Wedding Makeup Series Part 2: What should I look for in a makeup artist?

If you didn't catch my first post on whether to hire a makeup artist or not for your wedding, you may want to click here! If you're looking into hiring one, read on! Grab a cuppa as it's a long post! I know I won't have covered everything, so if I've missed something, please ask me and I'll help if I can. I’m not as up to scratch on hairstyling, but these questions should work for both.

 

 

First and foremost, look for your artist (duh!). Googling makeup artists in your area may come up with all sorts of artists - for fashion, TV, film, stage, special effects, etc. While plenty work in many areas, not all will be suited for your needs, so obviously look for bridal specific websites or pages on their websites.  Once you've found one you like the look of, take a good hard look at their website or page. They should have a variety of examples that look like they're from different, real life weddings and events (this goes for your wedding photographers as well!). Before and after shots can be helpful when choosing, although this is dependant on their clients agreeing to put the before shots online so plenty of artists won't have these. Make sure your artist is local or local-ish to you before you contact them - a lot of artists will travel to you, but that will almost definitely cost you more.

Before I start on specifics, remember: no one can choose your makeup artist but you! You need to go with your own gut feeling about who will work best for you, and remember if you have a trial with someone and you don't like them, you don't have to book them. I've listed some things to think about/questions to ask below, but a lot of this may be answered on the artists website, so click around and have a read through first! There are a million and one specific questions you may want to ask your artist, but don't be afraid to ask , no matter how silly it may seem to you. It's your money, face and wedding day photos after all!

 

Questions to ask/Things to think about:

What makeup do you use? This is a question that will make most pros roll their eyes if you ask them, but it can be important. The answer you're looking for, unless you have a specific question in regards to allergies or similar, is something along the lines of "I use a wide variety of brands to ensure I get the best results on the day." You are not looking for "I only ever use MAC/Chanel/whatever!" A good MUA will have a wide variety of brands, (often including professional brands that most people won't even have heard of) but trust me, if you like the results you've seen on their website, then it's good stuff! If you're hung up on only using one brand, I'm really sorry but you need to throw that thought right out of the window!  I don't know *any* makeup artist that only uses one brand unless they work for the brand.

 

What do you charge and what is included? Now this is a minefield, as there will be a huge variation in cost for makeup artists and this can depend on so many things - what city you are in, the size of your bridal party, whether you're having hair and makeup, or one or the other. However, your artist should be able to give you a clear breakdown of costs of costs and what is included, for example "Brides Makeup and hair + Bridal Trial (Bride Only) = £XXX, plus bridesmaids/MOTB hair and makeup £XXX each, (wedding day makeup/hair only, no trials)" If it's not clear, ask for a breakdown. Sometimes prices will be listed online, but in my experience, most will give you a quote for your party instead, as putting something like  'Bride + 2 Bridesmaids incl. Bridal Trial = £XXX" online will result in people contacting them and saying 'But it says £XXX! Why won't you do my nine bridesmaids, my mum, my mother-in-law, the Vicar, my cousins, dog and next door neighbour for that amount?!!", so don't be suspicious if they're not. 

And remember - makeup artistry isn't cheap. It doesn't have to cost you the earth, but it's worth Googling and comparing artists in your local area to get a good picture of what you 'should' be paying. I can’t tell you what you should be paying because it varies so much, but don't expect it to be twenty quid, okay? A skilled makeup artist will be worth the money, I promise. Once you’ve set your date, start researching so you can get a good idea of what it will cost and start working it into your budget.

What is this contract? Why am I paying a deposit? Your makeup artist, like every other vendor you're hiring for your wedding, is a business. I will say it again - they're not a person doing it for a giggle, they're a business. It's in their interest to protect their business, so like other things you'll get for the day, you will most likely have to sign a contract, pay a deposit, or similar to guarantee your booking. Like anything else you might have to sign for your day, read it carefully. It will most likely have boring details like cancellation policies, etc.

I have scars/pigmentation/scalp issues/tattoos/allergies/another skin issue/tattoos I want covered. Can you help? This won't be relevant to everyone, but if you do have an issue, it's better to let your makeup artist know straight away so they can look after you to the best of their abilities. If you're looking for them to do makeup on other people in your wedding party and one of them has an issue, make that known as well. A good makeup artist should be able to cope with any of the above 'issues', but it does make it a hell of a lot easier on them if they know beforehand, and you know any concerns you have will be looked after. Win-win.

With regards to covering tattoos or large birthmarks, etc., this is often a service you'll have to pay extra for, so make it known before you get your final price - no-one is going to do it on the day for you if you haven't told them first! It's time consuming, a different skill and using probably different products - that's why it'll cost more.

How will you ensure my makeup/hair will last on the day? Again, every  artist will have different ways of ensuring this. All artists should be able to tell you they'll use thing such as long wearing foundations, setting sprays, layering techniques, or a combination of these or similar techniques to ensure a long-lasting look. Someone MUAs will build a little touch-up kit for you to take with you (often these will have powder or blotting paper, q-tips, a lipstick or sample of the lipstick you're wearing, breath mints etc.), some will purchase a lipstick on your behalf for you for you to take, and some even have an option where they will charge extra for them to stick around and do touch-ups after the ceremony, etc. Again, this is something that’s probably going to be on their website, but it may be worth talking about in your initial consultation if you have concerns. It's certainly worth talking about if you're getting married in a different climate than you're used to, or in a particularly hot/humid time of the year.

 

What happens at my trial? Lots of people don't understand why you have trials for your wedding, but they're for lots of reasons! Basically, it's to make sure you'll be happy with your makeup on the day – you’ll be discussing your skin/hair type and how to care for it before the day, your dress style and colour scheme, what style and colours of makeup you like, what you'll need for touch-ups – everything! All of this also cuts down on time on your wedding day when you'll feel like every second counts. Your artist will talk you through how they do their trials, but they can be really fun as you get to see your ideas come to life! Your artist may ask for a photo of you before your trial too, so they can see your skintone/hair type, etc. At the end of the session, you most likely will have seen your final look - squee!

Do you have references? If a makeup artist gets good feedback, they'll probably be shouting about them anyway on their website or Facebook page because they're great for their business, but if not and they're something you feel comfortable seeing, feel free to ask!

What qualifications do you have? In some countries/states you need qualifications to practise makeup or other cosmetology/aesthetic services, but in some you won't. Make sure if you have local laws requiring qualifications that your artist is legit and has what they need to work, but remember that regardless of this, the persons work should speak to you instead of what school they went to. You can be qualified through the roof but that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily any good. You don't need to ask what school someone went to if their work speaks for itself.

How do you chose what look to go for? Can I send you pictures? Gathering makeup looks that you like can be really helpful to your artist – much like when you go to the hairdresser! Sending them a link to your Pinterest board with 1,001 totally different images on won't help them work out what you're looking for though, so try to narrow it down and if you can, let them know what it is you like about the look, i.e., "I love this colour eyeshadow," "I like the pin-up vibe here," “This hairstyle would suit my dress.”   Bear in mind one look may look totally different on different people, so if your artist tries to explain how to change something to work for your skin tone or eye shape, please listen to them!

I’m a person in black/Rainbow Brite Impersonator and I wear crazy/heavy makeup day to day. Can you still help on my wedding day? I know lots of people who wear ‘non conventional’ makeup still want help on their big day. If you normally wear a lot of makeup or a certain style of makeup, mention this to your artist and/or show them photos and stress you want to look like you! They may even ask you to wear your usual style to your trial so you can nail your wedding look together. If you do wear this style of makeup and your artist won't listen to what you want and work with it, don't book them. It's a simple as that. There will be someone out there who will help you make a 'bridal' version of you, I promise.

 

Keep hygiene in mind!

This is probably the most important part! A quick Google of 'how can I tell if my MUA is hygienic' should tell you all you need to know, but if your artists kit looks dirty, smeared or dusty, if their brushes don't look clean, if they double-dip products (i.e., use the mascara brush that comes from the tube when it's not a fresh tube that they will only use on you, apply lipstick straight from the bullet without disinfecting before and after, applying lipgloss from the tube), have dirty nails, don't have disposable mascara wands, if they don't sanitise/wash their hands, any one of these is a massive red flag. Run away, run away, run away. You might feel comfortable sharing makeup with a friend or sister (I may share a lip balm with my sister for example, but my professional kit is cleaned both during and after each shoot or client, and I make sure they SEE me doing it!) but a professional needs to keep clean at all times -risking giving a client pinkeye is not even thinkable and that is NOT something you want to deal with on your honeymoon. Seriously, hygiene is so important in a professional for health reasons, plus people who don’t clean their kit usually don’t take care of it in other ways – dirty brushes don’t blend as well, unsharpened pencils won’t get as crisp a line, etc., so you won’t get as nice a result anyway!

Disposable mascara wands.

My mate’s doing my makeup!

What about if you want a non-professional to do your makeup? A friend, a cousin, etc.? This is sometimes awkward, because we're all awkward talking about money with friends and family. If they're good at makeup, whether they're pro or not, and they're close to you they may well offer, which is great! Someone offering to do your hair or makeup is a really nice gift, no? However, whether they're a pro or not, you should still ask them to do a trial, and you shouldn't take them up on the offer if you're not 100% confident they'll do a good job. If it's someone close to you, things can get pretty awkward if the result is not what you were expecting. You don't want to hate the makeup on the day and associate those feelings with your friend! You can always use the 'I'd prefer you to relax and enjoy the day,' line which is pretty legit, and lots of people do genuinely feel that way about people offering them services on the day. However, if you do want someone close to you to do it and they don't mention it, ask them what they'd charge - they may give you a good rate, and you won't know if you ask. If they do offer it for free, it's nice to maybe give them a gift if you can, but at least make sure you shout about your makeup to everyone you know and help promote them a little.

Generally speaking, if someone doesn't offer, please don't ask them to do it for free , especially if they're a pro and that's how they make their living. It's not a nice conversation for them to have and you won't get the answer you want. It's their business, after all! Too many makeup artists and hairstylists get people crawling out of the woodwork when their wedding comes around and it's very frustrating. This goes for all services – cakes, photography, etc. I don't mean to lecture, but it's a bit of a pisstake.

 

 

Phew! Well, I hope that helped someone out there! If you can think of anything I’ve missed, please let me know! I'm going to be addressing those of us who are doing our own wedding makeup in my next posts, as well as putting together an inspiration gallery for bridal makeup.

Do I Need to Buy Different Makeup For Halloween?

Halloween is just around the corner and if you're like me, you'll want to have both an awesome costume and not spend any money. Sadly these hardly ever go hand in hand, but luckily for beauty bloggers, MUAs and makeup geeks, we have a lot of makeup at our disposal which can really help when Halloween or other fancy dress occasions come around. While I would never discourage people from buying funky special effects and theatrical makeup, it's not easy to get hold of good quality stuff and just isn't something most people are going to uses. This post is going is about what makeup is worth buying for very casual SFX use and what you can use that you probably already have.

 

White foundation: White foundation is *so* handy to have for Halloween! It can be hard to find, especially at this time of year, but Illamasqua and larger Barry M stands in the UK both carry them, and brands like Kryolan and Ben Nye both have them available online to buy fairly cheaply. A white foundation can be mixed with so many things - it can be mixed with other foundation colours to change them, or used all over the face or body as to create a blank canvas to allow you to colour your skin. To an extent, it can be mixed with loose pigments as well. Foundation is worth getting as opposed to greasepaint or facepaint as you can use it after Halloween is over - mix a little to lighten your usual foundation and you've got yourself a darn good highlighter! If you're planning on doing this, try and get the type of foundation you normally use, i.e, cream or liquid. I really dislike the nasty cheap cream makeup you get at Halloween – it smells bad, it doesn’t apply well, you can’t store it or use it more than once due to the packaging and it’s almost certainly worse for your skin than your usual makeup.

 

Eyeshadows used over a white base to create a fantasy look. (Yes, I know it’s pink.)

Matte eyeshadows: See above. It may take a little longer than using cream makeup, but blanking out your face and using shadows means that most of us won't be spending money on expensive theatre makeup and you avoid those god-awful cream palettes that pop in in costume shops. A good neutral palette can be really helpful at Halloween - a couple of deep browns, a black, a cream or white and a grey can be really helpful for creating undead or dirty looks or aged makeup. A matte plum, red and yellow can also be useful for bloodied or bruised looks. Always, always go with matte if you can - shimmery shadows don't tend to go well with spooky makeup, and shimmery makeup in photography can both look gritty and contribute to the makeup looking washed out.

Setting powder: If you're creating any looks with cream based products or even with just more makeup that you're used to, a translucent setting powder . For purposes of costume makeup, any old setting powder will do. Pressing a larger amount than usual over the makeup with a puff and then brushing the excess off will keep your makeup good n' fixed.

Using a felt liner pen to sketch out villainous eyebrows!

Felt tip liner pen: Seriously, these are great for everything. Liner, obviously. Drawing fangs, stitches, 'cracks' for creepy dolly looks. Freckles, eyebrows, 'shadows' for pop-art makeup, widows peak hairlines for Dracula, KISS makeup... everything. Plus they're cheap and intuitive to use.

 

Using eyeliners to sketch out a zombie jaw.

Cheap lipsticks and eyeliners: Or even your more expensive lipsticks and eyeliners, this one is really about thinking outside of the makeup box. Eyeliners easily double up as lip colours or to draw designs on the face - your black eyeliner will save you from buying a black lipstick you'll never use again! Lipsticks can be used in place of cream paints or to colour eyebrows.  Just bear in mind the textures of what you're using if and whether that will need to be set, as well as whether what you're using is eye or lip safe. Eyeliners easily double up as lip colours, lipsticks can be used in place of cream makeup, cream eyeshadows can be used all over the face, blah blah blah blah. I would add to do a patch test of your usual makeup to see if it stains – something that might not stain your lips may stay a different texture of skin, for example, so do a wee test!

Mascara: Mascaras are great for drawing beards, moustaches and darkening eyebrows. If you're a girl going a a dude, or a guy going as a pirate or someone who needs an odd beard shape, your mascara will really work wonders. Wipe the excess off your brush and dab it sideways gently on the face to get stubble.

Sponges: Sponges might seem obvious, but ripping and tearing the surface of the sponge can be really useful for creating mottled, gross effects on the skin.

A translucent setting powder and some lipliners that I use often for regular makeup lined up with some special effects goodies…

If you buy *one* thing from a special effects store or brand, some good fake blood will really be worth it and can be got fairly cheaply – I love Ben Nye's Fresh Scab/Thick Blood. Please, please steer clear of the cheap, 99p fancy-dress shop blood - it looks horribly fake and can really cheapen an otherwise good look. If you do get this, get a couple of tubes and try play with adding coffee grounds or pigments to get a more realistic, less syrupy-looking effect. It *will* look better than neon cheap blood, I promise! Another thing I see a lot at Halloween that is really awful is crappy ‘scar putty,’ often in kits with aforementioned crappy cream makeup, that mostly just falls off or  ends up looking like blobs of chewing gum on the face. If you need something to add texture, or to create scars or zombie flesh, buy a small cheap bottle of liquid latex from eBay or Amazon and play layering that with toilet paper and other textured stuff you might have lying around like cereal (srsly, porridge oats can be awesome!) Something that is even more fool proof but a little more expensive is a substance called rigid collodion, also available from SFX makeup retails. Please read up on this before using as it’s NOT something you want to get near your eyes, but it’s basically a liquid you paint on your skin and as it dries, it contracts and creates a puckered scar-like effect which you can then apply makeup over to look like really realistic scars!

While this post  may seem obvious to most of you, I've told so many of my friends that they don't actually need to buy all that much, or if they do, to buy something they will actually use again that I thought it was worth writing!

What are you going as for Halloween? *Be prepared* for my costume!

Where to go makeup shopping in London

One of my favourite things to do in London is, naturally, makeup shopping. I do this shopping walk over and over again and love it, and it covers most things you could ever want from a makeup shopping trip. Makeup can be had in any department store, shopping centre or area of London, but I stick to this little route a lot and it covers everything. I've also listed some other stores elsewhere in London that are worth a visit.

I'm super lucky to have met some wonderful bloggers from around the country and abroad and I always enjoy shopping with them. This weekend I met up with the lovely Sam from Kiss My Sparkle and our friend Jade and off we went!

Face charts at Illamasqua, prettiness at Benefit and pigments and glitter at Makeup Store.

Starting your stroll just off Carnaby Street, the Illamasqua store is an absolute must-stop for makeup lovers. The store is absolutely beautiful, and it's normally quieter than the stand at Selfridges so the MUAs there can give you their full attention. Jade and I spent a good time drooling over their beautiful face charts, the studio at the back of the store where they hold classes, the quirky Gothic furniture and of course, all the beautiful polishes and makeup, while Sam was matched for SkinBase by a lovely, friendly MUA.

Snippets of prettiness from the Benefit parlour.

Heading back onto Carnaby Street, the brand-new Benefit store is so girly and worth a stop by! Sam and I picked up some of the Creaseless Cream Shadows and I was actually pretty impressed by their new blush, Rockateur. Downstairs they have a full-on beauty salon for waxing, nails, spray tanning and blow-drys, complete with a champagne bar! It's definitely somewhere I'd take my sister or one of my besties for a pamper day and I can see it becoming a popular hen-do spot with it's cute decor and central location.

Continuing down Carnaby Street you'll see the Swedish brand Makeup Store on your left. I absolutely love the Makeup Store - the glitters and pigments are amazing, and they have a gorgeous home spa section as well. If you buy something, you get a discount on thier own magazine which I always pick up. It's absolutely stunning and as good as many editorial makeup books I've paid ten times the money for!

 

Treats at Choccywoccydoodah! Not makeup, but whatever.

Coming out of Makeup Store, head straight across down Fouberts Place to MAC Pro on the corner. As well as carrying all the usual MAC products, they carry lots of other fun things for professional use, like acrylic body paints and the Chromacakes. MAC Pro is conveniently right next door to Choccywoccydoodah! I stopped in here with the girls for the first time and ordered a white hot chocolate and a dipping pot with lots of little bite-sized version of their treats and left in a full-on sugar coma. This is a really nice, quirky place with lovely kitsch decor and fun music to stop off at and rest your feet, and the staff were absolutely lovely and made us feel very welcome.

 

Back off to Carnaby Street and off to Liberty! This is one of my favourite shops in London as it's so beautiful and easy to get lost in for a couple of hours. Head through the chocolate shop and you'll come out into the perfume department - I love it here as there are so many posh and unusual scents in a posh-Great-Grandma’s-house setting. There's lots of nooks and crannies to explore in the beauty department. - the Hourglass counter is worth a browse and if you head up a couple of floors, the bath and body section is always decked out beautifully. If you’re into candles, this is where you wanna be.

 

A long line of pretty at the YSl counter in Selfridges

Leaving Liberty and heading back onto Regent Street and then Oxford Street, turn left and keep going until you reach Selfridges! You will pass a (newly refurbished but Art Deco-less) Debenhams  and a John Lewis, but Selfridges beauty hall kicks their butt. I freaking love Selfridges beauty hall. Hooooooooo mama! As well as favourites like MAC, NARS and Bobbi Brown, I love going to the Shu Uemura and Armani counters, and I always stop off to drool at the crazy expensive Tom Ford products! I noticed the new Charlotte Tilbury stand was super popular too!I took some advice from the lovely guys at Kiehl’s about some male skin care while the girls drooled over the Suquu range. Heading to the back of the beauty section you'll find all the polishes and less high-end brands like OCC and Bourjouis, as well as quirky brands like Paul and Joe.

If you're a real hard-core shopper, you can go to Carnaby Street via Regent Street, and stop off at Penhaligons, an absolutely beautiful per fumier, and LUSH for all your favourites. Then go through all the shops above, but instead of continuing down Oxford Street from Liberty, nip into Topshop to check out their own range of makeup and the huge Barry M stand. Before heading into Selfridges, there's a large Boots on Oxford Street - skip all the counters as you'll see these in Selfridges, but it's a good chance to pick up UK brands you can't get elsewhere, and a Body Shop or two as well. Similarly, take a right as you leave Selfridges and there's a huge Superdrug for even more UK high street goodies like Sleek and MUA!

That's usually quite enough for one day, but there are a few other gems dotted about London as well. If you're in Westfield White City, the OPI store and Models Own Bottleshop are great for polishes. KIKO (also at Westfield Stratford) is fast becoming one of my favourite makeup stores and have they amazing products for great prices, as well as great sales. The only Inglot store in the UK is in Westfield White City as well and I could go on and on about how much I love this brand! If you're in either Westfield, the large Boots have a great range of French pharmacie skin-care brands, too. If you’re shopping at the White City Westfield, PAM is a short walk away and has an amazing range of professional and colour brands such as Makeup Forever and Illamasqua, as well SFX goodies galore and amazing brushes from brands like bDellium Tools and London Brush Co.

Central London-wise, if you're in Covent Garden a stop at Charles Fox on Tavistock Street is an absolute must – lots of amazing special effects goodies (buckets of vomit, anyone? Fake beards?) and wonderful colour products from Kryolan, Ben Nye, Illamasqua et al to play with. There's also a SpaceNK a short walk away in Seven Dials along with a MAC, Bare Minerals, Benefit and Shu Uemura.

My modest haul for the day! Thank you, Boots BOGOF!

If you have any London-based shopping questions, please just let me know and I'll do my best to answer! Where do you like to shop for makeup?

Anatomy of a Photoshoot

Most of you will know by now that I do some makeup work on the side - it's by no means a full time job for me (yet! Fingers crossed!) but it is something I work very hard at and put a lot of hours into. A friend of mine made a comment last week that made me realise that most people simply don’t know how much work goes into a photoshoot! I did a beauty shoot just over a week ago and this post documents everything that goes into it - from my point of view, anyway! Preparations for models, photographers and stylists are of course all different but take just as much if not more time. Not all shoots involve this much planning, some require more and some less. Each one is different.

My friend Yat Tang was the photographer for this shoot and it was his concept. I’ve worked with him a few times and his work is beautiful. In a more professional setting he would be the client, and everything would need to be approved by them. He sent me this inspiration board:

And then I set up my own Pinterest board to gather my thoughts and ideas as well:

 

Once I'd seen the models Yat had cast, I came up with a rough face chart for each and sent them to him for approval:

 

One of the looks involved making a hair piece which I knew would really help take the photos to a better level.  I spent a couple of hours in the shops searching for bits and bobs for it, and I also went foraging for leaves, twigs etc. I then spent an afternoon making the head piece which was very tricksy actually! I don't always make things for shoots, but if it's applicable I like to add that extra level of my creativity and it often impresses the team as well. Other things I might make include nails and other head pieces, like this and this.

Here I am sewing hair donuts together to get the size and height I want. Hair donuts can be very expensive in some places so I bought el cheapo ones from Primark and made with the scissors!

Halfway there…

And finished! Sewing real leaves together is a pain in the butt! It’s not the most fabulous thing in the world but trust me, it looked great in the photos.

The day before the shoot, I spend up to two hours cleaning my brushes and packing and re-cleaning my kit. It doesn’t always take that long, but if I’ve left it till the last minute and have no clean brushes left, which I do all too often, it can take a while! I’ll double check everything before I leave for the shoot at least twice as I have a huge, huge fear of leaving my brushed behind! I could substitute many things for something else in my kit but no brushes = disaster!

My first model, Donna, was at 9.30pm and we shot with her until 1pm. She had a pretty simple, soft look with oranges and pinks. Her hair and makeup took perhaps an hour and a half, maybe a little longer. This sounds like a long time considering the look but it's important to get it right. Her headdress was made on the day as we were using fresh flowers. Here's a timelapse video and some BTS shots of getting ready and starting to shoot:

 

 

Beauty Shoot with Donna Time Lapse from Yat Tang on Vimeo.

 

As you can see, Jade isn’t dressed up at all! If you’re only shooting headshots, quite often a model will just wear what they came in or something on the top half. Lots of beauty shoots are just shot in a strapless bra.

I hope this illustrates that behind the scenes things aren't always as glamorous as people image them to be! Lots of studios in London are in unromantic places such as business parks, hidden behind car parks, on industrial estates, etc. When I first started going to studios I wondered if what I’d gotten myself into was dodgy due to the locations!

Finally, here are some of the images:

It seems like a lot of work and it is, but seeing a beautiful image you helped create is so amazing. There's nothing like it! After a shoot, there’s not much work for me and the model – obviously I have to clean a lot of brushes and my kit, but you soon get used to doing this all the time and have a little routine so it doesn’t take too long. Small things like packing dirty brushes separately from ones that haven’t been used helps a lot.

Hope this was interesting to some of you - please check out Yat, Donna and Jade's pages, and if you're in the London area, Dock House Studio.

Week In Pictures

 

Well, sort of! I’ve recently joined Instagram as @staybeautifulmakeup, please let me know your usernames so I can follow you! I do keep it mostly makeup related but post other stuff as well.

Last week was my birthday! I had a great day shooting, and the photographers wife made me these amazing cupcakes! There are makeup ones and Disney ones and they were all different flavours. So awesome! After the shoot, I watched Eurovision with friends because I’m so cool.

And here’s Darren Flynn shooting the amazing Anna. She is such a babe, I can’t wait to show you the pics from this shoot!

And here’s some weird gothic makeup I did on the amazing Jenna Betts, who is cool as fuck.

And then I went to Brighton for the long weekend! Stared with a dripping double C’s shirt and leather everything else…

And got glammed up for the evening! My lips are actually MAC Magenta and Candy Yum Yum.

This is me and the birthday boy, Ross. I love him lots like jelly tots.

We went out again the next day and this was my makeup – the lip is MAC Nightmoth which I am so in love with…

…and I paired with a sugar skulls dress!

I won’t do these posts too often –unless you like them! - but I’ve been bloody busy so this a bit of a cop-out post.

March Favourites!

March has been a rather fab month for me… I’ve been enjoying work, been on lots of fab shoots and been having a rather nice time with Boyfriend. I’ve been so busy I’ve not been wearing much makeup, but I do have a few favourites to share! Feel free to link me to your favourites posts/vlogs!

Clockwise from the top:

 

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream: I’m not a big BB cream user or expert, but I really, really like this one. Kathy gave me a sample last year and I fell in love. It’s pricier than a lot of non-counter BB creams on the market at £18, but it’s well worth it and I happened to get a surprise discount at the till so this was actually only £11 or so. It’s got SPF 25 which is fabulous as I’m terrible for not wearing sunscreen, and my dry skin absolutely loves it. It leaves a nice dewy finish and just makes my skin look fresh and healthy. I do need concealer with it for blemishes, and prefer to powder my T-zone but it actually lasts rather well.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Light In Purple: Holy shit, I love this product. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and have managed to use it on four models so far – I should probably put it away! It’s a lovely blue-lilac duochrome and while it is slightly sheer, it can easily be built up and it’s just the prettiest, prettiest base for blue and purple looks.

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder: A lot of fuss has been made over this product! The sculpted product is really appealing in the packaging and looks a lot like the MAC Extra Dimension Skin Finishes that were brought out this year and the texture is very, very similar as well. I’ve seen this compared directly to Whisper of Gilt which is absolute madness – W.O.G is a bright gold, this is a pearlescent pink. It looks more champagne online and in the pan, but translates on the skin as pink, not dissimilar to Benefit Highbeam. I love this type of shade and to have it in a powder form for just £3 is great!

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden: I was gifted this as it didn’t work for the original owner (thank you, Joey!) and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve not bought UDPP for a long time after discovering a cheaper alternative that I preferred, but I actually really like how the yellow tone in this dials down the veins on my eyelids and allows me to wear a light wash of colour without having blue veins peeking through.

Makeup Store High Tech Lighter in Stardust: I’ve reviewed this here, so you may as well go check that post out if you’re interested. Great stuff, want more, nuff said.

Le Maq Pro Petite Palette Concealer (Light and Medium tones): Man, these things are freaking awesome. Tiny palettes not much larger than a credit card, filled with all different correcting and concealing cream makeup. They’re about £25 each from PAM, and they are SO worth it. So handy for my makeup kit and everyone is very intrigued by them! I’ll do a full review and swatches for these if anyone would like.

Darling Girl ‘Honey Love’: This is a beautiful pinky-nude lipstick shade, and while it’s not my favourite lip colour ever on myself, it is an absolutely perfect cream blush colour and I’ve been carrying it with me in my makeup bag for ages!

 

L-R: Dr Jarts, UD Eden, Maybelline Light in Purple, MUS Stardust, Darling Girl Honey Love, MUA Highlighter.

What are your current favourites?

Makeup Transformation!

There’s been lots of posts flying around with people’s before makeup and after makeup photos this week. I always find before and after photos endlessly fascinating – I know the power of makeup and what it can do to change someone's appearance, so I’m more interested in it as the way people choose to express and present themselves.

I quite often do shoots where people are just meeting and getting together to try new things and network and these shoots sometimes won’t a theme. When I work on somebody else without having a specific brief, it’s up to me to interpret that person and make sure everyone involved is happy with the look. My model for this shoot was very young and fresh-faced, so I wanted to do something fun with a pop of colour but nothing too overwhelming or blocky.

Model, Becca Edwards. Photographer, Amir Dotan. MUA, Robyn Skinner.

This  is the lovely Becca who I’ve had the pleasure of working with a couple of times and she is an absolute doll. The first shot is a no-makeup makeup look– a little blush, a little lipstick mixed with balm, some light foundation and concealer and a little eyeshadow just to help define her lashes. I groomed her brows slightly and added mascara and she was done. The second look is more full on and I didn’t change her skin too much (I added a very light contour and some more base) and did a nude lip, just the eye makeup and false lashes alone really changes her look – I used the Sugarpill Heartbreaker palette to do a simple cut-crease cat eye.

 

1st Photo, Photography by Nicole. 2nd photo, photography by Darren Flynn. Model, Francesca Love. MUA, Robyn Skinner.

These two shots are both the same model as well, and there was a specific brief for each of these shoots. The first one is an older shot from a ‘Creepy Dolls’ themed shoot we did a long time ago now! The second is from a recent shoot we did where I made all the accessories out of paper. The lighting is very different, obviously, and the retouching is different too (different photographers for each shot) but you’d never guess it was the same person.

Obviously the power to transform someone’s look in a photograph doesn’t just come from the MUA – the models, photographers and stylists all play their part – but I always look straight at the makeup in any shot! ;)

I don’t really have a closing point to this post… I just love ‘before’ and ‘afters’ and different looks on the same person!

Behind The Scenes

Photos of me doing makeup and bits and bobs from shoots. This is why I should have a tumblr I guess! I don’t know why people love BTS stuff at shoots, but they’re really popular for some reason and I always love getting them back!

Me doing Exhayle’s makeup. From a shoot with Chris Stacey.

And this is me turning her boyfriend, Demon Daz into a dandy steampunk gent! Shot by David Long.

With Darkhorse Photos at Adrian Pini studio, as we so often are! These are both pretty old photos but I can’t remember if I’ve posted them before.

Me doing the lovely Gemma Renata’s makeup at Murder Mile Studio this weekend, and me and a whole bunch of models/stylists from the same shoot. L-R (ish) Whiplash,(redhead) Sarah Kawaii, (purple hair) Maja Stina, (mohawk) Gemma Renata, (redhead in black latex) Shelley D’Inferno, (designer, pulling a lovely face) Sophie Cash (floral wreath), Betty Havok (black hair) Poppy Thorn (red latex bra), Saara Inkeri Nissinen , Krystal Johns (hidiing), me (awkward).



This is Alice Bizarre, who is totally fit and amazing. She’s one of my favourite MUAs, if you’re into horror, gore or SFX, GO AND CHECK OUT HER SHIT. She’s the bomb. And she makes a badass cuppa.

 
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Me making Carly Thornton, a fitness model, look even more gorgeous. Shot by the ever lovely Rich Newnham.

Some zombie makeup I did for a late-night zombie video shoot… we scared some children and then their mum came and gave us tiramisu?!




A really cute dolly shoot – the model, Ivory Flame, was stunning! She reminded me of Jayma Mays. Shot by Rhinoa’s Photography.



Old photo of me by PUMP photography – I don’t even remember what we were shooting that day, but there was a big old car chassis outside the studio, a spare photographer and a hat… I use this as my profile picture on portfolio sites, haha!



I taught a class on makeup to some City and Guilds photography students – this is me attaching some feather to my friend Dolly Donnahue.  Their tutor wanted them to learn about working with other creative people. They all got really involved and asked lots of questions, which was fab! And yes, I was shitting it!





The Pinupzania shoot we did at 5.00 in the morning on Westminster Bridge was featured in Vintage Life, Cats Meow, and a couple of local papers– noice. I did Dakota, the blonde, and Hannah in the black dress, as well as Dolly (black pencil skirt and beehive.)


PLEASE check out my awesome talented photographer and model friends, they allow me to play with them and create awesome images, which makes me a very happy and grateful bunny.