Edgey/Cool

I posted some pics from the Thieves campaign a few wks ago shot my Maxime Bocken. He just sent me a few more of Brett O from that shoot. These are a few of the edgier indoor pics that I was talking about before. I really likes these pics too...completely different look and feel but really cool!

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!

Clean Makeup Trend in NYC Fashion Wk - Good Thing I Got a Clarisonic for Christmas!

So far in NYC Fashion Wk - Fall/Winter 10 a big trend as far as makeup goes seems to be the clean faced No Makeup/Makeup. This sort of look is showing all over the runway early in wk in shows for Rag & Bone, BCBG and Yigel Azrouel.
As a makeup artist a true test of your ability isn't how crazy you can paint a face a lot of times but how well you can pull back, perfect the skin and let the natural beauty shine through. I'm all for perfecting the skin and making a beautiful, natural canvas but I have to admit I usually like the Fall/Winter runway looks a little better b/c they usually are a little more dramatic and exciting when it comes to makeup so I really hope we get some drama w/ some of the other shows...of course NYC tends to play it a bit safer then say Milan or Paris anyway.

If skin is going to be in this Fall I'm DEFINITELY glad I got a Clarisonic Brush for x-mas this year! For those of you who have been living under a rock this past yr I'll just fill you in on the Clarisonic Brush - basically it's this cleansing/vibrating/rotating brush that's gentle enough for everyday use but still deep cleans your skin 6 times better then traditional face washing. It also reduces pore size, smoothes texture, helps products absorb better into the skin, reduces fine lines and wrinkles. So basically it's like giving yourself your own personal facial twice a day and it only takes 1 minute each time!

I'm not going to lie it is a bit pricey but if you're someone that gets facials on a regular basis or have tried every product on the face of the earth to help w/ acne, large pores and wrinkles it might be a good investment for you.

I have suffered from mild to severe acne since I was a teenager and I've had large pores across my nose and cheeks for as long as I can remember...plus the last few yrs I've been noticing the appearance of fine laugh lines - AAHHH!! After just one use I definitely noticed an improvement in texture and softness in my skin. The first wk or so I did have some bumps on my forehead but apparently that's common b/c it's deep cleaning the skin and probably pulling some stuff out. I've been using it for a little over a mth now and I do definitely notice and improvement w/ texture and evenness of skin tone (even fading old acne marks), breakouts, the fine lines around my mouth are fainter and I do think my pore size is improving (although this is one area I hope improves some more over the next few mths).

I've even had the confidence to leave the house w/out makeup lately (well I'd still pencil in the eyebrows b/c even the Clarisonic can't help my over tweezing high school years lol). I've also been talking about the Clarisonic on set and whenever I mention I use to suffer from severe acne everyone is always shocked and comment on how great my skin is - I don't remember when ppl EVER commented on me having Great Skin! I should mention that my acne in high school wasn't the type that scarred so I was lucky but even in my 20's I've suffered from mild acne so now to be pimple free is really AMAZING for me!

Btw I got the Clarisonic Plus which has a Universal Charger and also comes w/ the Body Brush which I have to admit I haven't actually used yet...but come Spring/Summer I'm sure I'll be exfoliating my body to bits!

So bring on the clean face makeup looks of the season - I'll be ready :)

Thieves Spring/Summer Campaign

Back in August I did the Men's Look Book and Small Campaign shoot for this Toronto based clothing company Thieves by Sonja den Elzen. The model that day was Brett O from Elmer Olsen and he was such a sweetheart...really easy going and great to work w/.

I finally got my hands on a few pictures used for the campaign and I really like them. They are very Spring/Summer and have a really great feel to them...very pretty and good for my commercial book. During the shoot we also did some edgier style pics indoors but after seeing these pics I definitely think they were a really great choice and they showcase the clothes really well and set a nice mood which is exactly what you want a campaign to do.

Kill Hannah Solo Shots

So yesterday I showed you guys the group pic of Kill Hannah that I worked on. I got the solo pics today so I thought I'd post them for you!

Mat Devine - Vocals/Guitar
Dan Wiese - Guitar/Background Vocals

Greg Corner - Bass Guitar
Elias Mallin - Drums

Kill Hannah

So back in late Sept/early Oct. I got the chance to work w/ this really cool Indie/Alternative band from Chicago - Kill Hannah. A photographer friend of mine Diem Franke called me in last minute and asked if I'd like to get involved w/ this impromptu photoshoot. Apparently, she's known the band for years and even toured around w/ them and they just happened to be passing through Toronto for a gig so she asked them if they wanted to do a shoot. The guys were super nice and down to earth and just really fun to work with.

So I finally got my hands on one of the pictures from the shoot and it's totally amazing! Diem did an amazing job on these pics and I can't wait to see the rest...there should be some single shots of the guys coming soon.

Apparently, the band is somewhat known in the UK and the US (although they really haven't broken into the Canadian market yet) and Diem said that one of the pictures from the shoot (I think the one I'm posting) is actually going to be put on a T-shirt for Top Shop...I don't know that just seems really cool to me that I'll have my work on a T-shirt in Top Shop lol. I told her I DEFINITELY want to have one of those T-shirts lol!

Going Left to Right:
Dan - Guitar and Background Vocals, Mat - Vocals and Guitar, Greg - Bass Guitar, Elias - Drums