Friday 28 September 2012

BACKSTAGE AT WESTWOOD SS'13

Backstage Video and Pics at Vivienne Westwood Red Label SS13

all photo and video material sourced from Westwood











Thursday 27 September 2012

CLUB KIDS EDITORIAL FOR BLACKBOOK NOV '12

Club Kids Editorial - BlackBook Oct/Nov 2012




Sometimes an editorial comes out that just makes you stroke the pages with lust... hmmm doesn't that sound a bit sketchy? Then you start to feel a bit jealous that you weren't part of it - hurrumph! The Club Kids shoot for latest issue of Black Book Magazine is one of these, so beautifully put together with influences pulled from many cultures and stylistic influences. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!











CREDITS:

BlackBook Oct/Nov 2012

Photographer Jason Kim
Fashion Editor/Stylist Christopher Campbell
Hair Stylist Thanos Samaras
Makeup Artist Walter Obal
Models: Jenna Earle and Alena Blohm




Wednesday 26 September 2012

KIT CLASSICS FROM CAMILA FERNANDEZ

Make-up Artist Camila Fernandez shares her favourite kit products


At London Fashion week this year I was talking to my buddy and fellow Make-Up Artist Camila Fernandez about some of our favourite products. While a lot of our bits were the same we also introduced each other to some new gems - this led to the inspiration for today's post.

Camila has very kindly agreed to to fill us in on her current kit loves:



Clinique Airbrush Concealers £17

I absolutely love this product for using under the eyes. It conceals as well as illuminates, without creating that “panda eye” look. My most used shade is “Neutral Fair”. I also find that unlike other concealers, whilst still creamy it is light in texture and sets well (without looking dry) making it last on the skin.


Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealers £26

These concealers do not budge and cover even the most pesky of blemishes. The high level of pigment means you require very little product to achieve complete coverage. Each one has a unique two-shade system, one to match the skins depth of color & one to match the skins undertone.


Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector £33

I first discovered this product when I assisted the amazing Lisa Eldridge. This highlighting cream works a bit like MAC’s strobe but without the harsh blue tones and much more reflective (and effective!). You can mix with your foundation however I mostly like using it along the cheekbones to make the skin look dewy. I used to always use shade “Pearl” but recently they brought out “Moonstone” which is a light gold tone – which I actually now prefer!
I posted about this product earlier this week - link to it here

Bags By Kirsty Set bag £28.99

Set bags were always something I was having issues with. I could never find anything in them, they were either too big, too small, not enough pockets, not the right sized pockets etc… When I was working on the junket for ‘American Pie Reunion” I enviously spied another make-up artist with the niftiest set bag. She put me on to www.bagsbykirsty.co.uk which is an online shop created by another make-up artist having similar woes!
The bag that I’m currently rocking is “set bag 1” with a retro apple side panel design and shoulder strap. These genius bags have a tissue dispenser, inside pockets and two circular side holders for your brush holder (I put my Paris Berlin brush tube in them) or hairspray (if you do both).

Sponges - cheap as chips!

Sponges are a tool that I never used because I considered them to be dated and didn’t see the point of, “I have hundreds of brushes that do the job just as well.” I thought. Or so I did until I started working with the legendary Kay Montano, who is also the total don when it comes to skin! She taught me to only apply foundation where it is needed, if the model doesn’t have any blemishes on the forehead? Then leave it bare. It’s beautiful to actually SEE the skin, not cover it in a one dimensional mask. Kay has taught me to blend and take away product using sponges to create a flawless base.

View more of Camila's work on her website here.

 




Tuesday 25 September 2012

BINKY FELSTEAD - TOPMAN GENERATION MAGAZINE

Thought I would share with you a couple of shots from a  shoot I did a while back with Made In Chelsea's Binky Felstead

"Taking our lead from the 70s sexploitation films of Russ Meyer, such as Faster Pussycat Kill, Kill and Supervixens, we headed down to London's infamous Shadow Lounge in Brewer Street – one of the capital's oldest pole dancing clubs – where she and her gang of vixens tease and bully an innocent country boy, and make him into a man." - Topman Generation





To achieve that vampy vixen look I layered two pairs of MAC Lashes Number 48 and added a thick liquid liner to the eyelid. On the bottom waterline I added a Fascinating Kohl Pencil and set with an off-white matte eyeshadow to create a rounded eye shape.
Binky has lovely skin so I buffed on MAC Face & Body Foundation then added Moisturecover Concealer where needed.
Lips were kept neutral and lightly glossy by adding Creamsheen Glass in Fashion Whim.
I kept the makeup similar for the models sans the vampy lashes. After all there can only be one SUPER VIXEN!!

Click on the products above to go straight to view them on the MAC website.

Photography: Elliott Morgan
Stylist: Rachael Rodgers
Make-up: Katherine Gould using MAC Cosmetics
Hair: Magdelena Tucholska using UNITE Eurotherapy
Art Director: John-Paul Pryor
Models: Tom, Elle and Ava at Elite Models
Binky Felstead is represented by First Model Management

BECCA SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTOR

A product that has continually appeared on my radar over the last wee while is the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector. A number of makeup artists, including Lisa Eldridge have listed it as an adored classic and recently I dipped in to a friends makeup kit backstage at one of London's Fashion week shows to try it for myself.

The product does exactly what it says on the bottle - delivering a highlighted shimmer without glitter in a light, smooth fluid in four shades:


Pearl - a soft pearlised illuminator giving a soft sheen without the violet pigments contained in many so it doesn't look blue or icy on the skin. In fact it doesn't really leave a colour at all, just leaves a dewy, glowing highlight.

Opal - a warm pinky/peach which I have seen used on pale cheeks to give a very subtle flush or layered underneath powder blush. Beautiful when mixed with foundation for glowing skin in editorial work.

Moonstone - a pale gold, fantastic highlighter on yellow/olive skin tones.

Topaz - a golden bronze wonderful to mix with foundation and buff onto the cheeks for the ultimate summer glow. Gorgeous on dark skin as a highlighter.


What I really love about this range is that it is so beautifully light and buffs onto moisturised skin like a dream. It doesn't contain glitter unlike many other highlighters - more like finely ground pearlised pigments so it looks simply like dewy skin rather then makeup.

Click this link to go to Beccas website- 

Shimmering Skin Perfector 
50ml/1.7 fl oz pump bottle 
£33.00

Sunday 9 September 2012

No7 MATCH MADE DEVICE & MY NEW JOB

I've been sitting on some exciting news for some time now and it's finally nice to be able to talk about it! Recently famous U.K brand Boots No7 bought out a new piece of technology that was able to scan skin and match it with the perfect shade from the newly re-vamped No 7 range. Well myself and fellow makeup artist Sian-Louise Auld have recently been appointed Cosmetic Experts and Social Media Managers for this Foundation Match Made Service for the crucial launch period and over the next six weeks. Whoop Whoop!



Ok so how the technology works:

• The device uses eight visible illumination colours and one ultraviolet that are shone on to the skin from three different directions eliminating shadows

• Images of the skin under each of the nine light settings are recorded

• Tone, colour saturation and lightness of the skin are measured from the images and compared against the tone, colour saturation and lightness of each of the foundation shades to work out which shade is closest

• The device then reports the closest shade and the next closest shade to the skin colour measured

Basically it's a sort of skin scanner and in order to get a better idea of how it works I think it's best to see it in action. Check out YouTube Beauty Guru and one half of Pixiwoos, Sam Chapman as she demos the device.

Pretty cool huh?
My selected shade was Beige but after discussing with the advisor we decided that as I preferred a slightly paler look then we'd go for the next shade down in Cool Beige. I've been wearing it in the Stay Perfect Formula - ideal for long days and (ahem) late nights and it's done the job. Not only that but I have been getting comments on how nice and healthy my skin looks which leads me to believe I may have been going a bit over the top previously with my 'pale and interesting' look.

If you have any more questions then feel free to jump on the Boots No7 Facebook Page or drop me a line directly by either commenting on this post, through Facebook or Twitter. Definitely worth giving it a go!

This service is available in most large Boots Stores in the UK, search here to find the one nearest you.