A Hint of Green Makeup Session, 2016

It's after noon on Monday, January 2, and I'm attempting to be productive on my day off. 

It's now nearly noon on January 28, and I just realized I never share this blog post, which has been ready for weeks now. So here goes..

This makeup session was from several weeks back, and it turned out so beautiful that I had to get it up and share it with y'all. 

Of course, I'm still behind on a lot of my summer sessions. I was so busy during wedding season that I got so behind. And now I'm reaping the consequences in trying to play "catch-up." 

I can only hope that I'll be able to get everything up before the 2017 wedding season begins. 

Anyways, let's get the ball rolling with this post. 

Brittany was one of the few clients who didn't have an idea on what she was looking for and gave me free reign. I like getting to use my creative abilities and do things outside the norm. It seems like more times than not clients have an idea on what they'd like, and a lot of the makeup ends up looking very similar. 

I used the Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadow in "Ritzy" ($6) on her lid and blended it out with some smoky taupe browns. 

This was probably one of my favorite fall makeup looks of 2016, because it is different and it really made her natural features shine.

I chose to smoke out her lower lash line and water line to make her eyes glow. And to add some flared wispie lashes for a more dramatic effect.

We pulled the rest of the look together with the Laura Geller Blush-n-Brighten in "Pink Grapefruit," which is one of my all time favorite blushes. It is a rich orange-mauve blush with some shimmer. I believe you can get it at Ulta for $28. 

As always, I applied highlighter all over the high points (above her cheekbones, her cupid's bow and even the tip of her nose) for a soft glow. 

And last but not least, a deep burgundy lip shade which is the definition of fall. Personally, I'd just about wear wine lips year round, though.  

I'd love to hear what you think about this look, and what your definition of fall makeup is! 

Until next time.. 

xx- Whitney 

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. 

Fall 2016 Pageant Makeup for the Win

I love this pageant makeup I did for one of my favorite teens a couple months ago. Not only is this girl pretty, she's also got the sweetest personality. 

We've been working together for the past couple of years, and she is one of those clients that reminds me why I do what I do. 

She was competing in her high school beauty pageant, so her makeup had to be nothing short of GLAM. 

I came up with this gorgeous eye look and nude pink lip to balance out the drama. 

Marie said she loved it so much she nearly cried when she had to take it off that night, which melted my heart! 

This gold glitter eye I created with jet black liner really offset her green eyes. 

I also went with a strong contour around her face, which added a lot of dimension. 

It's really important to keep in mind that pageant makeup needs to be bold, be prominent. When girls are standing on stage, you want to be able to see those natural shadows on the face, see the smoky eyes. It really helps a girl's best features to shine through. 

Overall, I was extremely pleased with how her makeup turned out! And I am grateful and happy to share it with y'all. 

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! 

Warm Fall Makeup Session

So incredibly happy with this fall makeup I did a while back. Greyson is such a beautiful girl, and I really enjoyed working with and talking with her. I used a variety of Makeup Geek shadows to create this look, which is a vibrant gold and cranberry eye with bright fuschia berry lips.

My goal was to bring some color to her face that would accentuate the changing leaves outside, and create a glow that would radiate in her photography session that afternoon. 

This look is one of my favorites that I've created these last few months. And as always, I'm grateful to every client who gives me an opportunity to make them feel beautiful for the special moments in their lives.  

I hope you enjoy these, and I'm planning on getting a few more client posts up tonight! I'm feeling productive, and I'm on a roll now. 

Look out, Gussied Up Fans! 

I've Always Wanted to be Pink--And a Troll

Let me first preface by saying that as a child I LOVED Trolls. I'm sure I still have a few packed away in the playhouse at my parent's house. Hopefully I do; I'd like to give them to my children one day. 

The one Troll I remember playing with most had hot pink hair just like Poppy's. I always remembered thinking they were so cute with their bulbous noses and big eyes. And since a bulbous nose is something I am all too familiar with, and hot pink is my favorite color, I fashioned the idea to morph myself into Poppy. 

As you all know, the Trolls movie is in theaters now, so it's the perfect time for this post. 

I honestly had a lot of fun with this. It was something outside my norm, and I've been trying to learn as much as I can about FX and creative makeup. 

For this post, I'll be listing products I used and how I used them to create this look. Maybe after this you'll have an idea on how to create your own Poppy look.

Before we get into the makeup, I bought the headband with the signature troll hair for $3 at a store called Five Below. I looked on their site, and unfortunately, I don't see the headband on there. I wasn't even looking for Poppy gear. I like going into that store when I get a chance because it's one of those "plundering" stores where you never know what you might find-- and for five or less bucks at that. 

1. Now, the first thing I did was apply primer. 
2. Then, I mixed the peach + pink + white shades from the iMagic Flash Palette (an exact dupe of the $100 MUFE Flash Palette) to create the shade of pink I wanted. **I bought the cheaper version of the palette to learn how to use it before paying $100 for the real thing.** If I did this look over, I'd probably lighten the pink up even more than I did here. 
3. I tried to conceal my brows a bit to lighten them up, which didn't help as good as I would have liked. I'd probably try something else next time.
4. Next, I applied the pink mixture all over my face. And then set it with the MAC Good Luck Trolls Beauty Powder in "Play it Proper." I didn't mind the iridescence from the powder on my face (for once) because I wanted to have an all-over glow. 
5. Then I took the pink shade in the flash palette and used it to draw on a shape for my brows. 
6. For the darker pink face contour, hot pink cheeks, pink nose, pink eyeshadow and to set the brows, I used the vibrant pink City Colour Be Matte Blush in "Dragonfruit." 
7. I used the Too Faced Glitter Glue with some holographic silver loose glitter on my cheeks. 
8. Poppy has just a few outer lashes that give her eyes a girly flare, so for this I applied the Piper Ardell Adore Accent Lashes. And I tried to focus my mascara on the outer edge of my eye where I applied them. 

• I forgot to say that I also lined my water and tight lines with a black liner just to give a little definition to my eyes with everything being so pink. 

1. I applied some highlighter to my cupid's bow and some of the natural highlight areas. 
2. And lastly, I used the MAC Good Luck Trolls Lipstick in "Dants off Pants Off" and the glittery pink MAC Good Luck Trolls Lipglass in "Bubble Butt."

I hope y'all enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed the pink pores I had after removing all of this, haha!

If you have any questions, or if you recreate this look, I'd love to hear from you. I hope to do more fun and creative makeup posts in the future. 

Thanks to all of you who have been patient with me as I've slacked. I still have what feels like a million and one Portfolio pics to post from makeup I've done this year. I will get there slowly but surely. 

I hope you all have a great weekend! I'm doing some volunteer makeup this afternoon for a fashion show with proceeds which will aid domestic abuse victims. It feels good to be doing something to help those who actually need it. 

xx 

-Whitney

April 30, 2016 Prom Clients

Christmas Dance makeup 12/15

December 2015 Wedding

The beautiful bride, Paige, was such a pleasure to work with. She was beautiful. And it turns out, I'd known her from when she was a small child. To see her having grown into this beautiful and sweet person just made everything come full circle. I am truly honored to have shared her day with her. 

Her eye look is one of my favorite I've done for bridal makeup. The peach and silver eye brought out her natural eye color and really complimented her skin tone.