How to photograph beauty products using props from IKEA
Learn how to style two different beauty product sets for your campaigns and social media.
In this tutorial, our experts Annabelle Plueckthun and Humphrey Khouw come up with two creative beauty product set designs that you can easily style yourself using products from IKEA.
You’ll learn how to tell a consistent story using props that underline the key features of your products - in this case sleek, clinically looking home spa products and sustainable beauty must-haves with natural ingredients.
In this tutorial we cover the following:
- Selecting items from IKEA that double duty as photo props to underline the story you’d like to tell with your products
- Styling a creative set for
- Clinically looking beauty products
- Sustainable beauty products with natural ingredients
- Creatively arranging beauty products for your social channels and campaigns
You’ll need:
- (Beauty) products of choice
- A well-lit set and camera:
- Traditional photo studio set-up: lights, diffusers, cameras, etc.,
- DIY home set-up: High-quality DSLR camera and a spot with lots of natural light, or
- Our Profoto Eclipse
- Props that underline the story you’d like to tell with your products - check out our IKEA shopping list for more inspiration
Using props from IKEA for creative set design
Creating great content that converts may become increasingly challenging in times where social distancing is the norm. We aren’t able to be in the studio with too many people while physically purchasing props becomes more and more difficult or at least inconvenient.
This tutorial is meant to demonstrate how you can put your products in the spotlight, using props that are widely available to us and can safely be ordered online.
IKEA is a great resource for creative and affordable props to underline different aspects of the products you’d like to shoot. We came up with a selection of IKEA props that enable you to tell a creative and consistent story with your products for your campaigns or social channels.
Showcasing sustainable beauty products
Choosing IKEA props for a natural-looking set design
Sustainability influences our buying decisions more and more these days. Therefore, we decided on natural soaps, reusable pads, and sustainable beauty products in glass containers for our first shot. To tell a consistent story with your items, your set design should support the natural aspect of your products wherever possible.
When composing your set, start with selecting a background to place your products on. Neutral colors such as beige, off-white, or light brown are perfect to underline the natural aspect of your items. A tablecloth made from sustainable materials like cotton or linen is a great choice.
Sticking to natural materials, IKEA offers a wide variety of wooden items that can be used for different kinds of shoots. Have a look at their selection of wooden bowls, boards, or trays like the ones we chose for our set.
Artificial plants are a great way to round off your set design and add a pop of color as a finishing touch.
Styling your natural beauty products
Drape your items on your background of choice. A tablecloth is great to create depth and adds some texture to your set. You can use your backdrop to place your items at different heights to create a more interesting composition.
Find out what works for you and your products. Make sure that your set is well-balanced and doesn’t distract from the items you’re trying to showcase. An overall neutral color scheme and natural light underline the sustainability aspect of your beauty must-haves.
Shooting clinically-looking beauty products
Styling a lab-like beauty product set using IKEA items
Right now, most of us aren’t able to visit professional beauty salons to maintain the self-care routine we are used to. More and more consumers invest in products that make for DIY spa treatments in the safety of their own homes.
Capturing these often sleek looking stars of our bathroom cabinet shelves asks for a more minimal set design, mimicking the aesthetics of a professional beauty salon.
White, shiny surfaces, as well as items made out of glass or metal, are perfect to underline the clinical and lab-like aspect of our beauty products.
Kitchen cabinet doors in glossy white or shiny white memo boards make for great backdrops.
Metal kitchen accessories, such as measuring spoons or even taco stands, function as lab devices and add some shiny highlights to our set. Filtering for “stainless steel” on IKEA.com will get you some great and versatile options for your shoot.
Glass vases in different sizes support the sleek-looking aspect of our beauty products and complete our set design.
Arranging your clinically-looking beauty product set
We choose two shiny memo boards as backdrops for our set. Using two of those boards - one for the back and one to place the products on - helps to create some dimension.
Place your items diagonally next to each other to further enhance this effect. Make use of the shiny surface of your backdrops, creating some interesting reflections with your beauty products, as well as the glass and metal items to catch your audience’s attention.
A harsher, more direct light helps to create a consistent story with your set design. Dripping a little bit of product on your surface adds a finishing touch.
In summary:
- IKEA offers great creative and affordable options for your set design
- Choose items that support the story you’d like to tell with your products
- Lighting can be a great tool to further underline the aspect you’d like to bring across
- Producing creative content for your social channels doesn’t have to involve professional props
- Using what you have and getting creative can help you to create great content that converts