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:

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week SS2015 with DeShawn

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:

Assisting Rules

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

Betsey Johnson at MBFashion Week | SS2015

Kelly Thompson of Kryolan Cosmetics was the key artist for Betsey Johnson SS2015 "Prenup" Show. I was not able to do full makeup on the models, but I was able to powder a few models before they headed to the runway. Kelly is amazing! She showed the artists how to create 1980's style drag makeup with a modern fashion twist. With a majority of the designers at fashion week going the 'all natural' route for makeup, it was really refreshing for the artists to get our hands dirty and really be an artist 100% for Betsey. False lashes, feathers, smokey eyes, bold red lips, the works: I was thrilled! Here's a look at photos I took on my phone as well as my Sony HD Camera; all photography by me.

I have a few more behind the scenes on my instagram page as well: instagram.com/andreasamuelsmakeup 

So many photographers and videographers!

Here's the show! 

Here's the official video for Betsey Johnson at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week!