Dairy-Free Love Promo Shoot

Early last week fellow blogger & my long time friend (she was actually the first person I met & talked to at York University) Victoria Murdoch approached me about helping her out w/ Hair & Makeup for her upcoming promo shoot for her one woman show - Diary-Free Love.  The shoot was to take place on Fri. and I didn't have anything booked so of course being the good friend I am I agreed!  Also I knew Vicki would have awesome treats to feed us so how could I say no ;)

The theme was sort of vintage 50s/60s house wife but in a modern kitchen setting...another reason I agreed.  Anyone who reads this blog knows I LOVE me some RED lipstick, Mad Men style and Vintage Hairstyling!  There was actually an element of red woven throughout the shoot from Vicki's shoes, to her nails, to the lipstick and even the bowls she used as props.

I'll tell you more about the actual show when I have the "Real" Promo Pics to share w/ you...I'll let Vicki give me a little synopsis b/c anything I say isn't going to do it justice lol.

So as I mentioned before it was 50s/60s vintage all the way for styling.  Victoria has great features for this sort of look - perfectly full lips w/ a great cupid's bow (perfect for a bold red lip), pale creamy skin and full brows.  Plus, this shoot gave me another opportunity to work on perfecting an awesome beehive hairstyle!  I had brought a "hair rat" for stuffing for volume but you know what I didn't even need it...the pics - that's ALL Vicki's hair!  I was going for something over-the-top...even a bit cartoonish and I think I accomplished that one!

The photographer from the shoot was actually another fellow blogger and Vicki's old university roommate - Joanna Haughton.  So it was a really relaxed and fun half day shoot where we were all able to catch up, gossip and have some laughs.  I can't wait to see the finished product b/c I know it's going to be AWESOME!

Here's some behind the scenes pics.  Any pics where you see me working are courtesy of Joanna Haughton and her blog!

Yeah I did some MAJOR TEASING!

Joanna & Vicki 

Joanna is birthing a giant light here!

Every night during the show Vicki is actually going to make the dessert she is tasting in the pic - Dairy-Free Chocolate Mousse - YUMMY!

Etalk Features Headmistress

This is sort of cool!  Just found out that Etalk (Canadian Entertainment Show) just did a feature on Hot Spring/Summer trends and they mentioned Headmistress Accessories - A LOT!  Like the whole first part of the segment is dedicated to the brand and features tons of the campaign pictures from the Spring/Summer line (Mad Men Goes Country) which I did the Hair & Makeup for.  If I do say so myself those pics look good on T.V lol!

Check out the segment here

Headmistress SS11 Campaign Pics

So the Headmistress SS11 Campaign pics have finally been released and I'm so excited to finally share them w/ you b/c they look SO GOOD!  I saw some of the pics awhile ago but finally seeing them up on the website is just so exciting b/c I'm positive Jillian (the creator) is going to get a lot of attention and publicity for this collection b/c it's so cool and pretty!  Yeah again to Sian Melton for her wonderful photographic talents!

As you may remember we did a whole 60's girls in the country theme and everything just works so well together - location, models, head pieces, makeup & hair...it just works!  Hope this is a big hit for Jillian...I have a feeling it will be...apparently some of her pieces have even been picked up by Anthropologie...that's BIG!  Plus she now has two lines - the traditonal Headmistress line and the higher end Love by Headmistress line - both Gorgeous!

 The bouffants turned out so good!

 I LOVE the lip colour, eyelashes and her stare in this pic!

 This is the one featured in Flare Magazine :)



Mad Men Goes Country

So yesterday I had the pleasure of working w/ photographer Sian Melton and Headmistress creator Jillian Wood on Jillian's Spring 11 Campaign for Headmistress Accessories .  You may remember I've mentioned and used Jillian's awesome accessories a couple of times in the past few mths on various editorials I've worked on.   Her stuff is hand crafted, gorgeous and is awesome enough to make a statement but not so over the top that you look like a fool...just really really cool!

I was so excited when Sian and Jillian approached me about this project b/c I really believe in and dig what Jillian is doing and I've been a fan for awhile.  In past shoots Sian has done the photography as well as the makeup & hair...b/c she's super talented like that.  But this time she wanted to just focus on the photographic end of things so that's where I came in. 

The theme was Women of Mad Men Go Country...how awesome is that theme!  I'm a huge Mad Men fan so Sian didn't have to do much more then mention the show and I was on board lol!  I think Sian and I have spent at least a couple of conversations now idolizing the amazingness that is Joan's chichis lol...plus I just love the style.  Sometimes I wish we put that much effort into how we looked nowadays...I mean the women really cared about how they looked back then...they wore lipstick and got their hair done...they looked hot!  Makes me wish I was around then...minus the whole a woman's place is the home thing of course lol!

So anway, we couldn't have asked for a better day!  I mean everything fell into place.  Sian drove us out to Stratford to shoot...minus a few detours we got there in good time ;).  We had some great models from Spot 6 - Emily and Saira.  The Makekup & Hair Gods were looking down on me :) (Btw did I mention how amazing I'm getting at extended liner...use to be my serious weakness!).  The weather was GORGEOUS!  Plus we got to use Jillian's mom's HOT 1965 Red Mustang Convertible as our prop! 

So basically, my Makeup & Hair inspiration was a 60's vibe which works so great w/ all the beautiful turbans and head scarves/wraps Jillian is designing for the Spring Collection.  I wanted to keep the eyes softer in colour w/ the main focus being on the lips.  I kept the brows full, used shimmery nudes on the eyes and did a nice extended black liner on both girls w/ really full, flirty, flared lashes to top it off.  I wanted the lips to be bold w/ full strong lipstick.  I believe more women should really embrace the power of a great lipstick like they did back then...nowadays everyone just wears gloss and a great lipstick can immediately take your look from being casual to being done up...trust me I know!  I played w/ a variety of pinks on the girls.  It's for Spring so I didn't want to go full on w/ the reds plus I wanted them to remain fresh and playful.  

Another thing I was excited about w/ this shoot was the hair...it really allowed me a chance to play w/ some different techniques and styles.  Last Christmas I asked for this book about Vintage Hairstyling and let me just tell you this book is amazing!  It gives a step by step guide to tons of amazing vintage hairstyles and it REALLY helped at the shoot!  The first hair look I did was to go w/ the turbans and head wraps.  I set the hair to get some nice curl to it and I basically did a mock bob on the girls so that the hair just peeked out the turbans and curled under.  The second hair look I did involved doing a giant bouffant through the top and a curled ponytail to keep in fresh and young in the back...it looked amazing w/ the headbands and hair scarves. 

So here's some pics from the day...can't wait to show you the real stuff but you're going to have to wait awhile on that one :(

Sian giving some amazing commentary for posing lol! 

We wanted Happy, Light & Carefree!

I'm Beautiful but I still know what's under the hood!

Let's Have Lunch in the back of our Car!

Let's Pic Flowers, Skip and Laugh!

Fixing the Bouffant

I need more Height!