Bridal Beauty Trend - Wearing Hair Down

I've had a lot of brides this past season who've wanted to wear their hair down on their wedding day.  I can totally understand the appeal especially when hair extensions are so prevalent in today's hairstyles. It can actually be a really tricky thing on a wedding day especially in the Summer w/ so many variables that could make it a disaster - heat, hair texture, humidity, hair length/cut, hair fullness etc.

On one hand I always get a bit nervous when bride's show me pics of wanting their hair down on their wedding day and on the other I totally get it b/c to be honest I'd want to wear my hair down on my wedding day...and anyone who has worked w/ my poker straight hair knows I do not have ideal hair to wear down w/ curls lol!

The biggest thing I have to explain to bride's is to be realistic w/ their expectations.  If your hair is thin and fine and you want big, voluminous waves guess what you'll need extensions to even somewhat get that look. If your hair gets frizzy in the heat...guess what if you want to wear it down there's a chance it's going to get frizzy!

I've collected a bunch of pictures of weddings I've done this past Summer where the brides wore their hair down or just a few pieces pulled up off their face either w/ a nice braid or just pins.  I think all of these brides totally rocked the down bridal hair styling trend!

What's interesting is that I used different techniques for each one of the brides even though they all wanted their hair down w/ curls!

Jennifer was the quintessential surfer girl boho bride.  She has naturally gorgeous curly hair and of course she wanted to showcase it in the most natural and easy going way possible.  For her hair she defused it before I arrived (and she even taught me a think or two about defusing certain types of curly hair) after that I cleaned up certain pieces w/ a small barrel curling iron but not too many b/c we didn't want it to look too "perfect".  I pinned back just a few pieces and gave a little volume through the top.  The key to working w/ naturally curly hair is to not touch or play w/ it too much as it will bring out the frizz big time!  For her makeup I kept it uber natural and glowing and just highlighted her already gorgeous skin!  

Jennifer's pictures are courtesy of Dave & Charlotte

Denise was actually another bride that had curly/wavy hair...not as much as Jennifer but still had some natural curl to it.  For Denise b/c of her natural frizz and the type of curl she had I actually blew out her hair straight first and then added a curl back into it.  I think this was a great decision esp. on her wedding day b/c there was some definite rain and humidity in the air that day but I was so happy to see how well her hair and her makeup held up throughout!  Like Jennifer, Denise wanted things to be uber natural which mean minimal volume through the top and still most of the hair left down on the sides and only a little bit pulled back.

 Kristin's wedding was actually one of my "only hair" wedding bookings as I did hair for her and her bridal party.  She has naturally straight hair and was looking for those big, voluminous curls on her wedding day.  Additional clip-in hair extensions were added to create the volume and length necessary for her style and a soft braid was added through the front  just to keep that bit off of her face and add a bit of "interest".  I was really happy w/ how the layering and colour all blended together really well w/ her natural hair and the extensions! 

Photos courtesy of Erin @ Renaissance Studios

Madeline was a "last minute" bride I worked w/ back in July.  She was actually doing a City Hall ceremony on a Thursday and a "party/reception" on the Saturday.  I couldn't do the Saturday appt. b/c of another wedding so one of my associates helped out w/ that one but I got to work w/ Madeline for the ceremony portion of her wedding and I'm so glad I did b/c she was so delightful to work w/.  As I've mentioned before I've done quite a few City Hall style weddings.  Just b/c a bride is getting married at City Hall doesn't mean she doesn't want or deserve to get her hair and makeup done on her special day!  Now I'm not going to lie Madeline's hair was probably the most "challenging" for a down hair style out of the brides I've shown but that's just b/c it's so naturally fine, straight and more or less one length.  She's a perfect example of why a trial is so necessary not only for the bride but also for the artist.  July is hot and after the trial her and I both realized I was going to have to go A LOT tighter w/ the curl and set the hair beforehand for it even to stand a shot of holding on the wedding day.  On the wedding day I set the hair w/ a smaller barrel than the trial and I'm really happy w/ the final result.  It loosened to a beautiful curl and like Kristin, Madeline also wanted a nice braid to pull the bang part of her face and dress up the style a bit.  I also did Madeline's makeup for the day.  

Can't wait to add some of these beautiful pics to my Wedding Website!  So many more wedding pics to share w/ you guys so stay tuned!

Enchantment

You may remember a couple of mths ago me sharing some behind the scenes photos from an awesome beauty shoot I did w/ the amazing Sian Melton and Vienna (our gorgeous model).  Well I can finally show you guys the final product!  I think they look really gorgeous and have this beautiful light and airy other world sort of feel to them.

The story was actually picked up by this new magazine called Veux.  Overall, considering it's the magazine's premier issue it looks really good and will hopefully only get better from here on.  The pics looks good in the magazine but I have to be honest I hate when magazines try to fit more than one pic on one page b/c it just takes away from the impact of the pic but that's just my personal opinion.  Plus they cut out most of the makeup credits which doesn't really make sense considering it's a beauty story.  I mean yes cut out the repeats but to cut out almost all of them isn't cool.  On a positive note my name is spelled right...and we all know that has been a prob in the past ;)

Anyway, here are the finished pics...I'm including my favs. from the shoot not necessarily the pics featured in the editorial  just an FYI.

FYI I went to Pikto today w/ Adamo de Pax to print some pics for my portfolio and they all look gorgeous!  I may be old school but I still LOVE seeing my pics printed...so much better than just seeing them on the computer screen IMO.  I might do a little video showing you guys the layout of my portfolio and flip through it for you if you think that might be something that would interest you.

Gypset - The Glamorous Vagabond

On Tues. I got to head back up to the beautiful & remote area of Picton, ON (or somewhere around there) for another Video Editorial w/ the amazing ppl at Lilogi.  This team is quickly becoming one of my fav teams to work w/.  It's all girls (which is rare in fashion) and we all just mesh so well together and always have such a great time and great working chemistry.

The theme for this video was Gypset, which I'll be honest I didn't even know this term until I was sent the video concept brief before the shoot.  For those of you not in know like me Gypset is a term coined by Julia Chaplin and is described as "an approach to life that fuses the wild and unconventional ethos of a gypsy with the sophistication and speed of the jet set" so basically it's a gypsy who happens to have a lot of money and can live like a glamorous vagabond.  Very cool idea if you can afford it lol.


So Nicole (creator of Lilogi), Blair (assistant) and Renee (videographer) went up early in the day and created all these glamorous and luxurious sets for us out in the middle of nowhere...just gorgeous and so elaborate - really impressive stuff!


The stylist was my good friend Alexandra Loeb and the model was Emilie (Elite) who is actually here from Montreal for the Summer.  Sweetest girl and totally worked for the Gypset theme.  


It was another gorgeous day!  Hot but GORGEOUS!  Seriously, we have been so lucky when we've headed up there the two times.  Emilie was such a trooper too b/c of course we were showing a lot of Fall clothes and things w/ fur...such a professional even in the heat!  And as the day went on she just got more and more into the theme and really transformed herself into the character.  


For the Makeup I wanted something not too clean or perfect, something almost a little slept in.  So I wanted some smoldering eyes w/ big lashes and big eyeliner.  Emilie had big cheekbones which you know I LOVE so you better believe I was taking advantage of that w/ the contour and a pretty strong bronzy cheek.  I kept the lips nude and w/ a gloss.  


For her hair I did a couple of things.  Again nothing too clean or perfect - which is perfect when trekking through the wilderness or shooting outside b/c the messier it gets the better and more organic is looks.  I added A LOT of extensions to Emilie's hair b/c it was thin and not near as long as we needed...yeah for my endless supply of extensions (and Alex's b/c she brought a set too...I used BOTH sets!).  First hair look I did a really messy side fish tail w/ some volume and texture worked through the top and the braid.  For the second hair look I made a Hair Rat (fake hair teased into a ball) to attach to her head to create the volume I needed for the Bridget Bardotesque hair we wanted...thank god for that rat b/c as I mentioned her hair was think I would have been teasing and re-teasing all afternoon w/out it.  W/ it all I had to do was attach it to the head and then tease the hair around it a bit and lay and pin it over the hair rat.  First time I've actually made and used one myself actually!  After I did the pouf I teased all around the hair that wasn't pulled back to give it that very worn/slept in messy hair texture.  If only my hair ever looked that good when I woke up in the morning lol!


In the end it was a LONG day (10 am - Midnight) but so worth it!  Can't wait to see the video which will be coming out on July 22nd (another thing I love about Lilogi is the quick turn around w/ work).  


I of course took a ton of Behind the Scenes pics so ENJOY!

Beginning of the Day!

 Vast greenery we trekked through to 1st location

1st Location - Abandoned, Rusted Car!  How AMAZING is THIS!  Renee's Father stumbled upon it during a walk one day in the middle of nowhere...LITERALLY!

 It has a built in Sun Roof lol!

 Gross Bugs on this plant in the field...like a million of them...EWW!  Don't mind nature, still HATE bugs!

 Look at this Weather!

 Another Touch Up!

 Love this Hat!

 The Living Room...What a Creation!

 Hair Rat!  Would have been better if it was Dark Brown but whatever I made due!

 Hair Rat in Action!

 Ugliest Dress EVER...Seriously, but Emilie made it work!  It's so Ugly it's HOT!

 At First we weren't sure about this outfit then it became one of the FAVS of the Day!

 Love this Shot!

Beauty & Braids

Today I got the chance to do a little beauty creative w/ photographer Sian Melton in my apt.!  Do you know how nice it is to not have to lug my kit around and just wait for ppl to come to me.  Her and I had been talking about shooting a Beauty story for a long while now but she had been super busy, I've been busy, the model we wanted was busy and then there was the issue of where to shoot it b/c she's in Oakville and doesn't have a proper studio out there.

So about two wks ago now I approached her again w/ the idea of a creative and I offered up my apt. as the shooting space to lure her in lol.  Apparently, my amazing apt. is the perfect place to shoot a small beauty creative b/c it has lots of natural light, blank walls and high ceilings.  Sian then approached Vienna, the model we wanted to use before and she was totally game so it was set and I was super excited!

I've had this one concept in my head for a beauty story literally since I was in Paris and bought these amazing magazines.  There was this one article about this one runway show and I just loved the Hair & Makeup so I was dying to create something w/ a similar feel but of course put my own spin on it.  I'm just so happy I finally got to shoot it b/c these concepts sort of have expiration dates and of course they lose their appeal after awhile.  Sometimes it's hard to get a photographer to agree to a beauty story when it's not even their concept to start but Sian is totally laid back and loved the concept so that was great.

I wanted to do something w/ a very ethereal feel to it so I can't wait to see want Sian is going to do in post b/c  it will look totally different then the pics she took today...which were already pretty cool!  I wanted the makeup to be mostly underneath the eyes and blended and faded out but I also still wanted it to have a bit of a messy feel if that makes sense.  For the hair I wanted to do an awesome braid story again but this time I wanted to crimp the hair first which I did w/ a really tiny crimper.  Time consuming but SO WORTH IT b/c it just gave the hair this amazing texture and gave so much volume and bulk to the braids.

I know I already have a braid story and I do love that one but it's getting a bit old so I wanted to update it w/ something new.  Plus that was in black and white so not the most useful to me and the makeup was super clean in it and being that I now have some new amazing clean beauty the story is not that useful in my book even though I still think it's really pretty.  Sometimes it's hard to get rid of a story even though you still love it b/c it's either a little stale or you just have a better story that represents a similar concept.

So I'm just giving you a taste of some of the looks...you'll have to wait and see for the real things ;)

After the crimping everything else went really quick...even after the 1st look was done all the changes were fast!  What a great team!

 Sian & Vienna doing their thing!