YABY!!!

So yesterday I met w/ the lovely and talented Liz Yu. Fellow MUA, friend and creator of Yaby Cosmetics. Liz is not only an amazing makeup artist but she is also one of the most generous ppl I know right now...not just w/ product but also w/ industry knowledge and time.

Yesterday we spent literally 5-6 hrs at her Yaby office just catching up, gossiping and me picking her talented brain. As some of you may know I've been meeting w/ stylist agencies the last wk so I was just getting some info and opinions from her about everything from assisting (actually terrifies me) to portfolio layout - which btw she helped me w/ tremendously! Seriously my book looks a million times better now...sometimes you just need an outside industry eye to help clear away the crap you know. I'll talk more about agency meetings tomorrow after I make my final decision...EEEKKK - Fingers and Toes Crossed People! Although I do have to admit so far the agencies have been very receptive to my work which has been nice.

Anyway, what was also AMAZING about my meeting w/ Liz besides all the amazing tips she gave was the GRATIS I got :)!!! I mentioned Yaby in a couple of editorials and I know I'll definitely be mentioning them in the future (b/c half my kit is probably Yaby now lol).

Liz was beyond generous and I can't wait to try out the products she gave me on a shoot. I did try a couple out today on myself and let me tell you they were a DREAM! I got some powder foundation palettes from her as well as a highlighter palette and they are beyond gorgeous! The powder foundation (can also be used wet) is really smooth and great for both men and women. It's great for men b/c it's great at evening out their skintone w/out making them feel like they are wearing "makeup" and for women if their skin is great just a light dusting might be enough or if their skin is "less than great" layer it over the other foundation for another layer of coverage w/out making things look cakey. The highlighter palette has highlighters and bronzers for all skintones and it's the perfect amount of light shimmer w/out making things look like a 70's disco ball.

Liz's line is also great b/c it's small and compact. I'm all about keeping my kit small and as light as possible. I walk and take public transportation and I just use and over the shoulder MUFE pro bag for my kit (no rolling wheel kits for me) so it's essential I keep everything to a minimum. Yaby is great for not only condensing their products w/ her amazing palette system but there are also empty palettes which you can purchase and fill w/ your other makeup brands. I did this w/ my lipsticks actually. I bought an empty Yaby palette and some of the Yaby empty lipstick pots and cut and smooshed my lipsticks very neatly into the little empties. Now instead of going through a million tubes to find the right container I just open my very small Yaby palette and there are 35 (I think) lipsticks right at my disposal...and they look so neat and pretty too. All the models always ooh and aww over my Yaby stuff and how cute and small it is!

I also have A LOT of Yaby eyeshadows and pearl paints from before which are amazing b/c they are small but SOOO pigmented...seriously it will take forever to go through them...and really how many times do you actually get a chance to use that lime green eye shadow you used once for a shoot anyway. Everything is also really reasonably priced esp. for the quality and she offers a pro discount and usually has bi-annual sales.

To let you know how much I REALLY love Yaby I should just say I think I mentioned to ppl more than once at the CMS Toronto trade show this yr to go to the Yaby booth...umm did I mention I was working the Face Atelier booth at the time lol...don't get me wrong Face Atelier is another AWESOME Canadian brand (and not just cuz they give me gratis too ;) ). Seriously, they have some great foundations and I love their shimmers and lip glosses.

Btw any beginner MUAs - a great tip for when you actual start to do editorials try to use brands that offer gratis for editorial credits ie. Jessica Jean Myers using Yaby Cosmetics. A lot of times editorial pays very low to zero so a great way to make something out of it is to mention a cosmetic brand that you featured heavily in the editorial and at least get some free product from it!