Beauty Director’s Reel: A 60-Second Study in Craft and Clarity

Beauty Reel

Experience, distilled

A good reel isn’t just a résumé. It’s a point of view. Sam Faulkner’s new 60-second beauty director’s reel is crafted as a quiet argument for a different kind of beauty storytelling — one that favours clarity, restraint and emotional depth over spectacle.

Sam brings more than 30 years of experience as a London-based commercial director and documentary photographer. That dual background gives the work its distinct rhythm. In this reel, real performance and composition sit side by side: an award-winning Dove spot built around unrehearsed casting; macro skincare shots that visualise how ceramides move beneath the surface; and a water droplet tracking slowly across a lily leaf — a metaphor for hydration, shot entirely in-camera.

Beauty that lingers

Rather than rushing to impress, the reel lingers in details: a tattooed shoulder under soft light, a mascara wand lifted by Winona Ryder, Kate Moss in golden light for Kérastase. These aren’t just beauty shots; they’re crafted moments with intention. The edit carries a subtle confidence — it understands when to cut, and more importantly, when not to.

The campaigns are recognisable: Revlon, Olay, Rimmel, Simple. But what threads them together is tone. Whether it’s a socially driven casting, a premium skincare product demo, or a fashion-adjacent vignette for Marc Jacobs with Bette Midler, Sam’s approach is always precise, editorially sharp, and emotionally legible.

Watch the reel

Watch the new beauty director’s reel here — a 60-second study in performance-led, image-conscious direction for contemporary beauty brands.

Beauty direction in 2025 is evolving — less airbrushed, more human. This reel doesn’t announce itself loudly, but it doesn’t need to. It’s a calling card for collaborators who value restraint, narrative texture and visual thinking. It’s made for those who already know the difference.