Prom Season!...Boy Have The Times Changed!

So not only is wedding season on full swing but it's also prom season too!  I will admit I don't get the chance to do too many prom appts but I usually do a few every year and I always think it's a lot of fun.  I mean it really is one of the only times besides a girl's wedding day that she can/does go all out getting dressed up and doing the Hair/Makeup thing!

Last Fri. I had the pleasure of doing Hair & Makeup for a beautiful girl named Chantel.  She already sent me a few snap shots and can I just say WOW!  I'm a lot older and I don't know if I ever have/will look as sexy as this girl did at her prom lol!  I don't even own or have ever owned a dress that "hot"!

Prom dresses sure have changed A LOT since I went to prom...literally 13 yrs ago...ugghh I feel old lol!  I actually still have my prom dress at my Nana's house.  I LOVED it so much back then.  I actually saw it in Seventeen Magazine and went to Michigan to get it (when you're from Windsor you do a lot of stateside shopping).  For a very brief time circa 1999 the sort of Cinderella prom dresses came back in style...very hard to believe when you see the tight, low cut, body hugging floor length gowns of today's prom girls!  Mine was so cool (for the time) - it was strapless and the top was like a bustier style and it was a dark denim like material w/ a slight silver sparkle (I know this sounds awful but it wasn't THAT bad I swear lol).  The bottom was dark blue crinoline over a silver floor length skirt...overall it was pretty poofy lol.  Btw when I describe it it really does sound awful but I swear it wasn't...or at least it wasn't for the time lol!  But I'll be completely honest overall I think the highlight of my prom was literally my dress..other than that it was pretty forgettable...in fact I went w/ friends and ended up back home at a pretty reasonable hour...it was lame :(

Anyway, back to Chantel and her "Prom Look".  This girl has some hair...but she wanted even more hair!  I put in her extensions and curled her entire head w/ a big barrel curling iron to give her that gorgeous and sexy voluminous loose wave look that all the girls love!  I'm sure all of her friends must have been envious!  For the makeup I airbrushed her b/c she was a little worried about her skin and acne but I'll be honest it really wasn't that bad (I've seen way worse on brides and bridesmaids) and the biggest thing here was actually just airbrushing her face darker to match her body since she did a airbrush tan on her body the day before.  She loved how light and natural the airbrush makeup felt.  I did a beautiful bronzy/brown smokey eye w/ black liner and a false lash, some peach/bronze cheeks and a neutral/peach lip - it all looked so good w/ her white dress.  I wanted to make her look glowing and done up w/out being overdone.

So beautiful!

Look at that Hair...and that Back!

Prom Time - The Beauty of Youth!

Ahh Prom Season is upon us and I got to meet and work w/ a great young lady today - Alexia and her equally awesome mom Siobhan, who is actually close to my age...I'm not going to lie...it's sort of weird when the mom's of my prom clients are in my age group (well a few yrs older).  I'm use to my brides and I being the same age but mom's it's different...but she's like a really cool, hot, young mom - you know the kind you wanted when YOU were young!  Siobhan and I also have the same b-day which I always think is really neat b/c 1. I never meet anyone w/ my bday 2. I'm into that sort of thing...probably why we hit it off so well!  Can't wait to give her a makeup lesson or do her Hair & Makeup for a special event!

Anyway, back to Alexia.  Gorgeous girl w/ great eyebrows and amazing blonde hair!  Seriously, so long but healthy and curls like a dream and so thick too! She was wearing this really cute spaghetti strapped cherry print mini dress from Dolce & Gabbana (actually her mom's).  It had a retro feel so I wanted to go w/ that for the makeup too so I did a really bright red lip to match the cherries in the dress and a bit of bronze/brown on the eyes w/ some black liner just slightly winged (a full wing liner was just a bit too much for Alexia).  I also really wanted to give her a gorgeous glow on the cheeks and of course I used my favourite Yaby Highlighter for that...seriously it just ALWAYS looks amazing on everyone. 

Like many teenagers, Alexia has a little bit of acne but you'd never know it once you put a bit of foundation and concealer to cover it up.  I actually started w/ the MUFE green primer which helped to minimize any redness on the face.  I used Yaby concealer, Graftobian HD cream foundation and lightly finished it off w/ Yaby Powder Foundation for just a bit of extra coverage.  It's important to remember you don't need to cake on the products to get good coverage.  If you use the right products w/ the right technique a little bit goes a long way!

For the hair I just went through and curled 1 inch sections using my favourite curling iron - my Herstyler 3P wand.  Her hair was very long and very thick but it curled so well.  Some ppl just have hair that curls beautifully and she is one of them...lucky girl!.  Originally, we had talked about putting it up into a messy bun ala Taylor Swift but in the end we just left it down and I pinned it to the side which I think went really well w/ the style of the dress.

I've included a few quick snap shots I took of Alexia before I ran out the door.  Excuse the quality it's not the best but she had tons of ppl taking her picture and I didn't want to wear the girl out before the night even started lol!  Plus I think she was starting to get annoyed w/ everyone taking her picture lol!  The pics really don't do justice to the shine of her hair or the highlight on her cheeks but you get the idea.

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 ;)