Corporate Headshot Makeup in Ho Chi Minh City

Every December the same thing happens in Saigon offices. The annual report needs new portraits. Three people joined since the last shoot. The website still shows someone who left in March. Someone books a photographer for a Thursday morning, sends a calendar invite to twenty people, and hopes for the best.

The photographer is usually fine. What goes wrong is the faces: shine on the forehead by 10:30, one person in full evening makeup next to five people in none, a beard line the camera turns grey. Then the retoucher spends a week fixing what fifteen minutes of preparation would have prevented.

This is a planning guide for whoever is organising that day: HR, marketing, an office manager, or a founder doing it alone. It covers how many people fit in a session, what to tell staff the day before, what men actually need, and what it costs in Ho Chi Minh City.

Why headshot makeup is not event makeup

A headshot is looked at from about thirty centimetres away, on a phone, after retouching. An evening look is built for distance and dim light. The two problems are close to opposite.

For a portrait lens, the base has to keep skin texture rather than erase it. Heavy powder reads as a mask at close range. Edges matter: the jawline, the hairline and the corner of the eye are where a close lens finds the place a product stops. And on a team shoot, the real goal is consistency. Everyone should look like they were photographed on the same day, by the same person, in the same light. That is a makeup decision as much as a lighting one.

If your company has booked event makeup for portraits before and the photos looked done rather than natural, this is usually why.

How many people one artist can take in a day

The constraint on a team shoot is time in the chair, not the number of artists you can afford. A practical rhythm in an office is about thirty minutes per person for women and less for men's grooming, plus quick touch-ups between sitters.

KINKAY prices per head, at the same rate for everyone, with no cap on the headcount:

• One artist: about 6 people in a half day, 12 in a full day, at thirty minutes each plus touch-ups.
• More people than that: more artists on the same booking, up to four makeup artists and two hair stylists, so a whole floor is done inside one call time.
• What that costs: the headcount times 1,800,000 VND. Ten people is 18,000,000 VND. Nothing is added afterwards.

Plan the photographer's schedule around the makeup chair, not the other way round. The first sitter should be in makeup about 30 to 40 minutes before the photographer needs them. After that, one person leaves the chair as the next one sits down, and the photographer never waits.

A simple schedule that works

For six people with one artist and a 9:00 start for the photographer:

• 8:15 Makeup set up in a room with a window or a bright desk lamp, next to the shooting area.
• 8:20 First sitter in the chair.
• 9:00 Photography starts. Second sitter in the chair.
• Every 25 to 30 minutes the next person moves from the chair to the camera.
• Between sitters a two-minute touch-up for anyone whose shot runs long or who comes back for a second setup.
• 12:15 Last portrait, then group shots while everyone still looks fresh.

Put the people who are hardest to schedule (directors, people with client calls) early. Faces hold better in the morning, and the afternoon is where shine and fatigue show.

What to tell your staff the day before

A short message to everyone on the list saves more time than anything else. Copy and adapt this:

• Come with a clean face, moisturised, no heavy foundation. If you normally wear makeup, bring your own lipstick if you have a favourite shade.
• Hair washed and dry. Tell us if you want it up, down, or exactly as you wear it to work.
• Bring two tops: one solid colour, one you would wear to meet a client. Avoid thin stripes and logos.
• Glasses: bring them. Anti-reflective lenses help.
• Men: shave the evening before or the morning of, not twenty minutes before. Fresh razor redness shows on camera.

Men's makeup and hair: what it actually is

Most men on a team shoot say they do not need makeup. They are right, and that is the point. Grooming for a headshot is shine control on the forehead and nose, calming redness around the nose and chin, softening dark under-eye shadow, and tidying brows so the camera does not exaggerate them. Nothing should read as makeup in the final image.

It takes less time than a full glam look, which is why it is priced below the per-person rate.

Speakers, interviews and on-camera work

The same logic applies to conference speakers, panel moderators, press interviews and video recorded in an office. Video adds two things: heat from lights and time. A face that looks right at the start of a 40-minute recording needs to look right at the end. For speakers, the useful booking is makeup before the session plus a touch-up just before going on stage.

If you are visiting Ho Chi Minh City for a conference or a launch and staying at a hotel, KINKAY comes to the hotel. Travel inside the city is included in the price.

Published prices

These are the published prices on kinkay.vn, in Vietnamese dong. They are not negotiated per company.

Travel inside Ho Chi Minh City is included. Outside the city, travel and accommodation are quoted as one figure before you confirm. A deposit holds the date. For a team booking we issue a receipt in your company name, showing the session details and the amount.

The full list is on the headshots page and the English price list.

Working with your photographer

You do not need to book a photographer through KINKAY. Tell Kay who you have already booked and she coordinates the schedule with them directly: call time, where the makeup chair goes, and whether the photographer wants a matte or slightly luminous finish for their lighting. Five minutes of contact before the day avoids most problems on the day.

When to book

November and December are the busiest months for company portraits, year-end events and weddings in Saigon at the same time. Weekday mornings go first. If your shoot is tied to an annual report deadline or a pre-Tết website update, book the date as soon as the photographer confirms. The Lunar New Year 2027 falls on 6 February, and the weeks before it fill early.

Visiting for a gala, a keynote or a grand opening instead? See our guide to hair and makeup for short-stay visitors.

Book a date

Send the date, the address, the number of people (women and men separately) and your photographer's start time. Kay checks the calendar and replies the same day.

See the headshots page · See all prices