Giambattista Valli Lipstick Collection by MAC

Giambattista Valli 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: 

NYX Lip Butter in "Hubba Bubba" | $5.99 at Ulta.com

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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.

The Pink Panther for Institute Magazine

"Pink Panther" has been released today inside Institute Magazine.

Here's a look at some work behind the scenes:

Pele and I instantly connected when we first spoke about the makeup for this editorial; we wanted to highlight Rose's features and go a bit extreme with the color. I always wanted to try a neon pink makeup look, so I was really excited to express myself and try something new.

The pinks were a combination of MAC's "Full Fuchsia" and "Pinch O Peach" 

to exaggerate the contours in her face. I blended and blended and blended for almost 2 hours so the colors seeped seamlessly into her skin with a fluffy brush like the MAC 168 Contour Brush.

Her base foundation is Face Atelier "Ultra Pro Foundation" in Shade #2

Of course, I used my magical Inglot highlighter to create that beautiful glow for the beauty shots.

Her lips were MAC's "Magenta" lip liner and 3-4 different lip glosses on top.

Rose's hair is naturally curly, so I added more curls and more volume so it looked like a lion's mane when she walked down the streets of Chicago.

Here is the rest of the editorial from Institute Magazine.

Enjoy!

Photographer and Editor | Pele Joez

Wardrobe Stylist | Dina Alic of Factor Artists

Model | Rose of Factor Women Runway

HMUA | Andrea Samuels of Factor Artists

Elle Magazine USA | July 2014: Women In Tech

I had the amazing opportunity to work with these ambitious and driven women for Elle Magazine's "Women In Tech" fashion editorial. Here's a few photos I was able to capture behind the scenes from April 15th, 2014:

Breakfast was delicious!

Studio Black in San Francisco, California is massive; infinity walls covered 2/3rd of the room.

The wardrobe was absolutely insane, there were literally hundreds of options for the women to chose  from.  

Behind the scenes with Jessica Livingston, photographer J.R. and one of his assistants.

 I was grinning ear to ear as soon as I stepped on set. I was surrounded by professionals in jeans, t-shirts, and Chucks; I was the only one dressed in a suit. A majority of the crew walked up to me and said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

Here are the final selected photos I worked on for Elle Magazine's | Women In Tech:

Photographer | J.R. Mankoff

Wardrobe | Sarah Schussheim

Producer | Anthony Michael

Hair | David Tolls @ Work Group

Makeup | Andrea C. Samuels @ Black Board Group

Danae Ringelmann was a little nervous and camera shy. After a few wardrobe changes and adding a soft, bronze smokey eye to enhance her blue eyes, she grew comfortable with the whole process and eased into natural poses for J.R.

Here's one of my favorite women I was able to work on, Grace Woo. Grace was one of the youngest and most powerful women in the room but she started giggling like a little girl when she saw all the makeup, wardrobe, and hair products just for her. 

Genevieve Bell has a warm spirit, her smile literally lit up the room when she walked in. Ms. Bells' laugh is infectious; she was so genuine and sweet to the crew. As soon as I applied her false lashes, she threw on a pair of five inch Jimmy Choo heels and transformed in front of us all.

Padmasree Warrior was very daring with her makeover, she asked me to give her a bold red lip and allowed me to be an artist. Padmasree initially came on set only wearing mascara. Padmasree's skin was so flawless, her face was a dream to work on.

 Danika Laszuk was so easy going and carefree, I really loved her energy on set. Danika wanted to keep it simple head to toe, so she chose a gorgeous white gown from Alexander Wang and requested fresh, clean makeup for herself.

Once Jessica Livingston came on set, she knew exactly what she wanted and exactly how she wanted it: clean and simple hair and makeup with a signature black dress to compliment her natural style.