Replenished Hues - YYZ Living Editorial

New Editorial Out!  I'm VERY happy to announce I have a new editorial out...what's even BETTER is that it's actually in PRINT!  Nowadays w/ so many magazines going online or even worse out of business it's a lot harder to get published in magazines that ACTUALLY have a print copy of them available in stores.

A few mths ago I wrote about some behind the scenes stuff for the editorial I was shooting for the Summer issue of YYZ Living and it's FINALLY out and it looks so PRETTY!  About a wk and a half ago YYZ did a big launch party at Ultra's rooftop patio for the Summer issue which was nice b/c not only do I get a new editorial out but I get to go to a party that's featuring my editorial :)

Only thing that was a bit disappointing was originally the story was suppose to be used for the cover as well but last minute it got cut from the cover and another editorial was used :( ...really would have liked to have had a COVER too although I'm not going to lie the image that did use for the cover is stunning as well!  But the story still looks great (although they spelled my name wrong...ugghh not MEYERS...happens so often!)  But nothing I can do about it now so I might as well just enjoy the beautiful editorial and hopefully I'll get a chance to work w/ the magazine again...and maybe do a cover ;)

Here's the editorial...it's not the actually tears w/ the credits b/c I don't have them in PDF format yet but here's the pics they used (and the ones they didn't use that I like...it's funny 2 of the pics they cut are actually 2 of my fav from the story...always the way lol).

REPLENISHED HUES

Photographer: Dexter Quinto

Styling: Nadia Pizzimenti

Creative Director: Annie Lam

Makeup: Jessica Jean MYERS

Hair: Earl Simpson

Model: Ksenia (Elite)

Location: Studio Kaizen

 This is the Opening Image

 I LOVE this Image!

 

 This was the Original Opener...I like it better b/c it features the makeup better...what can you expect I AM a Makeup Artist after all lol!

This was the the image that was going to be used for the cover originally...very pretty so sad it was cut :(

Here's a pic from the launch party - it's me on the right, Dexter in the middle and my friend Svetlana was my  +1 lol...Dexter had just returned from Europe literally the day before I think

4 Girls + 1 Look = Awesome Shoot!

Last wk I got to work on probably the most productive shoot of my life.  Somehow in the span of a 8 hr day myself, the very talented and young photographer Adamo de Pax and 4 models were able to complete 5 beauty stories...yes that's right 5 stories!  I know you're thinking how is this even possible!

Okay I'll give a little background on the whole thing to start w/.  Adamo is actually a super young and talented photographer that I took notice of awhile ago.  I met him through Dexter Quinto (who I've worked w/ a bunch) as one of Dexter's assistants.  I saw some of his work while he was still in school and I was blown away and I saw a lot of potential there.

Here's a tip for many of you out there.  It's important to find new talent and network w/ them.  Build a team w/ them...it might not be profitable yet but when they start to get jobs they are going to hire ppl they trust and that they've worked w/ before.  It's sometimes hard to break into the inner circle of already established photographers.  The hard thing though is spotting that talent while it's still raw and in development.

Anyway, back to the shoot.  I saw previously that Adamo had some great work but I felt his book was lacking some super clean beauty and this is Toronto where clean beauty is where the $$$ is at.  So I proposed that we do a clean beauty shoot together and get a bunch of models for the day b/c I also needed some new clean beauty b/c mine was old and it's sometimes hard to get photographers to shoot a clean beauty shoot b/c let's be real it's not necessarily the most exciting thing for them.

So Adamo wondered if we were going to do anything else w/ the girls besides the one look.  I then came up w/ a concept that we would do 1 look exactly the same on each of the girls - REALLY clean face (like no makeup/makeup) and I would put their hair into a high ballerina bun using one of those donut foam roll things I had gotten before but never used yet.  From there depending on the girl, her features and style we would then experiment and do a different story tailored to each girl specifically.  So that's how we got 5 stories - the 1 original clean face story and then 4 individual beauty stories for each girl.  We shot each story in 1.5-2 hrs...I'm efficient and Adamo is a very quick shooter which I LOVE.  I sort of hate when photographers over shoot something.

FYI for those that might be confused what the term "story" means when you're working on a shoot you want a cohesive set of pictures that sort of tells a "story" just like in an editorial.  It's not useful to do random shots that don't go together at all b/c it won't make sense in your book therefore you come up w/ concepts that tell a story eg. The clean face story where every girl has the same makeup and hair - but the 4 models themselves are actually very different.

I've already seen the pics Adamo has chosen for the 1st clean face story and they look amazing already so I cannot wait to see them retouched...seriously they look like a skincare ad b/c the 4 girls all have different hair colour, skintone and features.

I'll tell you about the other stories shot that day another time but here's some behind the scenes photos from that day.  Btw Adamo is very excited to officially be part of my blog b/c apparently he's a big fan lol ;)

Sarah (Elite) So young and fresh!

 Bea (Elite) INSANE cheekbones!

 Alex (Next) She was soo sick...I felt bad for her but such professionalism!

 Andrea (Next) We did the craziest stuff w/ her!

Me hard at work...please ignore the GIANT mess of a station...it was the end of the day lol!

YYZ Spring/Summer Sneak Peak Video

A few wks ago I mentioned that I worked w/ an Awesome team on an Awesome editorial for an Awesome magazine - YYZ Living.

Anyway, the people at YYZ are so cool they created a little sneak peak video of the Spring/Summer editorial.  Gives you a little taste of the shoot, makeup, hair...all that!  I love these little behind the scenes videos...everything always seems so much more glamorous and hip when put to a sound track lol!

Plus look for a quick second and you can see me working my magic in all my concentrated serious glory (seriously I always look so SERIOUS in EVERY pic or video lol) at 11 sec & 56 sec.

Now I'm getting SUPER excited...can't wait for this one to come out!

YYZ Living Magazine - Behind the Scenes

YYZ Living Magazine is one of the newest and definitely coolest magazines to hit the Toronto Fashion Scene! It's a mix of Fashion, Art and Culture and it'd done in a beautiful, really high quality print magazine.  When most magazines are going the way of online YYZ is breaking the mold and are confident  enough in their product and it's uniqueness to come out from the very first issue in print.  I don't know about you but I still LOVE seeing editorials in print...it's so much better than online.  It goes a long w/ why I still love to update my book and see my pictures printed and in person where I can touch them (w/ a protective covering over them of course lol). 

Their premiere issue came out back in Dec. and I was actually contacted by one of the editors Annie Lam to work on it.  Her and I had worked together previously on an editorial w/ Dexter Quinto which you may remember - Go Ask Alice.  Unfortunately, due to the editorial getting postponed I couldn't end up working on it b/c it ended up getting scheduled to shoot the night I was leaving for Europe back in Oct...I was soooo disappointed and made Annie pretty much promise me that I would get a chance to work w/ the magazine again lol. 

So fast forward to last wk.  I was on set at Studio Kaizen w/ Dexter Quinto when he got an email inquiring whether he'd be interested in shooting an editorial for YYZ.  Of course he was...and being the awesome friend he is of course he brought on his fav. Toronto Makeup Arist ;).  Plus he got Nadia Pizzimenti to style which is awesome b/c she's a really cool girl and we've been working together a lot lately.  Also, Dexter brought in a Hair Person for this shoot...yes you heard me right a SEPARATE person just to do HAIR!  OMG do you realize literally the FIRST commissioned editorial I have ever worked on where I didn't have to do BOTH Makeup & Hair!

So we did the shoot yesterday and I can honestly say it went really really well!  I never realized how easy and relaxing an editorial can be when all I have to do is Makeup & Nails and NOT worry about the Hair!  Yes, I'm getting a lot better at hair but it's still a lot to do on a shoot and it's a lot to watch during the shoot.  Dexter brought on an excellent Hair person - Earl Simpson...Nadia and I had both worked w/ him in the past so we thought he'd be a good addition to the team and he was.  He did a great job creating some big, beautiful and boucy curls...even when they were continually getting hit w/ wind (big, beautiful, bouncy curls worst enemy).  Our model that brought our beautiful vision to life was Ksenia (Elite).  Gorgeous girl, legs for days, great cheekbones and glowing skin...plus really nice...ugh therefore I can't hate her lol!

The concept for the shoot was sort of lingerie as outerwear and involved a lot of loose, flowing fabrics and ruffles.  Lots of sheerness in the materials and overall the clothes just had a really romantic and 70s sort of feel to them.  As I mentioned above the hair was big curls.  The makeup was rather clean but did involve some very strong accentuated cheekbones which is totally something I love!  I'm all about the cheekbones...which I think I've mentioned before.  I mostly stuck to browns and taupes for the overall colour palette but did work in some peaches and pinks as the shoot progressed.  I wanted the skin to look luminous and the eyes to be defined but the shadow to be well blended and soft w/ no harsh lines.  It totally wasn't what I thought the direction of the makeup was going to be at first but I actually really liked it in the end and Ksenia wore the look really well.  Plus, a lot of my other editorial work can be very bold, dark or avant garde so it's good to mix it up w/ some really soft and clean but still strong makeup sometimes. 

Earl doing hair...I'm so stealing his idea about standing on an apple box...why the Hell did that NEVER occur to me before!?!

 Always so serious while I work lol!

 GORGEOUS...CHEEKBONES!

 Nadia setting out her shoes...I won't even get into the stress the shoes caused her yesterday lol!

 Gorgeous Accessories...I LOVE Cuffs and Bangles!

 Finishing Touches Before the First Look!

 Hey Photographers...I'm NOT just good at Hair & Makeup...I'm also an Awesome Wind Machinist!

 

Stolen Solace

A new editorial of mine just came out!  Yeah...I  never get tired of seeing new work published!  Had to wait a day to tell you guys b/c at first they accidently credited another MUA for my work...booo!  Luckily, it's an online publication and not print so the problem was quickly corrected.  James Nixon the editor at Fantasticsmag.com is super cool about stuff like that...once a photographer forgot to credit my assistant for a shoot that was published on Fantastics and James fixed it (which was really nice b/c I always want my assistants to get the credit they deserve!).

Anyway, you may remember me writing about this shoot a few mths back under the title Sensual Romance.  Here's the finished product which I think turned out really beautiful!  I reallly like the title "Stolen Solace" as well.

This one is my Fav!

Bayan Outtake

So I've seen the final images from the Bayan shoot (finally) and they are GORGEOUS!  Really hope they get picked up somewhere b/c they are really hot!  It's interesting to look at the shoots I've been doing this year and the progression in my work and style...definitely feeling A LOT more confident in my hair skills among other things and I really think my work is maturing and growing.

Anyway, I thought I'd share w/ you one of the pics that didn't make the cut for the final story...still so gorgeous!  Enjoy!

Bet you can't wait to see the rest ;)

A Voyeur's View

Last Thurs. I had the pleasure of seeing A LOT of hard work and planning finally come together. Photograher Dexter Quinto, Stylist Alexandra Loeb and myself have been discussing a High End Fashion Lingerie themed shoot for a couple of mths now. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I Don't Do Last Minute CREATIVES and I insist on working as a team to develop all the aspects of the creative so that we're all on the same page the day of the shoot and there are no surprises. Taking these measures ups the chances of a good creative worthy of submission by like a million percent!

Trust me if we wouldn't have done all this planning there could have been some serious miscommunication on ideas or styles. We originally were planning on a different location but once we changed locations we needed to change some of our ideas. We ended up using Alex's parent's house which was beyond GORGEOUS and the PERFECT location for what we were doing! Seriously Stunning!

Originally, Alex and I were thinking something a little more crazy w/ the hair and I wanted something darker w/ the makeup but then once I saw were Dexter was going w/ his style I knew it had to be changed or it just wouldn't mesh. This is where reference pics are so useful. Dexter originally used the word Romantic to describe something and when I heard that I groaned a bit b/c the last thing I felt like doing was another Romantic makeup look...b/c I've been doing that a lot lately...I wanted to get back to my edgy roots a bit more ;) But once I saw his pics I got what he meant by Romantic but it wasn't how I was taking Romantic. I could still do a bold makeup look...just not the dark edgy look I was originally going for. What I think we ended up creating was something that was Romantic but also Raw, Voyeuristic and Sexy at the same time. Our biggest inspiration was this lingerie shoot Steven Meisel had done w/ actress Eva Mendes for Vogue Italia...but don't worry I think we put our own stamp on it ;)

After we had all our ideas on the same page we then had to go about the daunting task of finding the PERFECT model for the shoot. Finding a lingerie fashion model isn't like finding a reg. editorial fashion model. She has to be sexy, curvy and even have some breasts (of course a pair of chicken cutlets can always help w/ this one ;) ). Whenever Dexter is looking for a model for a creative submission he makes up a very thorough outline to submit to the agencies so they know exactly what we are trying to achieve and what we are looking for. This really helps them send us the best suited girls and it shows them that we are taking this seriously. Dexter includes theme and lighting concepts, styling, makeup and hair all illustrated w/ pictures. By far Sutherland sent us the best girls for this shoot. Being the anal person I am I thoroughly looked through all the girls and immediately when I saw Bayan I knew she was PERFECT for the project. What was funny though is her comp card main pic was really not a great representation of her real style and beauty so originally Dexter and Alex passed over her. Once I mentioned her and they took a second look they both agreed that she was our girl!

And what a girl! Seriously, I cannot say enough about what a well spoken, professional, friendly and amazing model Bayan is. If she wasn't so friggin' sweet and good spirited I'd hate her b/c she's 5'11, gorgeous skin, beautiful features, legs for days and 22 in. WAIST (yes you read that right 22 in waist...and 35 in hips - CURVY)!! Oh and did I mention she can eat whatever she wants and lives off candy...bad for me to be around b/c I have little self control around the candy lol. Seriously, she's like perfect...plus she teaches herself to play piano just by watching YouTube videos lol!

The hair, makeup and nails look took almost 2 hrs that day so it's great that Bayan is such a great sport and great to work w/. For makeup I ended up doing a vintage winged liner (very big for Fall), big lash, bold eyebrow look. I also contoured/highlighted the cheekbones b/c anyone that knows me and my style knows I LOVE a good cheekbone...thankfully so does Bayan lol. Throughout the shoot I changed the lip according to the look - anything from nude to bright pink to deep burgundy. For Hair I wanted to go w/ a flat smooth top and then huge, billowy curls...as they day went out it morphed a bit to back combed, ratted bigness but it still worked. This was the first time I decided to do something more then just a typical paint job for the nails. I really wanted to challenge myself as a full artist - makeup, hair & nails. The night before I made false nails that we attached that day (Alex makes an amazing assistant ;) ). I painted the nails a beige colour and then I applied black lace over the polish and sealed it w/ clear polish and then trimmed it to the size of the nail. It looked really cool for the shoot but I'm going to be really - totally NOT practical for real life. The lace even w/ the sealer left the nails w/ texture therefore when you're doing a lacy, sheer lingerie shoot you have to be even more careful when changing...don't want to snag anything!

Alex really out did her self on the styling. She had this great connection to this high end lingerie store and pulled some amazing French lingerie. Plus the jewelery...OMG...she had it flown in from all over and probably had over $10 000 in accessories. Also Alex has one of the sickest shoe collections I know! She wears a size 10 which might suck for real life but is amazing as a stylist b/c guess what - the models can wear your shoes! The shoes were HOT - Manolo Blahnik, Mui Mui, YSL, Stella McCartney, Laboutin etc. See this is what I'm talking about when I say you need a stylist that has connections and can pull the REAL SHIT! This is how you build a story that is worth publication!

Here's where it was all laid out!

So after all of this elaborate planning we finally got to get down to business and shoot. This ended up being a really long day...like 9:30-9:30 but Bayan was so professional and didn't complain once. I swear her energy and spirit was higher then mine at the end of the day. She could see where we were going w/ things and loved the direction so she was totally willing to stick it out and make it work and I thank her for that. Can't wait to see the finished results from this one!

Here's some behind the scenes pics from this amazing day! We ended up shooting an amazing 11 Looks that day...the norm is usually 6-8. How Dexter is going to pick is beyond me...esp. w/ so many amazing double pagers!

Me Doing My Thing
Doing An Even Winged Linger On Both Sides is Secretly My Weakness...Shh Don't Tell ;)
If you look closely you can see her nails a bit...I don't think we have any close ups on the behind the scenes pics
First Look

Don't Hate Me B/C I'm Beautiful
Tiny Waist!
Amazing Colour
We Ended Up Shooting This Look Somewhere Else
Here

I'm Not a Lesbian...But I Think I Have a Bit of a Girl Crush ;)
By the Pool Earlier in the Day

Sensual Romance

So Fri. I shot a creative w/ some of my fav ppl to work w/ Dexter Quinto (photographer) and Alexandra Loeb (stylist)...and one new person - there was actually someone else doing hair - Sandro Zamparini. I literally haven't worked w/ a hair person for like 2 yrs so this was a bit different for me...and I'm realizing the more comfortable I get w/ hair the more I actually LIKE doing it (OMG I NEVER thought I'd utter that statement lol)! But it was nice to just focus on makeup and nails for once instead of thinking about everything.

This was actually a last minute creative...which I almost never accept but when it comes to Dexter I just can't say no. Dexter wanted to do something really clean, simple and beautiful that really just focused on the model. Originally, Dexter was just going to style it himself but thankfully Alex was able to come in last minute and grace us w/ her talents. Seriously, this girl brought the shoot to a different level. W/out her it was just a simple creative w/ her it became something beautiful and high end enough to actually submit to magazines...the girl has some great connections!

My focus for this one was to stick w/ things in the brown, gold and bronze family. I wanted it to be pretty natural but still sensual and bronzy. I wanted to keep things in a more neutral palette b/c that's very in for Fall...yes I'm already thinking about Fall makeup see how far in advance us Fashion ppl have to think about things lol. Once I started working I also decided to do a really bold brow b/c the model's brows were perfect for this...and again popular for Fall.

We ended up using the Auburn hair beauty Shelby from Elite. This girl totally rocked it! She was perfect for the concept, her hair and skin totally complimented my makeup concept and she knew her angles and took direction wonderfully! I swear though no matter how long I'm on set I still forget that these beautiful amazons are often 16 or 17 (sometimes younger).

So here's some photos taken during the shoot courtesy of Alex (her camera kicks my camera's ass lol).

Don't I feel short

There is a gorgeous Beauty Shot from this look!

Go Ask Alice

Like I mentioned yesterday I had another editorial come out yesterday and I'm VERY excited about it. I did this shoot back in late Nov. and you may even remember me mentioning (Amanda in Wonderland). Anyway, I was really happy w/ the Makeup & Hair work I did that day so I've really wanted to show everyone the results for awhile...and now I finally can :)

It's up now at Fantasticsmag. It's an online mag that changes several times a wk and has some very interesting editorials...I highly suggest you check it out if you haven't before. I've actually had my work on the site 3 times now...including my Fav shoot ever (the Powder story for those that are familiar w/ my work). They usually do a nice spread and I really like what they did w/ this shoot...I really like the title they came up w/ too.

Go Ask Alice
Photographer Dexter Quinto
Stylist Annie Lam
Model Amanda (Elite)
Makeup & Hair Jessica Jean Myers
Assistant Hair David Smith

This picture is actually horizontal in the spread (like she's falling...it's an interesting take on the picture but I feel like you can appreciate the makeup better when it's vertical)

It's rare that I like ALL the pics chosen by a photographer for an editorial but in this one I really do...I think there are so many great pics and I'm really happy w/ the results on this one!