Image: Nicky with Tanya Burr (desperately trying to remember everything Tanya said, but failing).
She has over 2.5 million followers, is about to launch her first book, and her online tutorials attract a casual 15 million visitors a month. Heck, even the security guard at Sunrise was captivated by one of her YouTube videos (the Kim Kardashian contouring one, naturally) when he met all her fans outside Channel Seven yesterday.
We caught up with UK beauty and lifestyle vlogger Tanya Burr while she’s in Sydney to not only find out what’s in her makeup bag, but her top tips on how to look good in photos. Because if anyone should know, it’s the blogger with 1.5 million followers on Instagram alone.
1. Face the light.
“My first tip is to face the light, you can see when I go to take a photo in the dark is not very flattering. When you turn to face the light – even when indoors – it instantly looks so much better when you do that.”
2. Hold your camera just above eye height.
“Look at the camera, and hold the camera above above eye height because it’s a really good angle for the face. If you hold it too high it just looks really weird, if you hold it down too low it’s too chinny.”
3. Experiment with angles.
"Start clicking away and turning your face from side to side. Experiment and you’ll find an angle that suits your face. Take like, 30 if you need to!"
4. Turn your phone to the side.
"Try some wider angles by turning your iPhone to the side and using the volume buttons. You get more of yourself in, if you turn to the side than if you’re holding it upright."
5. Edit afterwards.
"Take lots and then edit afterwards, I use this app called Afterlight, and it’s really nice because you can make it more saturated, and can change the highlights or shadows on your face."
Ok, spill do you have any favourite products for illuminating the face in photos?
"There’s one I really like, the makeup artist at Sunrise introduced me to it this morning. It’s called Urban Decay Illuminated in Aura, and I’m wearing it just across the tops of my cheeks. I’m not a makeup everyday person, but if I have something on I’m wearing individual lashes, because I’ve got big lips, and my eyes are quite small, I wear lashes to look more balanced.
We couldn’t finish our chat without finding out what’s in her makeup bag. She happily obliged by tipping her Mulberry handbag open so we could have a peek.
1. Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream skin protectant, $18.99 and 2. Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream nourishing lip balm with sunscreen, $25.
"I’m obsessed with 8 hour cream, I have an SPF one for sunbathing on the beach, so I don’t get sunburnt lips and I use the skin protectant one as a moisturiser - and for everything really."
3. Tanya Burr lipgloss in Champagne Toast.
4. Becca Blotting Powder Perfector in Transparent, $66.
"I love this powder, it looks white but it’s actually translucent so it mattifyies you face without looking powdery. I sweep it over my forehead, cheeks and chin."
5. Revlon Colourburst lip butter, $21.95
"I wear this shade all the time, it's actually the lipstick I'm wearing on the cover of my book."
Tanya Burr's book, Love Tanya, is out on January 29.