CYKLAR, AERIN, Tatcha, MAKE Beauty, and Kylie Cosmetics: Real Skin, Real Jars, and Photos That Sell
Five product shoots, five different lessons: CYKLAR nails tactile, wet-skin musk photography but crushes its blacks on the clean bottle shot; AERIN's Amber Musk Pistache is served like dessert, with a clean in-camera white background shot where you can read every detail; Tatcha's Indigo
Five product shoots worth looking at closely this week, from wet-skin texture to a perfume served like dessert and a tower of gift boxes.
CYKLAR Sex Musk: wet skin, suds, and tactile bottle textures
This set knows exactly what it is. Dark navy bottles, wet skin, suds, and that striped light through blinds in the second image. It feels close to the skin, which is the whole point of a musk like CYKLAR (@cyklarofficial)'s Sex Musk. I love the gel running down the bottle and the bubble texture shot, so tactile, this is sensorial body wash photography done right.
The clean single bottle is my one gripe. The blacks get crushed and I lose the bottle detail, and the small vertical text is hard to read. Still, this sold the mood to me. I would buy it.
AERIN Amber Musk Pistache: gourmand styling with tablescape charm
This one made me hungry, which I think is the point. Pistachio cake, roses, vanilla pods, the bottle right in the middle with the label clear. I love the shot on the plate with the green cake slice. Silly and elegant at the same time, good gourmand fragrance photography for AERIN (@aerinbeauty)'s Amber Musk Pistache. The white background photo is my favourite. It is done in camera, products on glass with the background lit, and it has that clean editorial feel. You can see every little detail, and the ingredients sit around the bottle like a flat lay that actually sells. The table shots are lifestyle and pretty, but that clean one is the real commercial photo for me.
Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair: real jars, foundation under the cream
The skin close-ups from Tatcha (@tatcha) are what caught me first. Real texture, the cream sitting on the cheek with the gold spatula. And the blue jars are real jars. If you look close they are not perfectly polished, and renders never look like that. Renders are always too clear and too detailed. What I do not like is the models. The skin already has foundation on it, and then the cream goes on top. It photographs nicely, sure, but if you want to show how the product is actually applied, that is not the honest way. Show me bare skin and the real first touch of the cream.
MAKE Beauty powder: macro texture and real-skin swatch comparisons
I like how direct this is from MAKE Beauty (@makebeautyofficial). Powder in the pan, a swiped swatch, then before and after on real skin with freckles still visible. The black macro shot is my favorite. You can see every fine ridge in the powder, and the white text on the black is part of the design. Graphic, planned, simple. The chrome lid shot is clean too. This is very close to how I shoot myself. Product first, real skin, nothing extra. On brand and honest, and it shows the one thing a powder has to show: the finish.
Kylie Cosmetics gift sets: Editorial tower, clean product shots
The first photo is the seller for me. White gift boxes stacked like a tower, red ribbon everywhere, red floor. You see the perfumes and what is inside the boxes without opening anything. Editorial and festive in one frame, and it makes you want the whole set. The product photos from Kylie Cosmetics (@kyliecosmetics) do a different job. The bottles look photographed for real, then placed on a clean backdrop, and that is perfect for a box. You see the product as it is, shapes and shades clear. Mood first, then the product. Both done right.
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Elina is a Ukrainian-Canadian commercial photographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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