Pink Martini Spring/Summer Lookbook

Back in late Summer I had the chance to work w/ an amazing team on the Pink Martini Spring/Summer 2014 lookbook!  I knew the day of the shoot we created some really gorgeous pics but I had no idea how awesome they would turn out!  I've literally been waiting months to be able to show some of these pics to you so I'm so glad I finally get the chance to do so.

This may be surprising to some...I know it is to me when I look at the pics but these were actually shot in Hamilton, ON...I love the bohemian, traveler vibe we were able to get w/ this shoot and although my knowledge of Hamilton before this shoot was limited I was very surprised to see just how well it worked for the theme.  Plus the people and stores in the city were so inviting and helpful w/ letting us shoot...coffee shops, clothing stores, fruit markets...none of them had a problem w/ us stopping in and taking some pics...yeah that definitely would not be happening in Toronto lol!

As anyone can tell from the pics the shooting conditions were perfect - warm & sunny but not too hot.  Plus I have to say I've worked on a lot of lookbooks and the clothes in this collection were outstanding!  They looked great in person and fit even better!  I think there was one dress that had to be clipped...literally that's it!  That's almost unheard of for any sort of lookbook or catalog shoot!

The clothes are available online at numerous stores including some of my personal fave - Modcloth and Ruche plus numerous stores around Canada and USA.

As you can see from the makeup and hair I was going for a very soft and pretty look.  Not trying to hard - just soft neutrals on the eyes, flushed/glowy cheek and a soft glossed lip.  For the hair I wanted loose curls...again I wanted it all to look effortless and natural to go w/ the "traveler theme" of the shoot.  Really hope I get to work w/ everyone again on another project!

Special thanks goes out to the entire team on this shoot:

Photographer - Eleanor Dobbins

Model - Kelleth Cuthbert (Sutherland)

Creative Director - Salvina Lauricella

I know it's a lot of pics (and this isn't even all of them...I just couldn't decide on my favs)

No idea how I'll pick just a couple for my site lol!

STRANGE DAYS on Fashion Served

Here's an Oldie but a Goodie....This is a shoot you may remember from a few years back that was featured in Ink Magazine - photographer Zach Hertzman.  Now it's been featured on Fashion Served...and you know what - even after a couple of years I still LOVE it!  That doesn't always happen w/ my work...sometimes after a few years (or sometimes immediately after lol) I'll look back on a shoot and think Ugghh why did I do this or that or I wish I would have done this differently..that sort of thing but I think this one has held up nicely.  Still LOVE what I did w/ the model Danielle's hair...she has such great hair!  So anyway enjoy the trip down Memory Lane!  

STRANGE DAYS on Fashion Served

Btw...I know I haven't been the best blogger lately but I PROMISE lots of new and exciting work coming up!

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

Vintage Romance

Last Sunday I got to work on an amazing creative (for mag submission) w/ a great team. I re-teamed w/ photographer Zach Hertzman and stylist Alexandra Loeb who I've had the pleasure to work w/ on numerous occasions now. We also got an amazing model Danielle Knudson from Sutherland who had actually just returned from working in Asia the past 18 mths. I'm so glad we got the chance to work w/ her b/c she was not only a great model but also had amazing skin and an amazing body! Plus VERY patient...she stayed later for us b/c we ran a bit behind and I'm SOOO glad she did!

Everything came together so perfectly on Sunday. The location was this amazing loft loaned to us from one of Zach's friends. It was still in the mist of construction and had a great feel to it - very rustic, rough and eccentric (there was a working toilet and shower in the middle of the loft w/ nothing enclosing them lol). The weather was perfect and sunny which worked perfectly for the window scenes.

We were going for a sort of vintagey, soft, romantic sort of feel - dead leaves on the ground, old books, sunlight etc.. Once Zach clarified the theme it totally came to me to contact this accessory designer I'd heard of through another MUA friend - Sian Melton. I knew her accessories would be a perfect match for the style we were going for. So I contacted the designer Jillian at Headmistress Accessories and she was more then gracious and generous w/ the loan. I really LOVED her one headpiece that we used esp. for the beauty shot at the end.

Saturday before the shoot I picked up the hair pieces and once I saw them in person it totally changed the concept I had originally planned for the hair...and I'm so glad I went w/ my gut b/c I'm VERY happy w/ the results (I really do think I'm getting better at hair ;) ).

I actually wanted to use this technique I saw on YouTube using tin foil to curl hair. I tried it on my mannequin head before and it made the most amazing big curls. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well on Danielle's hair :S . I think it was b/c her hair was SOOOO long and it just didn't have time to dry thoroughly enough even w/ a hair dryer to make the ringlets I needed...but never fear I had a Plan B. I just took my New Magic Wand (like the one I mentioned before but now it has 3 different curling stick sizes that you can change) and went through her hair and made tiny ringlets that I then pulled apart to create some of the biggest and curliest hair I've EVER done - time consuming but SOO worth it. It lasted perfectly throughout the ENTIRE shoot! You'd never believe this girl actually has thin hair looking at the hair we got that day!

I kept her makeup fairly clean through most of the shoot. Later into the shoot I pumped up the eyes or added some lip colour. The last beauty shot was by far the most dramatic of the looks. I teased her hair out some more and gave her a bold burgundy lip w/ a purple smokey eye...it looked so hot w/ the head piece IMO.

Can't wait to see the pics...I definitely feel this one has a VERY good chance at getting picked up somewhere. Exactly what I needed for my book - A fashion story that's a bit softer but shows great hair work!

So here's some pics of the shoot throughout the day courtesy of Alexandra Loeb (b/c my camera sucks lol)

Me trying the ill fated tin foil technique on the VERY patient Danielle (I swear it does work...just not that day :( )

This is the 2nd Look - Headpiece by Headmistress Accessories

The 4th Look was shot in the VERY open concept bathroom lol! After seeing a toilet in the middle of the room Alex and I both felt it HAD to be used!
Teasing out Danielle's hair EVEN more near the end of the day....that girl had some big hair by the end lol!
Beauty Shot Look - Love the Head Piece!

Girls, Girls, Girls!

So I told you about the Boy's Commercial Shoot I did w/ Troy Moth a few mths ago. I also did a similar Girl's shoot w/ Troy recently. The styling is a little more edgy but I really like the pics and I think it's a great addition to my Commercial book.

The models are Fayruz & Jacquie (Sutherland):