MARLOW
Hair + makeup for the set
Jo Marlow does hair and makeup as one person, for photographers and brands, booked by the day. Studio in Gowanus. Los Angeles in February and September.
03 / Gold gloss, FW27
07 / Touch-up, set 2
12 / Kit + casting wall
- 11years on set
- 900+shoot days
- 1artist, hair and makeup
- 2cities, Brooklyn + LA
Work
Contact sheet, 2025 to now. Black and white unless the color was the point.
- 01
EditorialGowanus, January
Bridal story. Slick knot, skin left as skin, one sharp wing.
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02 CampaignRed Hook, May
Bleached brows, matte tomato lip, glass skin.
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03 LookbookBushwick rooftop, April
Wet-look hair that held in the wind for six hours.
- 04
CampaignGowanus, FW27
Gold gloss lid, bare brow.
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05 EditorialGowanus, March
Lacquer ponytail, wrapped base.
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06 LookbookRed Hook, October
Menswear. Curls defined, not tamed.
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07 TestGreenpoint, February
Charcoal smudge on freckles.
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08 LookbookLos Angeles, September
Resort. Bronze skin, loose wave, no powder.
Rates
Same rate for editorial and lookbooks. One invoice, hair and makeup together.
| Booking | What it covers | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Day | 10 hours on set, hair and makeup, lunch included | $1,200 |
| Half day | Up to 5 hours, one or two talent | $700 |
| Test | Up to 4 hours, weekdays, for photographers building a book | $450 |
| Second artist | For four or more talent, so nobody waits | +$450 / day |
| Overtime | After 10 hours, billed in half hours | $150 / hr |
| Kit | Included. Wigs, lashes in bulk and prosthetics at cost | $0 |
$150 holds the shoot day.It comes off the invoice. Campaigns with paid media get a quote with usage.Book a day →
The day
A ten-hour shoot day, as it reads on the call sheet.
- Call
Kit up next to the set, not in a corner. Products checked under your lights before anyone sits.
- First talent in the chair
Hair and makeup at once: 60 to 75 minutes for a full look, 35 for a clean one.
- First frame
Jo stays at the monitor. Flyaways and shine get fixed between frames, not after them.
- Look change
20 minutes, hair down to up in 12. Planned on the look sheet the week before.
- Lunch
Thirty minutes. Re-powder and reset before the afternoon light.
- Wrap
The face in the last frame matches the face in the first. That is the job.
Jo Marlow
The person in the chair next to yours.
I learned on wigs. Forty of them a night, pin-curled in the basement of a summer theater in Pittsburgh, for a musical about sailors.
The wig mistress had one rule: if it doesn’t read from the back row, it doesn’t exist. A camera is the back row with a zoom lens. It sees the flyaway, the shine on a nose at 4 PM, the line where the foundation stops.
I came to Brooklyn in 2014 with one kit case and a sublet in Bushwick, and spent four years assisting a session hairstylist: carrying cases up fifth-floor walk-ups, sweeping hair off seamless, watching what survives ten hours under strobes. My first editorial of my own was a test on a Greenpoint rooftop, with a borrowed dryer and an extension cord run out a bathroom window.
I do hair and makeup myself because a look is one idea, not two departments. I’d rather fix it in camera than in retouching; retouching costs more than my day rate.
Jo
What’s in the kit
- Skin
- Forty shades of foundation and tint, mixed on the back of the hand. Every skin tone, every day.
- Hair
- Two dryers, irons from 3/8 inch to 2 inches, a steamer, pins by the hundred and clips for every texture.
- Set
- Blotting papers, a fan, a mirror on a stand, safety pins, tape, a lint roller and a second pair of hands.
- Clean
- Disposable wands and sponges, brushes cleaned between talent. A fresh kit for every shoot day.
Clients
Names on request. Most of them ask us not to print them.
- Brands
- A Brooklyn denim label, four seasons of lookbooks · A clean skincare launch · A sneaker brand’s US campaign · A swimwear label’s resort lookbook · A furniture catalog, yes, with people on the sofas
- Editorial
- Two independent fashion quarterlies · A Copenhagen-based culture magazine’s New York issue · Twelve album covers for one small record label
- Photographers
- Thirty-one photographers have booked a second day. Most send a moodboard and a weather report; both help.
“She fixed a flyaway between frames without me lowering the camera. Ten hours, same face.”
Dana K.Photographer, Bushwick“Jo does hair and makeup as one person, so the look is one idea. We stopped booking two.”
Priya S.Art director, a denim label“Wet-look hair on a rooftop in April, in the wind, and it held until wrap. I still don’t know how.”
Marcus T.Photographer, Greenpoint“The look sheet arrived the Monday before. Three references, every product, minutes per look. We came in under time.”
Elena R.Producer, a skincare brand
Studio
A kit room and test space by the Gowanus Canal. Shoots anywhere.
| Five boroughs, Jersey City | Included |
|---|---|
| Hudson Valley, the Hamptons, Philadelphia | Half-rate travel day + mileage |
| Los Angeles | Feb + Sep, 3-day blocks, no flight fee |
| Tests at the studio | Weekdays, 4 hours |
Questions
What producers ask before they book.
Do you do both hair and makeup?
Yes, always, and that’s the point: one person, one kit, one idea of the look. For four or more talent a second artist comes along for $450 a day.
What counts as a day?
Ten hours from call time, lunch included. After that, overtime is $150 an hour in half hours. A half day is up to five hours for $700.
How does the $150 hold work?
It holds the shoot day, and it comes off the invoice. If the shoot moves, the hold moves with it once, within 60 days.
Will you work from our moodboard?
Please send it. The Monday before, you get a look sheet: references, every product and the minutes per look, so the call sheet is honest.
Do you do tests?
Yes, for photographers building a book: $450 for up to four hours, weekdays, at the Gowanus studio or your location.
Do you invoice brands?
W-9 and a certificate of insurance on request, invoices net 15. Campaigns with paid media get a written quote with usage.
Do you work outside New York?
The Hudson Valley, the Hamptons and Philadelphia are a travel day at half rate plus mileage. Los Angeles is every February and September, in blocks of three days or more.
Book a day
Pick the shoot date and hold it with $150. Jo texts you within the day for the moodboard, the call time and the talent.
Day rate $1,200 · half day $700 · test $450
- 1Service
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