Bride - Ali

So I just got home about an hr ago from my early morning bridal appt...you know the one I was packing for last night lol!  Anyway, it went fabulously and I think the bride looked gorgeous and angelic.  It's funny b/c before I met Ali she kept going on and on about having bad skin and could I cover it....I was paranoid and expecting pock mark scars and acne.  The girl has gorgeous skin...fair, no pores...and yeah maybe one or two pimples but nothing a little green concealer can't cancel out.  Seriously, I think her skin might be better then mine lol. 

For the makeup look Ali wanted the drama on the eyes so we did a grey/black smokey eye w/ black liner and a wispy full false lash...shes likes big lashes and even her natural lashes are quite long.  I contoured her cheeks a bit and added a bit of highlight to the cheekbones along w/ a bit of pink blush to give that rosy glow.  I finished everything off w/ a pink/nude lip and pink gloss.  Her maid of honour (who I did hair for as well) kept raving about how great she looked while I did the makeup...exactly the type of audience I LOVE lol.  Ali has SUPER long hair and wanted it all up...I learned in the trial that when hair is almost reaching the ass this is NO EASY feat.   I'm not going to lie I wasn't happy w/ what I did at the trial.  But then I came across this great YouTube hair tutorial for super long hair and I knew it would be perfect for Ali b/c she didn't want anything too structured. 

So here's a quick snapshot of Ali before I left...ignore the bad lighting and the hotel room background lol.

Here's the hair tutorial if you're curious:


Also now that I have a new computer which makes my life a million times less stressful (you seriously have no idea).  I'm thinking about maybe doing some YouTube Videos of my own...what kind of stuff would you guys like to see or be interested in learning about?

Weddings, Bachelorette Parties and Touch Up Kits!

So it's a Fri. night and being the cool, hip person I am I'm staying in and cleaning my makeup brushes, packing my makeup kit and preparing for a couple of jobs I have tomorrow.  Hey, I'm old and responsible...don't judge lol...plus I have to be at the hotel for a wedding job at 7:00 am which probably means I'll be up at 5:15 am just to be safe.  So of course I needed to take a little break from all the hard work I'm doing ;) and I thought what better then to be productive (aka procrastinate) and write on my blog that's been sorely neglected lately :(.

So yeah tomorrow I have a fun day.  I have a wedding tomorrow morning...really fun bride then tomorrow night I'm working a bachlorette party!  Bachelorette party you ask?  So yeah tomorrow I'm doing a Girl's Night Party which is a really fun idea.  After going on my website the sister of the bride approached me and asked how I could incorporate a makeup lesson, bachelorette party and her sister (the bride) getting her makeup done for the night out (b/c she's always wanted to have her makeup professionally done). 

So I suggested we do a group makeup lesson where I use the bride as the demo girl.  Basically, I'll do a day look on the bride w/ all the girls watching.  I'll explain everything I'm doing, give tips and they can ask any questions they want.  I'll then show them how to turn that day look into a night look w/ a few easy steps...plus I'll give the bride some false lashes for some extra fun night time drama.  Then I'll sit w/ each girl for 5-10 mins and I'll go over some products that might work for them and I'll tell them what to ditch and what to keep out of their current makeup collection plus answer anymore questions they have. 

Anyway, back to the wedding.  I'm packing everything up and that includes my bridal touch up kit and I thought I should take a couple of pictures of what I include in my bridal touch up kit to show you guys. 

Start off w/ a little white organza pouch (got them off ebay super cheap in bulk)
1. Business Cards (4 or so...never know who might want to know who made the bride look so fabulous)
2. Compact Mirror
3. Lipgloss
4. Lipstick (I either use an E.L.F lipstick shown in pic or I put a sample of the lipstick used in a little Yaby empty pan)

5. Disposable Lip Wands - 2 (Again ebay...actually same seller as I got the awesome mini sifter jars!)
6. Mini Sifter Jar w/ Translucent Powder (just take a bit of my Yaby translucent powder and put it in the jar)
7. Powder Puff for Translucent Powder
8. Mini Nail File (that's the little white thing w/ red crosses)

See how compact and cute it all is!

You'll notice I have a lot of E.L.F cosmetics in my touch up kit.  E.L.F is great for things like that.  It's affordable (esp. if you do a big order when they have a 50% off everything sale...or even on a reg. day it's cheap!) and the products are compact so they fit perfectly into the little pouch.  Plus let's be real...you don't have to get fancy w/ a compact mirror or powder puff so why spend an arm and a leg!

P.S. Booked 2 weddings today for Oct...Almost all booked up for Oct! :)

Hot & Stranded Update

Sorry for the absence but I've been away on a bit of a vacation...which reminded me about the ad I did for Relative Space w/ the girls on the flooring raft lost at sea.  Alexander the photographer sent me the finished ad awhile ago but I sort of forgot about it...opps.

Anyway, here's the ad.  Overall, I like it.  Interesting way to sell flooring lol.

Another INK Editorial - Strange Days

So as I mentioned before I have 2 editorials in the latest issue of INK Magazine which is kind of exciting :)

Still I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed in the layout of this second editorial. There were so many beautiful images from this story and a lot of times I'm never happy w/ the images the magazine goes w/. Sometimes I just don't get their point of view or where they are coming from w/ their selections. To be honest pretty much all my fav pics from the shoot were not picked :(...and to make matters worse they cut the story from 8 pages to 4. This is esp. disappointing b/c IMO our story was A LOT stronger then some of the stories that were 6-8 pages.

It was shot by Zach Hertzman who is quickly becoming one of my fav young photographers to work w/. He has such a great style and I can't wait to shoot our next editorial together (we're already planning it and it's going to ROCK!) and styled by Alexandra Loeb (again one of my fav stylists to work w/). The whole team just has such great chemistry! I loved our model too...Danielle truly is a gorgeous girl...I'm jealous lol!

Anyway, here's the editorial...plus a few of my fav images that the mag didn't pick up.

Twists of Time

So here is my first editorial in the latest issue of INK Magazine (I actually have 2 editorials in the latest issue :) ) . You may remember me writing about this shoot mths ago when I did it...wow I remember it was all cold and miserable then and look at it now - HOT and humid! I'm proud of this story b/c it's my first real "hair story". I think it turned out really pretty and it's right on trend :) Wish I would have done a few more braids that I've learned since then though...but that's how it always is - there's always 1 or 2 things you want to change or improve upon.

Photographer: Kira Bucca
Hair & Makeup: Jessica Jean Myers
Model: Ellen (Next)

Which image(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

More MUFE Product Reviews!

Hey sorry for the absence been super busy w/ weddings, proms and other jobs...which is always good! Hopefully, some of the beautiful brides I worked w/ will send me some pictures from their special day and I'll be able to share them w/ you. Plus I have a couple of editorials coming out this week...FINALLY so there will be lots of updating with them :)

Anyway, back to my review. This is a product I've actually had in my kit for awhile but I've found that I've been using it a lot lately (ppl getting a bit too much sun perhaps ;) ) so I thought I'd talk about it.

I always prime the skin before I put down my foundation...unless of course I'm using Face Atelier which is a silicone based foundation and therefore has a built in primer. When I was in school I was taught it's like painting a wall - you always prime it first. For those that don't know primers are a great way to create a smoother surface for the makeup to lay on. It helps create a barrier between your skin and the foundation and it can help prevent your foundation from migrating into those pesky fine lines. It also helps blur any skin imperfections and helps your foundation last longer which is always a good thing for weddings...and esp. in the heat we've been experiencing lately.

Primers like the Make Up For Ever HD Primers can also be great for adjusting and minimizing certain discolorations in the skin. A common discoloration problem is redness in the skin whether it be from rosacea, acne or a sun burn. The green MUFE primer is great for reducing these issues before you even get to the concealer and foundation step. Now I'm not saying this primer is a miracle worker and it will take out all the red from the skin but it will reduce the problem and it can be a great product for someone who doesn't actually like to wear makeup but wants something that's going to finish the skin w/out the use of foundations...even guys could use it...and a lot of guys do tend to suffer from excess redness in the face... of course sometimes that has to do w/ a little too much drinking and not skin discoloration lol!

So recently I've had a lot of clients w/ all sorts of skin concerns (I guess this is what happens when you work w/ "real" ppl and not models all the time lol) - a mother of the bride w/ rosacea, a bridesmaid w/ acne, a girl going to her prom that got burnt in the tanning bed the day before (NEVER tan the day before a big event...even when you have a miracle worker makeup artist coming to your house lol!). Anyway, what they all have in common is that I used the Green MUFE HD Primer on them to start...and they all looked fabulous when I was done w/ them ;)