Tuesday, March 27, 2012

How To Work Faster Under Pressure



Over the years, I have learned to work speedy for fast paced environments.
When I first started, I was a not very confident and I was unsure of a few things, so it would take me hours to finish one face. I would get so frustrated, start all over again, and it would slow me down. After working on a few photo shoots and video productions, I learned that time is money and it's not good to waste people's time if there is a way you can do things at a faster pace.

After working for Macy's and The Body Shop for a few years, I learned how to work faster to build more clientele in one day, to increase sales, and to keep my boss and the customer happy at the same time. Attending Make Up First also helped me to increase my speed by learning to use more products that do more than one job for me. Over the years, I learned how to 'cheat' a full face of makeup just by doing a few things differently. I ONLY do this for fashion shows, certain photo shoots or for events that I know the makeup doesn't need to last long.

Want to know how? Let me show you :-)

1.) Prep.


- For starters, prepping the skin is the most important thing to make it ready for makeup. I start with baby wipes. Don't bother to purchase fancy 'makeup remover' wipes, it is the EXACT same thing as a baby wipe. Don't be fooled.



- To make things faster, I mix my moisturizers, primers and my liquid foundations all together so I have a concoction of everything I need in one go. You are basically making a tinted moisturizer within a short amount of time.



2.) Brows

- I use a brown or taupe matte eye shadow as a filler, shape it with an angled brush, set it with a brow gel, and I'm done within 1 minute. Don't bother with pencils, or 'brow' powders, or stencils. Remember you're crunched for time, work with the natural arch and fill in where you see fit.



- If I am working with thick or curly brows, sometimes I use a brown/black mascara to fill them in. Mascara has a waxy formula which is perfect for taming unruly brows. I take an angled brush, swipe a small amount of the mascara formula off the wand, apply on brows and fill in where needed.



3.)Eyes

- You have your foundations laid down, so make sure you use a cream eye shadow or even a colored pencil as your base so you won't have any powder eye shadow fall on your fresh face. Use your cream eye shadow or pencil as your primer! Then lightly apply the powder eye shadow on top to set it.




4.)Cheeks
- Grab your highlighter/blush & your contour color, put them side by side.
Similar to how the NARS blush duo is set up>>


Use a fan brush to go over the colors.


Now you can highlight & contour at the same time! :-D



5.) Lips
- Gloss is usually the easiest way to cover the lips at a fast pace.
If you are required to apply lipstick, there are two ways to apply it faster.

A.) Apply lipstick with a brush, clean it up with concealer.
B.) Apply tape to the corners of the lips, apply the lipstick on top, the tape will clean up your edges for you.



You will be done in 5-10 minutes guaranteed.
Practice, practice, practice!!


Jon Recana Photography & Emily Gualdoni Photography

3rd Annual Rock The Red Pump

ROCK THE RED PUMP



For three years in a row, I have had the opportunity to work with the lovely ladies of The Red Pump Project. I've watched them grow and florish over time and this year they did not cease to amaze. For March 2012, they brought on producer Benjamin Cottrell Designs. They presented a beautiful array of local Chicago designers as well as a wonderful array of models in different sizes and different cultures working the runway. Kim Coles was the host and she gave the audience laughter, wisdom, and spiritual advice about life.

Dee Desalu was the key hair stylist and brought on her team to give the models a chic hairstyle. Team Crystal-Eyez, Freedom MUA Wright, and I worked together to beautify all the models within a short time frame. I ended up working on 15 models as well as doing a quick makeover on Freedom MUA Wright's eyes within two hours and 30 minutes.


I just came from a 6 hour drive earlier that day so I was extremelly TIRED!!!! My energy was gone, but I was still so very excited to be there and support the cause. :)


Here are a few shots of the models I did makeup for walking down the runway.
Photography by NowYouKnow Events, Cadence Gamache, Richard Christenson, Chuckstr and many more.

Designer: CLEONS


Katie


Keisha


Beba

Designer: GOCA

Beba


Designer: Boriss Powell


Keisha

Designer: Studio Alade

Sesamir


Lee


Kita

After the show, a LOT of people asked me, "How did you work so fast???"

I will show you how in my next blog :-)


How To Work Faster Under Pressure!

Monday, March 5, 2012

America's Beauty Show 2012 | March 4th, 2012



I had the opportunity to work as one of the artists for Vidal Sassoon on Sunday, March 4th at America's Beauty Show for 2012. I was SO excited!!!! Not only to work at ABS but I also got to work along side a few amazing artists:
Kat
, Frances, Keana, Nakia, Kerre, Carly, and many more.

The day started for me around 7:55am.

Soon as I arrived, Kat led the way and we were instructed to start makeup immediately!
I really enjoy the rush from fashion shows, so it was fun to adjust to the fast pace for Vidal Sassoon.


The first look was very clean and simple for the cutting demonstrations.
Silver eyeshadow with silver glitter on top, peach cheeks, and peach matte lips.
This was my first model:


The 2nd look called 'Rebellious', which I didn't get a chance to take a photo of. This was the look: deep red eyeshadow, heavy black eyeliner, and nude lips. I think Kat did the makeup for this model with hair stylist guru from the UK, Mark Hayes:



We proceeded to the 3rd look, which was called "Sweetness"
I LOVED the color combination for this look! Metallic green eyeshadow, pink cheeks, pink glossy lipstick. This was my third, and favorite, model:

They were dressed in pastel outfits and patent leather heels. Very 1960's era. I LOVED it.

4th look, I was assigned to create the 'Hippie' so I was asked to add small flowers to the models face to create the mood for the models' 1960's inspired look. She was also the opening model for the late morning runway:




During our break, we ate lunch, watched the fashion show for a bit and we got to shop around.



I'll do a makeup haul of the products I purchased in the next post ;-)

The final look was SO STUNNING. It was my favorite look: Black smokey eye winged out on the edge, deep blue glitter in the middle of the eye, contoured cheeks, pale skin and plum lips. I don't think I ever would have thought to create this color combination, but it looked so stunning on the final models. I was so proud of the team for beating these faces!!!
I got to work with my favorite model again:


Around 8 pm-ish, we were whipped, tired, beat down, our bones were popping and cracking, our brushes and faces were full of glitter, eyes were saggy and tired, but we were DONE!!!!

I was literally dragging my feet trying to make it home on Sunday, but I was still so very excited and happy that I was part of the show.

More photos coming soon!!




photography by David Anthony & my camera phone