After The Rain

It's seems like forever since I've posted some creative work I've done on here so I'm so excited to share w/ you a new beauty story I did back in Jan that is currently featured in Tantalum Magazine! It's really cool too b/c there is a lot of really good work featured in the magazine...always nice to be surrounded by other awesome artists and work!  Also awesome is that the magazine is available in online and in print!

For this look I really wanted to work w/ the idea of wet or glistening skin and wet strands of hair in the face.  I'm not going to lie it's not as easy as it looks to make it work and in fact in the beg. of the shoot I thought we were going to have to scrap the whole concept b/c it just wasn't meshing the way we (as a team) had envisioned.  It finally started to come together though when we realized it looked better if the hair was wet but being blown over the face gently using a bit of fan action versus being placed and stuck to the face.

It's always important to remember to not be afraid to make mistakes or try new things out as artists...sometimes what you originally had in mind isn't going to work but sometimes something even better comes out of it!

For the makeup I wanted the skin to being dewey and glistening and I used a lot of baby oil gel, clear lip gloss and MAC strobe cream for that.  The problem when doing any sort of "wet" look though is the up keep...it looks awesome but only for about 5 mins so you gotta work quick to get that shot lol!  I also wanted to get back into using some colour w/ Spring (hopefully) around the corner lol!  A lot of the products used were from Yaby Cosmetics, Face Atelier, OCC and MUFE...great shoot to pull out my flash palette and OCC pigments!

After The Rain

Photographer Ruo Bing Li

Model Julee (Elite)

My Work on Style Me Pretty Canada

Today I had the pleasure of seeing some of my wedding work up on Style Me Pretty Canada which was VERY exciting to say the least!  For those that don't know Style Me Pretty Canada is a VERY popular blog showcasing beautiful and unique weddings all across Canada.  It's a great place for brides (or girls that dream about being brides ;) ) to get ideas about weddings and learn about vendors.

The wedding that was featured was one that I did back in late June for a beautiful bride named Emily.  Oddly, enough I had two weddings that weekend one on the Fri. and one on the Sat. and they were both named Emily lol!  This was the second of the two.  Originally, I was just suppose to do Makeup for the wedding but after wowing her w/ my makeup skills ;) she ended up calling me back a mth or so later and asked if I could also do a Hair trial for her as well...and of course I wowed her again ;) lol!

I loved Emily's wedding style.  It was simple and understated but still really thoughtful and unique.  She had a theme of swiss dots that carried out through the dress into the decor.  I also loved the makeup look that she went for b/c it was actually a bit bold!  We kept it fairly clean on the eyes w/ just the slightest wing on the black liner but it was the lips and cheeks that really shined through!  Finally a bride not afraid of a little colour!!!  Sometimes I feel like it's pulling teeth to make brides understand the importance of blush and how it just brightens up the face and looks great in pics...so many ppl are scared of blush these days!  Plus we went for a bright pink lip which normally is a bit risque but when you also factor in the fact that Emily is a red head it was a bold statement lip indeed!  And she pulled it off fabulously!  The prize secret of the look though had to have been the Yaby brow powder I used on her brows.  Emily actually has NO brows...like I'm not joking here..none..in fact the skin area around the brows is quite red.  I used the Yaby brow powder for red heads and it was a PERFECT match!  So good in fact that Emily insisted she needed one personally...which I happily supplied her with .  We all know I have a thing about brows so if I can help someone get some good brows I'm all for it ;)

For her hair we did a really gorgeous and intricate curled updo that rested low centre in the back of her head.  I think overall I did a pretty good job of making it look like she had a lot of hair b/c I'm going to be perfectly honest...not the easiest hair to create volume or texture in lol!

The photographer for the wedding was Jovan Matic which you may remember I mentioned on here not too long ago for another wedding.  When I found out Jovan was shooting the wedding I knew the pics were going to be amazing.  He is quickly becoming one of my fav wedding photographers in the city.  Seriously, some of the pics I've gotten from him on the two weddings we've worked on together have literally been some of my favourites so far!

So w/out further adieu here's the link to the Style Me Pretty Canada post...as well I've attached some of my personal favs for the day ;)  Check out the blog post and go through the gallery...the pics I've included on here are obviously more Hair & Makeup related but there are so many nice detail shots in the gallery shots on Style Me Pretty!

Special thanks goes out to Candace French-Goodman who helped me out tremendously w/ the styling of the bridesmaid's hair!

Now that's the face of a Happy Bride!...and a serious Makeup Artist (as usual lol)

Beautiful Bridesmaids...Natural but Still Defined!

I loved Emily's Mom...seriously I don't think there has EVER been a Mom so excited about False Eyelashes lol!

So Many Beautiful Beauty Shots!  Btw how good is that brow powder match!!!

You can see the Updo in this one nicely!

Happy Couple - Emily & Michael

Nice Shot of the Back of the Updo

IMATS 2011 Recap

So IMATS happened in Toronto this past weekend.  For those that don't know it's an International Makeup Trade Show that comes once a year.  For the past couple of years I've worked the Yaby booth w/ creator Liz Yu and fellow makeup/hair artist Ashley Readings.  This year I could only work the Sunday b/c I had a wedding on the Sat. but it was still a great time, I got to meet some great ppl (nice finally meeting you Delia, Roshar & Angie!) and of course do a little shopping!

I'll be honest I really didn't buy that many "exciting" things when it came to makeup this year.  Actually I  know this is sad but I don't buy too many "exciting" makeup products in general anymore :(  These days I find myself mostly just stocking up on supplies and replenishing my kit.

From Yaby I basically just stocked up on some of my fav/popular Powder Foundations, Liquid Foundations, Concealers and Highlighters...the only thing I did get that was "Fun" was some new lipsticks lol!

From Alcone I got my usual big bag of sponges that I try to make last for at least most of the year.  I use to use a lot of sponges while I worked...I'm trying to cut down on this now lol.  I use to always get all my disposables from the booths at IMATS too but now I just get things on ebay...God I LOVE ebay lol!

I of course stocked up on my fav. go to moisturizer - Embryolisse .  It's a makeup artist staple and I've been using it for the past couple of years now.  I also picked up a new moisturizer they have designed specifically for Oily skin (key ingredient being cornstarch) - Emulsion Hydra Matt.  I couldn't resist after Vicki Millar stopped by the booth to tell me about it!

I was also lucky enough to get the LAST newly designed brush cup from MUFE!  My old one has def. seen better days and when I saw Roshar w/ the  new one I knew I had to get it!  At first they thought they were out but at the end of the night they found one misplaced and were nice enough to come find me at the Yaby booth so I could buy it!  So nice of them!  The new one is more rigid then the old one which is great b/c I was having trouble getting the old one to stay standing all the time.  The best part is it's bigger...def. a BIG plus for me!

The other stuff I bought at IMATS this year was Airbrush stuff.  I've been doing airbrush a bit in the last year but I really want to focus in on it a bit more and I def. needed a wider range of foundations and brands b/c previously I only had OCC.  So I bought a couple of Graftobian airbrush foundations (unfortunately they were out of a lot of them so I just got the two colours I use the most in my cream palettes - Vixen & Ingenue).  I also got a starter set of S/B foundation, Adjusters, Primer and Airbrush Cleaner from Temptu b/c again Vicki Millar always raves about it!

One of the things I was most excited about for the show this year was the fact that Roshar was guest speaking for Yaby! Roshar is a huge inspiration to me and you know what so NICE in person!  Seriously, really friendly...sometimes you're let down when  you meet someone you admire in person.  He did an amazing look for the Yaby seminar...I only wish I could have actually seen it!  That's the only downside to working the show is you never get to see any of the amazing seminars that are held!

Liz, Roshar & Demo Model (Don't you just LOVE the new Yaby pic in the back!)

Ashley, Roshar & Myself

Ashley and I tried on the wig from the demo...not our best looks lol!

 

Yaby Booth - Busy Busy!

Liz had new display tester units designed - So Much Nicer, Cleaner & Easier for EVERYONE!

Ladies Hard At Work Filling Orders!

Overall, the show was a great success IMO and I def. think it was busier this year on Sunday then last year!  I'm also so excited for Liz and to see how the brand is growing in recognition EVERY year!  Hopefully the show will just keep getting bigger and better!

Bronzed, Beautiful & Back to Nature!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to work on a project that I'm REALLY excited about!  I was excited before the shoot but after seeing some of the results from yesterday I CAN'T WAIT to see the end product - which thankfully will be out by June 17th (don't you HATE when you have to wait FOREVER for stuff to come out).

So what was this amazing project I was working on yesterday you ask?  Well I was doing the Hair & Makeup for a really hot video editorial for Lilogi - a new Fashion webzine.  It's so cool b/c I've wanted to work on a video editorial for awhile b/c they are so popular right now but unfortunately hadn't had the chance then my good stylist friend Alexandra Loeb came to me w/ this project and I wasn't booked so of course I jumped at the opportunity!

We literally couldn't have asked for a better day yesterday...we were a bit worried about rain but where we were shooting it was literally perfection all around us!  We were shooting in the middle of nowhere - literally about 2 hrs East of Toronto out near Picton!?! or something like that at this Beach/Sand Dunes area.  It was gorgeous but boy was it far away...like closer to Kingston than Toronto which when you're doing a one day shoot makes for a LONG day!  Thankfully, it was SO WORTH IT!

It was a Beach themed shoot about a model getting back to nature.  Very sexy and earthy - bronzy, natural, glowing, a bit disheveled - you get the idea.  They wanted these really natural beachy waves - w/ lots of texture and even frizz and it was the PERFECT opportunity for me to use my RSessions Naluwaver which is great for creating that perfect beach wave...afterwards I just teased and tousled it a bit to give it that worn in, messy look.  For the makeup it was all about the Bronzed Beauty.  Very natural and bronzy on the eyes, bronzed glowing cheeks and just some gloss on the lips.  I also used a bronzing gel on her body although she was already pretty tan (note it was NOT a self tanner - just a bronzing gel by L'oreal - worked well - not too much shimmer which I was worried about).

One of the coolest things about the shoot was it actually brought me back to my Shanghai roots.  The model Genevieve and I had actually worked together w/ Todd Anthony Tyler in Shanghai during my 1st trip to Shanghai (I didn't even have the blog then).  I was there for 2 mths in the Summer before I spent 6 mths there and Genevieve was a model we used for a shoot we did that ended up in PUSH it Magazine.  Lovely girl - GORGEOUS FACE!  Seriously, she has a really unique look to her and I'm just in love w/ her cheekbones and lips and her eyes are the most piercing blue eyes!  Her skin barely needed any foundation. I used a bit of Yaby concealer and Face Atelier Foundation b/c I wanted to give her that really natural dewy look plus of course lots of highlighting/contouring and bronzing!  And OMG her body...that's all I have to say - HER BODY!

So we shot in 3 different "main locations" and all over those 3 locations.  It was a really laid back group and so much fun b/c it was ALL GIRLS!  I don't know if I've ever been on a fashion shoot where it's been ALL GIRLS - Model, Stylist, Editor, MUA, Videographer/Photographer & Assistant - Yeah Girl Power!  The light looked beautiful on Genevieve esp. w/ the reflector added in and it just gave her the most airbrushed glow.  Seriously, when you see the pics I got just off of my little digital camera - they are amazing and obviously not retouched or anything AT ALL!  Seriously, I don't get jealous of models that often but I was jealous lol!

We alternated between Video & Photographic stills and also did some macro shooting of the jewelery that was being featured in for the shoot.  The jewelery designer is this awesome sister duo and the company is called Lizzie Fortunato and they really have some STUNNING costume jewelery pieces - seriously breathtaking...and for the amount of labour and detail reasonably priced too!

So here's a taste of what went down yesterday...I know you'll be dying to see more!

Alex doing some last min. adjusting

 Me Bronzing Up the Babe!

 Thankfully it washes off :)

 I can't believe this was taken w/ just my digital camera...so gorgeous!

 What trooper..the water was not that warm despite the HOT temps out!

 I wish I looked this hot w/out trying...I mean she's not posing just standing there lol!  Who am I kidding I wish I looked this hot WITH trying lol!

 Not Retouched...how is this POSSIBLE!?!

 End of the Day!

Cover FX - Full Coverage Without The Cakey, Heavy Feel!

Late one night after a particularly fun evening out (aka drunk night) I decided to do a little online shopping and I decided to FINALLY indulge my desire and satisfy my curiosity for some Cover FX makeup.  I've long had an interest in the brand and wanted to try their foundation and concealers that SO MANY ppl rave about but for some reason still hadn't...even though I had a 40% Pro Discount (yes pros sign up and get 40% off - AMAZING!).

I had even been to Shoppers Drug Mart several times and played around w/ the products and even figured out what my colours were and yet I still for some reason hadn't ordered.   Anyway, maybe it was the fact that I was tipsy + the fact that I was running VERY LOW on my Yaby concealer and powder foundation + my skin was(is) a mess that I decided hey enough is enough I want to look decent and pretend I have good skin right now so let's give this stuff a try!  

So I ordered and waited patiently for a few days for the order to arrive (they were shipping from Canada so I expected it to be quick).  I'm not going to lie - I'm not sure if it's always the case but their shipping was EXTREMELY slow...it may have just been a one off but if their products weren't so FUCKING AMAZING I'd probably not order again...man you're lucky your products are GOOD Cover FX!  If you're just a reg. person w/out a discount just go to Shoppers or where ever and get the products...Pros I hope your shipping experience is better than mine that's all I can say (to get the discount you have to order online).  

Once my products FINALLY arrived I was SO EXCITED to finally try them and can I just say I was NOT disappointed!  I really do LOVE them!  I got a shit load of stuff: Camouflage Concealer (Light), Natural FX (Water Based Liquid Foundation) E20, Cover FX (Total Coverage Cream Foundation SPF 30) E20, Powder FX (Pressed Mineral Powder Foundation SPF 10) E20, Primers - SkinPrep FX & ClearPrep FX, Setting FX Translucent Powder and 3 Brushes - #160, #170 & #190.  The SkinPrep FX, Translucent Powder, Cream Foundation & Brush #160 came in the Maximum Coverage Kit which was already a discounted kit + I could use my 40% discount on it so it was an even BETTER deal!

I know a lot of ppl in the past have complained about the products being too heavy or cakey but I have to be honest I just don't think they are using them properly.  It really is about TECHNIQUE here...LESS is MORE w/ this stuff TRUST ME.  It is SUPER pigmented and FULL COVERAGE so A LITTLE  really does go A LONG WAY!  Even I was a bit worried which is probably why I had waited so long to try them out.  I mean I had seen different sales associates at Shoppers raving about the products only for me to look at them and think 1. You are wearing the wrong shade of foundation 2. You are wearing WAY too much of the wrong shade of foundation lol.  

Okay so back to me and my experience.  I'm going to do something VERY scary in this blog post just to illustrate how GREAT I think these products are.  I'm going to show you pictures of me w/ LITERALLY NO MAKEUP on - NONE.  Like I literally stepped out of the shower - you'll notice the wet hair - no moisturizer, no primer, no wrinkle creams - NOTHING!  I'm doing this to show you what a difference they can make...this is VERY scary for me b/c I'm not going to lie - I look like SHIT in these Before Pictures but I'm just doing it to illustrate an important point.  Right now my skin has been going through a bit of a prob phase for the past couple of mths.  I've mentioned before I have/had some skin issues and well it's not good right now...it was worse and has improved a lot in the past mth but I'm just getting over some side effects from a medication I was on and I guess it really messed up my hormones or whatever but anyway my skin has not been pretty lol...I'm talking lots of rock hard cystic pimples on my jaw, neck and chin area - really attractive...plus all the usual skin issues lol!

Okay here are a couple of BEFORE shots - notice the uneven blotchy skin, zits, freckles (I actually like the freckles), under eye circles...all of that!  In truth my skin was A LOT worse a couple of wks ago so I guess I should be happy lol! FYI if you didn't know this before you'll know now...I have really jacked up eyebrows from over waxing and tweezing in my teenage years.  Lesson to the girls out there DON'T OVER TWEEZE!  I use to have a unibrow - I would die to have a unibrow to tweeze again lol!

Okay to start w/ I put on all my daily eye creams, serums, moisturizers and primers (btw I LOVE E.L.F's Mineral Face Primer from their studio line...CHEAP but SO GOOD!).  Speaking of Primers I've tried the Cover FX CleanPrep FX which is a Primer for Acne skin and I gotta say so far it's the only thing I'm NOT a fan of.  Maybe I need to give it another try or use less I don't know but I had a prob w/ it rolling on my skin once I put the concealer or foundation over it...not good! After I applied all my usual skin prep stuff I started w/ the Cover FX Camouflage Concealer in Light.  I bought a full size version of this stuff and they also sent me a small little sample of it.  I've been using the sample EVERY day for like 3 wks and I'm still NOT out of it.  That's how little you need and how pigmented it is!  I find it similar to Keromask Concealer which is another Full Coverage Concealer and I find both run dark.  They do have an X-Light below the Light.  I'm definitely a Light and I imagine a Medium would actually be pretty dark but I guess this is good b/c that means  the X-Deep would probably cover even the darkest skin tone which is great for all those dark skin beauties out there that have trouble finding concealers and foundations for themselves.  

Here's me after JUST the Camouflage Concealer.  See what a huge difference just the concealer made!

 That's the sample I've been using for 3 wks!  Imagine how long the actual tube will last - no the stuff isn't cheap but it will last FOREVER!

As you may notice I really wanted to focus in on concealing around the chin/around the mouth area b/c that's where a lot of my probs right now are.  I would also like to point out that I left my freckles across my nose and on the top of my cheeks still visible.  I like them b/c I think they are fresh and cute therefore I don't think there is any need to cover them up w/ too much concealer.  I also mentioned that I bought some brushes and I have to say I have a new FAVOURITE brush now.  For years I've LOVED the MAC skunk brush for buffing liquid foundation and cream blushes into the skin and I still love it but you know what there is a new brush in town that I love for my liquid products - Brush #160 - it's a cream foundation brush and I really think it has made all the difference in my application of the product and helped it from looking cakey or heavy.  I use the brush to buff the product into my skin and in areas where I need more coverage like right on a zit I use it to sort of tap the product on to the problem spot and not just spread it around.  I LOVE this brush.  I also love my #170 Pointed Foundation Brush which is great for around the nose and under the eyes!  

After the concealer I used the Natural FX Liquid Foundation in E20...if my skin was better I might just use this as it does give very good coverage as well.  Also I have skipped the concealer and just used the Cover FX Cream Foundation which is also very good and has a very good coverage...works very well w/ brush #160.

After Natural FX E20

I finished it all off w/ the Powder FX in E20...my only complaint w/ this is unlike the concealer which I think runs dark I think this runs a bit light.  It goes from E20 to E40 and I really kind of wish they had an E30...esp. w/ Summer coming up.  I have to be careful not to over apply this and I don't think I could use it alone b/c it would be too light for me but I do think it helps brighten up my under eye area!

Okay so now I've laid all the foundation work down and it's on to the stuff that actually brings out my features.  I think my skin looks really fresh and even but after you take away all the imperfections things can look a bit flat so it's important to bring them back w/ your other makeup.

The following pics and also the first pic I posted at the top of the blog are after I completed my clean, basic makeup look for the day (as you can see my hair is still wet lol).  Btw if I wasn't taking pics in between all these steps this all literally takes me 10 mins (at most).  Also it should be noted that many ppl have already mentioned to me that the "After" pics look really fresh like I just stepped out of the shower and have NO makeup on lol!  It's like on TV or the movies when a girl steps out of the shower or pool and still looks fresh and beautiful lol!  Which is great but I can tell you and I'm going to steal and slightly modify Calvin Klein's famous quote - The best thing is to look Natural, but tt takes A LOT of FUCKING makeup to look Natural lol!

Just for reference in these After Pics besides the moisturizer, primer, concealer, foundation & powder I'm also wearing: Contour, Highlight, Bronzer, Blush, Lipstick, Lip Gloss, Eyebrow Pencil, Mascara & Translucent Powder...Very Natural lol!  Isn't amazing what a little mascara, eyebrow filler and lip gloss can do!

Okay so after all this I went out for coffee w/ a couple of friends and I was gone a couple of hours and it was pretty hot out yesterday.  This is me after coming back from coffee - no touch ups!  I still think it looks good!

Couple of more hours later meeting a friend for drinks.  Curled my hair, added a little eye shadow, touched up the bronzer and blush but not really the foundation or anything - might have touched up the powder foundation just a touch to control the shine!

Sorry this blog post is SO LONG and detailed but I hope it was at least informative!  And I think we ALL learned there really is no such things as Natural Beauty just Manufactured Natural Beauty (at least for me) lol!

Also Cover FX if you're reading this and you want to send me some free stuff to try b/c of the GLOWING review I wrote I'm totally open to it ;)