Thursday 26 August 2010

Diary of a Makeup Artist

16th to 22nd August

Congratulations to Polly who featured in my blog posted on the 28th July. It was a pleasure to style her hair on her wedding day. I also showed her maid of honour how to take the veil in and out of the hair before I left. All the best for the future Polly x

Pictures from the bridal shoot I mentioned from my blog last week are fab. I was so pleased with the way they came out, as was everyone involved. I look forward to working with Donna and Zoe again soon.

My car had its final stage of sign writing applied and I now have the iconic face which is Beauty Call’s logo and I think it looks great on my car!

Six ladies got together to be pampered this week and all had great fun comparing tans after! Using Tantrick and Tandare for spray tanning I carry six different solutions starting at 5% for really fair skin tones going up to 18% for darker skin tones. I also have enhancer dropped for those who want to go even darker!

Want a great way to get instant French nails that dries straight away. Well Dashing Diva is great for those who normally have a French manicure. I am wearing them now and I am really impressed with how they dry straightaway without using any UV lamps or drying sprays. No dents or smudging how fab! Especially if you have not got a lot of time as these can be applied in half an hour.

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.

Jen x

Friday 20 August 2010

Diary of a Makeup Artist

9th August to 15th August

My toe nails are blinged up in metallic silver Minx. This week I trained in applying Minx to the fingers and toes, an instant way to achieve great looking nails that are ready to go with no smudging and instantly dry. There are over one hundred designs in the Minx range and I am pleased to be offering this to as another service in addition to the Hair and Make up options that are available for weddings, special occasion, wedding reception and hen parties.

Jenny had her trial this week (great name!). She wanted big hair, so I created height which held the fab tiara in place. All the rest of the hair was swept to the side and curled cascading down one side of the neck. Airbrush makeup was applied using Airbase foundation shade 03, blush and bronzer. All the Airbase products are available in the Beauty Call boutique. On the eye I created a dark brown smoky eye and applied full strip lashes after curling the natural lashes. I used salon system number 107 that are longer on the outer corner.

My copy of Shock Horror Magazine arrived on the doorstep and I was very excited to read the four page article on the feature film which I did the special effects make up for. There were also pictures of the makeup as well as a mention from the Director too!

Claire and Lesley, a bride to be and mother of the bride, both had a hair and make up trial together. Claire had short thin hair and thought there was no way her hair could be styled. Claire was thrilled to see that I had created an updo for her. I build up height and backcombed the hair on the top of the head then smoothed it out. I pinned in the back sections to create a small pleat with the front sections pinned in covering the tiara band. The tiara was diamante and black in design to compliment their black and white wedding theme. Lesley had a volume blow dry with the back flicked up and the top blow dried under creating a very full look. This was to give the hair body and make the fascinator Lesley had chosen stand out. Makeup was kept light on the eyes with lots of black mascara about three coats to keep the eyes open and some individual lashes applied to the outer corners to define the eye area. One the lips I use MAC creme de le femme over pencilled in lips to sharpen the lip shape and avoid feathering and bleeding of the lipstick.

My week finished as a hair stylist for an Asian bridal shoot. I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot and had a great time meeting and working with everyone. The use of colour is amazing and I loved the clothing and jewellery. I applied tikka’s to the hair styles that I created which were stunning. The first style was a bouffant with a plait coming down the side. The second was a bouffant on top with a pleat at the side and the rest of the hair curled coming down one shoulder. Next was a huge bun on top of the crown to support the legha with a smoothed out swept to the side fringe. For the quick change I did a plait coming down over the crown of the head coming into hang down on the shoulder. The final style was taken out to leave the style half up half down with tousled curls. That shoot was fun as the wind machine was used and some great photos were created. In all, six looks were achieved and I am really looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Take care.

Jen x

Diary of a Makeup Artist

2nd to 8th August

Congratulations to Charlotte who featured in my blog 28th June. I had the wonderful pleasure of making her over for her wedding this weekend at Hengrave Hall. What a gorgeous location for a wedding, I really enjoyed my time in the magnificent grounds and what a luxurious bridal suite to get ready in, amazing!

I have to confess I had a sneaky peak at the Beauty Call make up clips that were filmed recently. I can’t wait for you to see them as I think they are fantastic. They are short and snappy, and most of all easy to follow. Join our Beauty Call channel on You Tube to be the first to see them as they appear on-line.

I met with a photographer this week, Anna who has a studio in Linford Wood, Milton Keynes. Anna’s work includes weddings, proms, make-overs, pre-wedding shoots, family portraits – oh yeah and your pets too! Anna and I will be working together to offer promotion so you can have wonderfully applied make-up and your hair fabulously styled for you chosen photo shoot. I am really excited to be working with Anna and she is also on my recommended supplier’s page on the Beauty Call website.

Zoe (zoe hardwick photography), Donna (with love from pearl) and I got together to create Bridal photography. We had a great time out in the corn fields and at the water tower near Castlethorpe a very picturesque and unique setting. Using Donna’s wonderful vintage head bands and jewellery, I styled the hair and makeup to suit and cannot wait to see the end results. Huge thanks to our models Hayley, Amy and Claire.

More from me next week, bye for now!

Jen x

Thursday 5 August 2010

Diary of a Makeup Artist

26th July to 1st August

This week I was invited to the mixer evening at the Becca Cosmetics Boutique in South Kensington, London. I met up with Sam and Nicky (Beauty Call franchisees) and we enjoyed a glass of wine and some nibbles. We had a chit chat before trying the gorgeous products.

The boutique was wonderful and very glam! The products are amazing and I really like the packaging too. My makeup bag has now expanded!

Shimmering Skin Perfector (pearl)- Excellent for highlighting areas of the face. Apply a light amount around the eye, under the outside area of the brow. Just above the cupids bow to reflect the light and on the cheek. This will give a luminous finish.

Compact concealer – This compact is split in two. The medium coverage side of the compact is used for broader coverage such as under the eye. Use sparing under the eye as too much concealer can show all the fine lines on the delicate under eye area. The other side is for extra coverage so great for blemishes and spots. It is slightly thicker and more opaque. Apply with a concealer brush if you have one and roll the finger over the concealer to blend in.

Shuntang Eye shadow (Shimmer) - The pigment in the Becca eye shadows is great. This colour is amazing! It has green, gold, yellowy tones. This would suit people with olive and darker skin tones but also people with brown and green eyes too. It's a very versatile colour to have in your make up bag. Thanks to Nicky who told Sam and me about this colour, so we now have it in our kits. Once we tried it we had to buy it!

Also this week I met Becki for her bridal hair and make up trial. She wanted her hair curled. The front sections were then taken up and pinned in around the tiara covering the band. I created height behind the tiara by back combing and pinning the hair in. This area will also hold a full length veil so the backcombed area will be great at supporting the comb and holding it in place.

With Becki’s make up I begun by applying N3 face and body by MAC. Becki does not normally wear foundation so this was the best option for her because is light and has good coverage. I used Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector (as mentioned above). I tapped it on around the eye area in a c- shape contouring the bone around the eye. I applied MAC blanc type as a base to the eye lid. Then used Jane Iredale Putty eye shadow which is a matt mid grey colour then used Lancome dark silver from a quad palette on the outer corner and along the lash line as Becki choose not to have eye liner applied. Lots of black mascara was applied to the lashes. On the cheeks I used my finger to blend in some MAC crème blusher in Lillicent.

By the way it’s not to late to get your ticket to come to my next Tips, Teas and Tiaras great for brides-to-be to come and chat about their wedding plans. It's being held at Beretun Designs in Kingston Shopping Centre, Milton Keynes on Thursday 19th August at 7pm. Come and meet us for tips on wedding dresses, hair, make up and tiaras. With our compliments you will receive goody bag, cupcakes and bubbly.

Catch up with you again next week.

Jen x