My Best Friend's Wedding, October 2016

Although Jessica and I have only known one another for a few years now, we became fast friends and have endured a lot of tough stuff together. 

I was so honored when she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. She's one of those few friend soulmates we get in life. 

I first met her when her now husband, Brock, and my boyfriend, Adam, planned a double date for the four of us. 

She's SO funny, very loyal, and has listened to me rant and complain and cry over a million things to Sunday. She's also smart. She's an RN and a lover of travel and basically just a great person. 

So you can imagine, it was not only an honor to be in her wedding, but an honor to also do her makeup for her wedding. 

I'd never done her makeup before her wedding day, surprisingly. 

Here, I've provided a before-and-after to show you what all we did with her face. She had some redness that we concealed, but her skin wasn't hard to work with. 

Also, she has those baby blue eyes that just glow with the right makeup. 

The dominant colors in her wedding were navy and maroon, so I decided to create something that would complement those colors, especially with this being a fall wedding. I used several Makeup Geek shadows to create this look. She's pretty laid back, so she gave me free reign. 

We went with a neutral pink lip, which wouldn't overpower the rest of the makeup. I wanted her eyes to be the main focal point. 

Below, I've shared a few photos from the wedding, including my makeup as a bridesmaid. 

Enjoy!

The Bridal Party: Maid of Honor, Bride, and two Bridesmaids 

                   

My bridesmaid makeup was very natural, but matched the
fall theme with a burnt orange eye and natural lip. 

Smoky & Sultry Fall Session

 

Kara is a repeat client. Every year we get together so I can do her makeup for Halloween. This year she chose to be a flight attendant, and we decided to give her a "smoky and sultry" look to top it off-- hence the title of this post. 

The deep smoky eye and bold red lips are classic. 

Marilyn Monroe would be proud. 

But while we're on the subject of the overall look, can I please point out how great her skin is?! My only job was to give it the glow it needed to pull everything together, which I did with ample highlighting and a side of bronzing. 

I also gave her brows a slight more dramatic touch than her everyday wear. But it was necessary to help frame her face and make everything look polished. You have to understand, that as an artist, I see everything in terms of balance. 

Overall, I loved this look. I think it's one that would compliment anybody's eyes, face structure, skin tone, etc. 

Would you be bold enough to rock this look? Leave me comments and let me know! 

Gold + Berry Eyes for Fall

Absolutely LOVED working with Kalyn on Saturday! I actually met her when she was doing photography for a wedding I did makeup for earlier in the year. Out of all of the weddings I've been a part of, that bridal party, set of photographers, and everyone else I met made me feel so at home. It's so cool to me to network in this way, and to meet people I wouldn't have met had I not worked a wedding or an event. 

Being a fancy photographer, she had an event to photograph that night and basically just wanted to feel glam for it. 

She's actually one of my favorite kinds of clients. The kind that trusts your abilities and basically just gives you free reign to make them up how you see fit. I did the berry eye because I knew it would warm up her blue eyes. And you can even see in the first picture just how much they look as if they're glowing. 

For the look, I used mainly the Morphe 35O palette, and also the Morphe Jaclyn Hill Favorites palette. 

For her lips, I used a very natural lip shade with some berry tint to it. I do believe it was a Palladio retractable lip liner. 

If you have any questions about Kalyn's look, any suggestions for what you would like to see next, or any comments, feel free to leave them below! 

xx 

Gold Glitter Glam Halloween Makeup Session

As my knowledge and skills have increased over the last few years, I've done some work I've been very proud of. But the eye makeup I did for Kara last Friday really took the cake. I wasn't even sure what I was aiming for, but was so pleasantly surprised with how the eyes turned out. 

Her makeup was actually part of her Halloween costume as Forrest Gump's woman, Jenny. I know Jenny doesn't wear this much makeup and looks a little more natural in the movie, but seeing as it was Halloween and all, she wanted to go all out. 

This eye look started as an everyday gold and brown smoky eye, but we amped it up with the gold glitter I packed onto the lid all over the gold shadow. 

To make it even more more dramatic, I gave her stark black winged liner and thick black falsies. 

You can see that I also smoked out her bottom lash line with brown and black, and I used the black liner to also line her waterline. I tend to lean more towards smoking the lash line out with shadow and lining the waterline rather than using eyeliner solely across the lash line. I hate how lining the bottom lash area closes off the eyes and can sometimes look sloppy if recklessly drawn on. It's best to smoke it out with the deeper shadows, so that way you're giving the eye a softer and sexier smoked out effect. 

Lastly, I applied a pink liner and pink lipstick to her lips to give them a hint of color, but not to over-power the glam of the eyes. Remember, save a bolder lip for a more natural eye, and keep lips more natural when you do a more dramatic eye look. The opposition helps to bring out the right features in the face and show off whichever you've spent the most time on that day. 

If you all have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments! 

I'll also be uploading (late, I know) my Halloween makeup from this year, so keep watch for that to be up on my blog soon! 

xx 

Wedding Party Makeup 10/10/2015

On Saturday, I did makeup for an old friend and her sister for their older sister's "big day." We had so much fun, and they're both so pretty that it made my job easy. I love working with people I know and feel comfortable with. 

Since this was for their sister's wedding, I tried to give each of them a toned down glam look. I used the Lorac Mega Pro (no longer available) and Lorac Pro 2 ($42) for their eyes. 

I tried to stick to a dewy and fresh look for Tori's face makeup. She has the perfect features for contouring and highlighting. 

Also, with her eyes, I did a champagne, rose gold and grey look to emphasize the blue of her eyes. The wedding's colors were chocolate brown and coral. 

I used the MAC Fluidline ($16.50) in "Blacktrack" for her top liner and I also applied it to the waterline. 

Girlfriend has such awesome brows and long lashes that neither needed much work. I did minimal filling in on the brows, and we used a few coats of waterproof mascara to protect her eyes just in case she got teary during the wedding ceremony. 

For Tori's natural lip, I used the NYX Slim Lip Pencil ($3.49) in "Mauve," which is the perfect natural shade to enhance the natural pink tint of the lips. 

Campbell is in seventh grade, so I didn't want overdo it on her makeup. I chose a natural champagne eye look and topped it off with MAC Fluidline ($16.50) in the shade "Dipdown" for her winged liner, which she requested. I chose the brown shade versus black because I didn't want her eyes to look too heavy or dark, and the brown offered a slight smoky appearance without being too much for her age. 

I used a bronzy shade on her bottom lash line, which accentuated her blue eyes and added a pop of color. 

Lastly, I used a natural pink lipstick on her lips to give them some color and shine without being too dramatic. 

While this look is appropriate for her age, I also feel that it would look great on everyone. I did not contour her face, but did some slight strobing on her cheeks and nose to give her a soft glow. 

All Shimmers & Barbie Pink Lips

Love, love, love this look! It's so perfect for summer. I'd personally wear it out during the day, but if you prefer to save your bolder lip shades for girls' night out, then you could definitely reserve this look for the nightlife. 

Chelsea has such lovely features already, but I love how the peachy shadow complements the azure hue of her eyes. Apricot shades just always look gorgeous on blue eyes. 

And as you all know, I aim for an overall dewy look on all of my clients unless they have severely oily skin. She loved the dewy glow I gave her, and I have to agree that it really goes well with this look. Her cheek highlight and the areas I highlighted along her t-zone and on the inner corner of her eyes just give her face an ethereal appearance. 

The nice sheen is part of why I think this look is very suitable for daytime. It's just very fresh and opens up the eyes to give the face an overall "awake" and "refreshed" look. 

Products are all listed below, as per usual. Leave me comments for any questions, suggestions, or requests. 

Products Used: 

Face Primer: Skindinavia The Makeup Primer Spray  $35-49

Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion   $20

Foundation & Concealer: Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour Creme Foundation using a bit of shades "Ingenue" "Graceful Swan" & "Vixen"   $19.99 each 

Setting Powder: Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in "Translucent Extra Coverage"  $7

Bronzer: NARS Bronzing Powder "Laguna"  $39

Blush: A mixture of NARS Blush shades "Deep Throat" & "Orgasm"  $30

HIghlighter: NARS Highlighting Blush "Devotee" (limited edition)

Eyeshadow: 

• Stila Eyeshadow Compact "Kitten"  $18
• Sigma Individual Eyeshadow "Grasp"  $11
• NARS Single Eye Shadow "Galapagos"  $25
• Coastal Scents Hot Pots  "Snow Bunny" "Oatmeal Tan" $1.95 each

Liner: MAC Fluidline "Dipdown"  $16

Mascara: Maybelline Volum' Express The Mega Plush Mascara "Blackest Black"  $7.49

Brows: ABH Brow Pro Palette   $88

Lip Liner: NYX Slim Lip Pencil "Fuschia"  $3.50

Lipstick: CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick "Spellbound 325"  $4.47

Lip Gloss: MAC Lipglass "Girl About Town"  $15

Setting Spray: UD All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray  $30

Gold, Bronze & Blackberry Makeup

Loving this bronzy eye look with a deep blackberry shade in the outer corner! The bronze on the bottom lash line really helps to brighten and accentuate her beautiful baby blue eyes. 

She has very light brows, so I filled hers in to give them a stronger shape and add more definition to her eye area.

Her skin was beautiful underneath the makeup, too, with freckles and hardly any blemishes or enlarged pores. I tried to give her a summery glow and only lightly bronzed her skin to give it some depth and warmth. 

I went with a nude-pink lip to offset the eyes, and it went so well with her eye color and natural skin tone. I didn't use any gloss, but the sheen of the lipstick gave her lips a slightly glossed look. 

As I previously mentioned, I aimed for my usual summery glow for her skin. The bright and fresh face appearance is just so wearable for any skin-type or shade. 

As per usual, I'll be listing all of the products I used at the bottom of this post. 

Products Used: 

Face Primer: Skindinavia The Makeup Primer Spray  $35-49

Eye Primer: Urban Decay Primer Potion   $20

Foundation: Graftobian Hi-Def Glamour Creme Foundation using a bit of shades "Ingenue" "Femme Fatale" & "Vixen"   $19.99 each 

Concealer: Graftobian HD Glamour Creme Palette Ultra-Lites  $28.99

Setting Powder: Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in "Translucent Extra Coverage"  $7

Bronzer: NYX Cosmetics Highlight & Contour Pro Palette  $24.99

Blush: MAC Archie's Girl Blush in "Cream Soda" (no longer available)

Highlighter: E.L.F. Studio Baked Blush in "Pinktastic"  $3

Eyeshadow: 

• Coastal Scents Hot Pots  "Snow Bunny" "18K Gold" "Oatmeal Tan" "Timeless Taupe" "Black Berry" $1.95 each
• Lorac Pro Palette "Nude" "Gold" & "Garnet" $42

Eye Liner: Wet N' Wild Fergie Creme Liner in "Cocoa Riche"  $4.99

Mascara: Maybelline Volum' Express The Mega Plush Mascara "Blackest Black"  $7.49

Brows: ABH Brow Pro Palette   $88

Brow Highlighting Pencil: NYX Cosmetics Wonder Pencil "Light"  $4.49

Lip Liner: NYX Cosmetics Slim Lip Pencil "Nude Beige"  $3.50

Lipstick: (need to cross check lip colors before sharing)

Setting Spray: UD All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray  $30