail and sewing or glueing on decorations. You can use sequin scales, shells, crystal diamonds, fake leaves/seaweed, beads or any other type of decoration that appeals to you. You can also decorate your tail in the same way!
Hannah uses E6000 glue to attach deco to tails, or hand sewing.
Dresses
For costumes, Hannah often finds great options in Vintage, GoodWill, second hand clothing/costume stores, online shops, or yard sales. She has repurposed wedding dresses, cut up long gowns, used parts of costumes to attach to other items and generally got creative.
Even just nice long lengths of satin, chiffon, or other fabrics can make beautiful ‘costumes when just tied artfully around the body.
Wigs
If you are wearing a wig, it’s very important to secure it much more securely than you would have to for a dry shoot.
Begin by using Vaseline on the tiny hairs around hairline to keep them flat against the head and to protect hair from the tape. Use a silicone headband over the hair to keep it back and away from the tape, and to also give the wig something to grip onto.
Make sure your skin is extremely clean where you will apply the wig line with tape. Wipe skin with alcohol wipes or clean with soap to get rid of any oil or sweat to prepare your skin so the tape will stick well and hold.
The tape will adhere better once it warms up against your skin for a while. Hannah uses ‘Walker’s waterproof wig tape’ all around the inside of the lace front wig hairline, right along the edge of the lace from ear to ear across the forehead line.
Then apply lots of pins around the back and sides behind the ears. Using 2 pins in a X shape will lock the pin to clamp against the hair securely
Attach the wig starting from the nape of the neck at the base of your hair under the low ponytail, then slide the side wig combs under the silicone band above the ears on both sides, then carefully peel off the tape’s protective layer and adhere the lace front with tape to the forehead just below the hairline.
It takes a bit of practice, but this is the best method for not damaging your own hair. We have tried everything from wefts, braids, hair extensions, clips, and this is the best solution for protecting your natural hair.
Pro Tip: use Walkers Wig tape removal solution to peel off he wig tape after use easily.
Pro Tip: Hanna usually ties on a tight headband or headpiece on top of the wig with many hair pins to give added support to keeping it all intact. Using a headband that has stretchy fabric bands to tie in a bow underneath the ponytail/wig at the nape of the neck is essential for it to stay on. Use pins all around the edges of any headband or headpiece to keep it in place.
Hannah says “Just using pins to keep a wig on underwater will not work. Trust me… I’ve had embarrassing moments where the wig started floating away during a performance!!!“
Wigs with fringe/bangs tend to not work as well as wigs with all long hair, because everything is floating up and moving underwater, and the fringe will not stay in place on your forehead, rather, it may float right up in a short upside down fringe!
Synthetic vs Human Hair Wigs
Do NOT use real hair wigs. Only use Synthetic wigs, as they are less expensive, dry faster, are thicker, you can get more colors and will last for many shoots if used correctly. Spending about $50- $80 USD on a synthetic wig will get you a very good quality wig. The bonus of wigs is that you can change your look, adding curl, wave, color, length and different styling.
You can wash wigs in normal shampoo and conditioner. Hang up to drip dry. Only brush out tangles once wig is completely dry. Lay the wig flat on a flat surface and use a wide paddle brush with strong plastic bristles, starting at the bottom and patiently working your way up as you detangle each section.
Pro Tip: You can use a flat iron on a low heat to bring back the condition and silkiness of a synthetic wig.
Natural Hair Care
Rinse your own hair in cold water before entering a chlorinated pool to avoid it drying out and to stop blonde hair from turning green. For performances you can use coconut oil as a natural conditioner before getting in the water, but avoid this for a pool photoshoot as it will leave a film on the water. Use a leave-in conditioner after swimming to help your hair recover and de-tangle.
Pro Tip: You can use Malibu Swimmers Hair Wellness Clarifier to cleanse green chlorine out of bleached blond hair.
Eyes & Ears
To keep your eyes from getting sore in chlorinated water, Hannah recommends Refresh Optiv eye drops for lubricating your eyes, and Lumify Eyedrops for removing the red. If you’re prone to ear infections, or just want to make sure they don’t happen, this handy Mack’s Ear Dryer is great for making sure there’s no water left in your ears after a shoot.
These are just some simple tips to make your underwater modelling adventure more enjoyable, and if you’d like to learn even more our Underwater Modelling Workshops are just the thing!