Friday, December 25, 2015

Zink Magazine Winter Issue with Kliq Studio




The Winter Issue of Zink Magazine just released before Christmas Day. Grab yourself a copy on news stands at Barnes and Noble!


"You & I"
Photographer | Carissa Lancaster of Kliq Studio
Model | Marta of Ford Models
Hair & Makeup | Andrea C. Samuels of Factor Artists 
Nail Artist | Ashley Gregory of Ford Artists


This was one of my most favorite projects I worked on for 2015. We had the gel paper concept planned out, but I had no idea what colors to choose before hand, so I literally brought every glitter, pigment and eye shadow color with me to prepare for the day. 



I have to start off saying that I absolutely love the team behind Kliq Studio. This was our first time working together on a concept that Ashley Gregory and myself really wanted to bring to life. Carissa and Le allowed us complete creative freedom; it was really refreshing and amazing to work with people that believe in your talents and give you all the time in the world to work your magic.



I started off clean, which is something I always recommend to every makeup artist. Starting off with clean makeup helps me see my canvas (my model) in a very raw and bare moment; it also helps me map out the features on her face that I would like to highlight in the editorial. I really loved the clear nails Ashley applied on Marta, the transparent makeup & nails looked so perfect together.



So I played with my usual favorites for the first look:

AJ Crimson Cream Foundation in Shade #1 & #2

This foundation is so amazing, it creates the perfect dewy, glossy effect on skin and it bounces off the lights beautifully.

Make Up For Ever "Full Cover" Concealer #3


I applied Inglot Face & Body Illuminator #61 all over Marta's hands, arms and face.


On the lips, I used Dior Addict Gloss in "Angelique"



The second look was not featured in Zink Magazine, but it is the current cover for Nails Magazine February Issue


I used Tom Ford lipstick in "Reckless" as the base


and Inglot gold pigment in #24 in the center of Marta's lips.




Here's an unedited image from my camera phone.


Look 3: I wanted to play up Marta's eyes and mimic the faded effect the gel paper created on her skin, so I created an ombre' effect on her brows with the lipstick.



I used Tom Ford "Bruised Plum" on her brows and brow bone

I applied Inglot Gold Pigment all over Marta's top and lower lid.



On her lips I mixed OCC Lip Tar "Androgyne" with NYX Lip Palette in "Oranges"


Look 4: I wanted to create a wet effect on her eyes, so I used "Silver" pigment by mac with a clear gloss on top on the outer corners of her eyes. 


On the inner corners I used a red eye shadow #50 by Inglot.




Ashley created this amazing silver foil on her nails and I fell in love with the results.

Look 5 was not chosen by Zink, but we all loved this look.


The yellow in the inner corners of her eyes was actually an accident.


I used Inglot Yellow Face & Body Pigment #237 for my first time and I had no idea it would splatter every where. I was about to clean it off and start over, but by that time it was starting to get dark outside and I didn't want to waste too much time. I just went with it and made a splatter effect with a neon pink pigment from MAC.


The blueish green on her lower lid and top lid was Inglot eye shadow #317 with Inglot black gel liner in #77


Look 6: We were going to go even more crazy, but the model needed to leave at a certain time so we had to cut it short. I kept it super simple and applied Dior Addict Lip Glow Balm with "Turkish Delight" by Nars on top. 






Overall, I am super DUPER happy with the results the team created!!
We had a blast on set and I look forward to creating even more beauty editorials in the future.





Monday, August 17, 2015

Art Class | HUF Magazine


"Art Class" | HUF Magazine
Photography | Jennifer Avello
Model | Brianna Peeples of 10 MGMT
Makeup | Andrea C. Samuels of Factor Artists


I was inspired by MUA Yadim, but I wanted to put my own spin onto it.

I worked with my favorite: 
Inglot Gel Liner #77 
I used thick and thin brushes to create the lines on Brianna's face.
I used another favorite: Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + in shade #70 



I also used different shades of lip colors from
Kryolan, Maybelline, OCC Cosmetics, Givenchy, and Tom Ford to complete the looks.




I am absolutely in love with how this story came out!
To view the rest of the story, head to: HUFMagazine.com 



Monday, August 3, 2015

Assisting Rules by DeShawn Hatcher




If you haven't had a chance to read my blog last year, let me fill you in on something: DeShawn Hatcher is an amazing artist and beauty educator based in NY. I had the opportunity to assist DeShawn last season for NY Fashion Week; I learned so much in such a short amount of time working with her. I wrote a post about my experience at fashion week but just incase you missed it, here it is:




So fast forward to today, I had no clue DeShawn was working on her book at the time when I met her! All I knew was that I needed a monthly subscription to DeShawn's blog because she would spill SO much truth about the world of makeup which is very rare in the fashion industry. I encounter many great artists who are great at talking about the pretty side of makeup but they don't share anything valuable to the amateur artists that will help them get ahead in life. DeShawn holds nothing back from no one; I just adore that about her.

One of the first blog posts I read of DeShawn's was this: Assisting 101 by DeShawn Hatcher  I am so thankful that she expanded this into a beautiful and easy to follow book for all artists.



"Assisting Rules" is one of those must-have books if you are a makeup artist, hairstylist, or even a wardrobe stylist trying to break into the freelancing industry but you don't know the proper way to go about it. DeShawn pays respect to the former and current great master artists so that new artists of today understand how to properly work in their field. 

I cannot stress this enough: The information in this book is something you will NOT learn from YouTube or Instagram. 

This is pure, honest, unfiltered, and very rare advice from a real working artist. Thanks to DeShawn, I now see the mistakes I said, did, made in emails and phone calls from my past. Now, I am reaching out to people I haven't spoken to before, or haven't spoken to in a while, and I am switching up how I communicate with people to be more effective with selling myself. DeShawn also talks about agency do's and dont's, how to work in fashion week, on set etiquette, standard portfolio presentation and there's much more inside.




Here is the link to purchase her book:






Monday, July 20, 2015

Giambattista Valli Lipstick Collection by MAC




The Giambattista Valli lipsticks launched last week on July 9th, 2015. Giambattista is an amazing Parisian fashion designer who teamed up with MAC Cosmetics to create 5 beautiful shades for the summer. Here is my review of the lipsticks I purchased from this collection:







First Impression

The last time I purchased any MAC limited edition makeup collection was when they launched the Hello Kitty makeup line from 2009. 


After 2009, I have not really been impressed or felt the urge to purchase anything else from MAC's makeup collections; I noticed their products have gotten less pigmented over the years and I started to lose my interest until the Giambattista collection launched.


 The packaging really caught my eye, I loved the color choices and I really loved the designer they teamed up with. So I saved up my coins and ended up purchasing four out of the five lipsticks from the collection. 



 Light Test
I did a quick light test under 3 types of lighting to see what looks the most flattering.  The Bianca B lipstick looks almost white under the cool and flash lighting, which is not complimentary for women of color but I think the other shades look great under any lighting.
The colors look the most true under the pure white flash light.


Bianca B

Color
Bianca B is a pastel pink.  This shade is opaque so it comes out a bit chalky on dark skin tones.


Pastel lipsticks are not very flattering because you will end up looking really washed out and ashy. 


 I personally don't like this shade for myself on my entire lip, but I absolutely love it as a highlighter for pink lipsticks. 

Lipliner
I used lip liner "Hover" by MAC to try to make Bianca B more neutral on my lips.


Longevity
Nude colors tend to wash out fairly fast. Bianca B faded on me after two hours.

Duplicate
If you don't want to go out and spend $18 for a MAC lipstick, here is another brand Bianca B reminds me of: 



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Tats

Color
Hot Pink/ Magenta lipstick; compliments all skin tones.
I added Bianca B in the center of my lips to create an ombre effect.




Lipliner
I paired TATS lipstick with BEET lipliner by MAC

Longevity
This color lasted about 3-4 hours on me without any touchups

Duplicate
There are TONS of pink lipsticks all over the world; and if you're an artist on a budget, here's a duplicate for TATS

Ruby Kisses Ultra Matte Lipstick in "Gossip"
$2.99 at HouseofBeautyWorld.com


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Charlotte

Color
Deep Red with a slight orange undertone. The packaging has a more blue undertone which threw me off, but when applied it melted into my skin with a bit of an orange finish. I personally would use a much darker lipliner to create a true red tone on my lips.



Lipliner
I paired Charlotte with Cherry lipliner by MAC

Longevity
This has a pretty decent staying power, it lasted me about 4-5 hours without touchups.

Duplicate
Here's NYX to the rescue if you are trying to save some money

NYX Matte lipstick in "Pure Red" | $5.99 at Ulta.com

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Eugenie

Color
Plum/Brown shade, compliments every skin tone.
This shade is my absolute favorite!




Lipliner
I paired Eugenie with Currant Lip liner by MAC

Longevity
This has the same amount of staying power as Charlotte, about 4-5 hours without touchups.

Duplicate
Revlon actually carries a nice range of dark lipsticks, here is one that looks super similar to Eugenie:

 Revlon Black Cherry $7.99 | CVS.com


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Overall, I like these shades but I only LOVE one shade from the whole bunch. 
I hope MAC will keep collaborating with more amazing fashionistas and adding more unique collections to their line.