The Makeup Show 2013

I was fortunate to be able to represent two of my favorite brands this year: NARS and AJ Crimson.

 

 

Day 1 | June 9th, 2013: Thanks to the awesome makeup artist Jen Brown, I had the opportunity to work side by side with super cool artists like Nora Hess, Kristina Marie Fehrherm, as well as NARS makeup artist Phuong Tran.

 

Phuong was in 4 inch heels for
EIGHT.

HOURS.

STRAIGHT.

That woman is a trooper! On top of that, her face was sooooo flawless with a perfect red lip courtesy of NARS "Jungle Red'' lipliner and one of the most popular red velvet matte lip pencils sold that day, "Dragon Girl." We were SWAMPED with makeup artists, makeup enthusiasts, beauty bloggers and husbands trying to keep their wives calm.

 

 

 

I fell INLOVE with the beauty ads that surrounded our booth with model and muse of Nars, Stella Tennent, and makeup by the always amazing Francois Nars. So inspiring.

 

 

 

I bumped into a LOT of familiar faces through out the day, even new people that I talk to via instagram and facebook. It was nice to see humans instead of a touch screen version of faces. Time flew by so fast! At the end of the day, I literally had no time to shop.

I was WHIPPED and ready for bed.

 

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Day 2 | June 10th, 2013: I was able to assist AJ for a second year. I helped set up the booth with beautiful artists from Los Angeles, Atlanta and Detroit, Michigan. As soon as AJ stepped on the scene, people started flocking towards him immediately.

 

 

AJ's new BB creams, lipgloss colors and foundations were selling like hot cakes! Every one was able to witness or be apart of his live makeup demos and learn quick tips about the products from AJ himself.

 

AJ is a suberb leader to learn from; he is so humble, down to earth, and cool as a cucumber. He has a very easy going approach to selling his products which helped bring the whole team at ease; we were all able to help every customer that needed to find their foundation shade and try on a lipgloss color. Time flew by and we all had a great time!

 



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During my lunch break, I had a brief chance to listen to one of my most favorite artists, the makeup artist for Halle Berry from Cloud Atlas: Sian Richards. That movie did not get the credit it deserved, neither did Sian for the epic makeup she created for Halle. Sian was such an inspiration for never giving up, knowing your worth, sticking up for yourself, your ideas and your artistry. Sian has such a sweet, genuine, and amazing outlook on living life and fulfilling your dreams. Sian helped me realize that being an artist first will carry you through so many jobs for many years to come.

 

Sian also launched her makeup brush line in collaboration with London Brush Company. She sold the group how silky and innovative her brushes are and how they will literally 'glide like water' on faces, so I am DYING to use them on my next project.

 

Please support this amazing woman and check out her brushes:

http://www.londonbrushcompany.com/

 

 

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 I didn't need to replenish a lot of products this year, so I came home very light handed this time. Here is a brief haul of the products I invested in this year:

 

Blender Cleanser by: Beauty Blender

 



 

This was actually a gift provided by Beauty Blender for our booth and this was THE BEST gift ever. I am SUPER inlove with the Blender Cleanser solid soap. I haven't found ANY thing to clean my little egg puffs properly, but this bar is genious. The blender cleanser comes with a removable grid to clean your brushes and beauty blenders more thoroughly than ever before. The grid helps to get inbetween the bristles of your brushes much better than your fingers. I HIGHLY recommend you grab one for all of your tiny eye shadow brushes as well as you beauty blenders. 

My beauty blenders look like a happy little Partridge Family now. 

 

I also purchased my first Z Palette for all of my loose blushes and eyeshadows and I could never leave home without a refill of my top favorite brush cleaner: Cinema Secrets.

 AJ's booth was also surprised with a dozen fresh face charts from Michael Cartier Onsouvanh of The Powder Group. His hair is always so EPIC!!

 

 

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I had a fabulous time and met with amazing people all weekend.

Cannot wait for next year!!

 

 

The Makeup Show: Chicago 2012

At The Makeup Show, I was anticipating purchasing my usual items, meeting the usual people, and doing the usual shopping during that weekend.
But no.
Not this year.
God had other plans for me!
The amazing hairstylist Dee Desalu informed everyone on her facebook page that AJ Crimson was coming into Chicago for the weekend and looking for four assistants.
Within one minute, I emailed him my phone number and website.
Literally, one minute later, he called me!!!!!
He said he loved my work! I was completely shocked.
I was sooooo excited to have been chosen as one of the assistants for AJ Crimson.

Have you heard of AJ? Let me give you a brief breakdown:

- AJ has done makeup for Hillary Duff, Estelle, Fergie, Brandy, Amerie, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, Christina Milian, Keyshia Cole, Missy Elliott, Letoya Luckett and many more.
- Was the "Life Coach" for MTV's "Made"
- His work has been featured in Glamour, Marie Claire UK, In Style UK, Ocean Drive, Z!NK, Essence, Vibe and many more...
- Assisted Mathu Anderson, Joann Gair, AND Pat McGrath for Paris Fashion Week
- Launched a makeup line called, "Kissable Couture"

He is amazing! He was coming into Chicago to launch a few new products from his makeup line; I was very excited and proud to be apart of it.

June 16th: Deirdra Carney, Sarah Fierz, George McKenney from Detroit and myself helped AJ organize and clean up his booth area and prepare for the next day.

We all had a chance to briefly chit-chat and introduce ourselves to each other in his team. AJ has a very cool, laid back personality. He takes his time explaining things, also with makeup application and with everything around him; his vibe is very mellow and chill. Being around him and the team, I was really excited and pumped up for the next day.

June 17th: We started off with a bang! Although our booth was one of the smallest, we were also one of the loudest booths on the floor and grabbed the most attention! We had a lot of customers running up to the booth to take pictures with AJ and try out his new glosses. Every time we sold a gloss, we would scream, shout and celebrate. People from other booths were rolling their eyes, but we didn't care!! 

We had so much fun :-)

After 5 hours, we SOLD OUT of the "Fantasies" red lip gloss.

It almost felt like a family reunion! I was able to stop and say hi to these wonderful artists through out the day: 

Norah Salazar, Vanessa Valliant, Iris Guevara, Allana Hicks, Zee Gustafson, Kat DeJesus, Jennifer James, Theresa Jones, Candace Corey, Kate Johnson, Doris Rohr, Loni Hale, Belinda Campbell, Rachel Odem, and I'm sure there were more but those were the ones I could remember off the top of my head.

  Viola Nicholson

Later that evening, about twenty artists went to dinner at the Grand Luxe. It was so refreshing to break bread and see the people that I talk to via Facebook on a regular basis.

Angela B. Hall, Teague Vivolo, Lynn Golovich

Yvonne Wallace

Our fruity drinks!

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June 18th: Monday morning started off a little slower, so AJ started doing live demos right on the main floor. 

The crowd was getting hyped up and people started rolling in. A few photographers and bloggers stopped by to take photos of us at the booth:

Just an hour before the 5pm closing time, we all had a chance to take a break and purchase items from the different booths. These were the items I had a chance to grab:
Cinema Secrets Brush Cleaner, 3 Powder Puffs, and Moisture spray for $33

 

2 Naked Pigments for $40

  All of these Crown Brush Products for $60

 

2 Foundation Palettes and 1 Powder for $30

5 NARS Velvet Lip Pencils and "Turkish Delight" Lipgloss for $90

 

13 Shades of Kissable Couture Lip Gloss

 

3 Embryolisse Moisturizers for $48

 

Team AJ Crimson was so tired and so beat after another 9 hours on our feet, but it was fun and definitely worth it. Such a fun and crazy weekend!

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*Photography by Chicago Imaging Solutions, Yvonne Wallace and Myself

The Makeup Show

Thank GOD for the production team of The Makeup Show for FINALLY bringing the event to Chicago. It was long over due!! I went yesterday (June 12th) with my friend and client, Jenna Marie Christian, and we had an amazing time. As soon as we walked in, I felt like I had the jitters. We went from booth to booth to booth and sampled and Ooh'd and Aawed over the colorful array of gorgeousness from every product line. I also bumped into a LOT of familiar faces.




First products I purchased: Crown Industries
I stocked up on nine brushes, a palette of cream foundations, a packet of lip wands and mascara wands for only $25.
$25!!
$25!!!!!!


Second products I purchased: Make Up For Ever.
I finally stocked up on a few of my favorite face & body liquid foundations as well as a neutral eye shadow palette. Everything was 50% off!! I was going nuts. They were also doing live demos of theatrical makeup and their newest products on a few agency models.


Third products I purchased: Kevyn Aucoin
I purchased two of his cheek colors: Fire (Mango hue) and Dolline (Apricot hue)
The texture is SO thick and the pigment is really amazing. You literally only need a small amount for it to show on your cheeks. The best part was they were selling it for only $5 each!!


Fourth products I purchased: Inglot
I wanted everything, I truly did. But I ended up purchasing their Face and Body Illuminator in #61 and #68. These have stunning color power. Absolutely stunning. I cannot wait to highlight the cheekbones of my next model with these. These were $11 but they are SO worth it.

So at this point, I had to check myself because I was wrecking my money. :-/


We checked out an airbrushing seminar from Temptu. I learned the difference between silicone and water based makeup, silicone is mold-able and takes longer to set on skin while water based airbrush tries quickly since it isn't oil based. Temptu also showed how to add depth with contouring the eyes as well as the cheekbones. The host was fun to watch and I learned a few tricks with airbrushing for my next bride.


I also bumped into Jennifer James. I love her blog and her notes, she is FULL of wisdom. Ofcourse, her skin was flawless in person.


And for the main event, Sam Fine was in the building looking flawless, classic and dapper. we also got to check out Sam Fine's seminar on "Careers in Beauty" and stood in line for an hour just to gain some of his knowledge and see him work up close and personal.


First off, WOW. Talk about preaching to the choir. He was so refreshing to listen to. Sam mentioned the good and the bad side of the industry, and I really liked that he mentioned that IT IS OK to say NO to a job that doesn't suit you or make you happy. Sam also mentioned that everything you do, from facebook to simply talking to people, is a market of you. EVERY thing he mentioned was full of humble wisdom and I was so proud to be there.


He was selling his dvd, but the line was WAY too long. Just going to get it later at Borders. I noted that he likes to stipple the face with sponges and stipples heavily around the under eyes. That's a new technique for me, because I typically stipple with my fingers and/or a brush to create a similar effect. What also surprised me was the few products he used to create a flawless canvas. Sam also mentioned he had an art background so makeup was second nature to him. What an inspiration!

I'm undecided whether I will go the second day because I spent enough money!! But I had A LOT of fun. I will be there next year :)