Day 2 of the LA Makeup Show to come soon!

I know I promised a few days ago about part 2 of the makeup show, but I am still waiting on some pics, so I will update when I get them :)

Summer Days and Nights

I know I promised a round-up of Day 2 of the LA Makeup Show, but I decided to leave that until tomorrow and post about Summer Rayne Oakes today...since I mentioned her first a week or so ago.

As I had blogged, I was attending the launch of Summer Rayne Oakes book "Style, Naturally" and she also asked me to do her hair and makeup for the event.

It was a beautiful day in Venica, CA when I arrived at the house of her friend she was staying at. It was such a lovely sunny day that we decided to soak in some rays and do her hair and makeup outside. It was definitely a good call!

Summer Rayne's dress was a beautiful black cocktail dress that had a very archetictural structure to the front and we really wanted echo that in the hair. Whatever style I decided on, she had one request: Beachy waves! So I decided to bring the front of her hair up and over to one side, and had a couple of levels of height in the front that ended in a cascade of waves.

For her makeup, we decided a smoky look would be best since it was an evening event and she is a pretty natural girl normally. Breaking away from that and going glam was definitely a change!

After I brushed and teased and pinned and sprayed and adjusted and sprayed some more, and blended and curled and added more shadow and then blended and couple of more times, she was ready. She looked and herself and loved it. I was so happy with the way the look came out and complimented not only her naturally gorgeous features, but the style of her dress and shoes.

Here are some pictures from the event:




Now for the product round-up! To get Summer Rayne's look, here are the products I used:


I airbrushed two coats of foundation using Temptu S/B Foundation



I then set the foundation with Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder



I gave Summer Rayne's beautiful cheeks a peachy glow with Tarte's Powder Blush in Flip Flop. Unfortunately these babies are discontinued, but you can still get them on Tarte's website under "memory lane".



To highlight her face, I also used Make Up For Ever's pressed Shine On Powder


I always prime the lids with my favorite Primer Potion by Urban Decay



I couldn't do without my pearl paints! Summer saw my palette and immediately exclaimed "Oooh! I love those colors! Let's use those".



I also used Yaby brow powder on her lovely arches.


I *love* these Aqua Liners by Make Up Forever. For Summer's look I stuck with basic Black.



And last but not least, I fnished the look with two coats of Bourjois Say Oui! To Volum Mascara.

I had such a blast working with Summer, and I hope to have to opportunity to do so again!

Day 1 Of The L A Makeup Show

Today I attended day 1 of The LA Makeup Show hosted by the Powder Group. My friend Chris Guerra (www.christinaguerra.com) and I headed over to Downtown LA where the show was being held and met with a few fellow artists from our makeup/hair forums at the cafe across the street from Cal Mart. The food was delicious and the conversation was quite enjoyable. We got to met Sue (http://www.smmakeup.com/) a lovely makeup artist from Australia, Verity ( http://www.modelmayhem.com/verity ) who is also from Australia but moved out to LA in September, and Angela (http://www.angela-renee.com/) from Sacramento.

After gorging on breakfast we headed to the show, where sadly the checking in process was horribly slow and disorganized. We waited about 45 minutes in line just to get in.

We saw Billy B. (http://billybbeauty.com/) give a lecture and demonstration first. He was really friendly, funny, (and most importantly) honest about the in's and out's of the industry and how even to this day he works for free at times and is still reaching goals he never though he would accomplish.

Here are a couple of pictures from the lecture:


Afterward, we hit the booths to do some shopping. I was amazingly surprised that the only cosmetics I purchased today were some fabulous Face Atelier Lip Glazes (I mentioned them previously in a couple of my posts). They had a great show special, so I picked up three that I needed in my kit as I just ran out of Flamingo and wanted to have a backup of Peach. I also bought Cameo which is a luscious nude...I may buy more colors tomorrow ($28 for three is an incredible deal!).

Other than replacing the Face Atelier glosses, I didn't need any other makeup for my kit *Did I just say that?* so I focused on the basics that I love to buy in bulk at the shows.

I grabbed a big bag of Alcone sponges *LOVE these sponges* and a bag of smaller velour puffs for when I am on set.

My favorite (And most exciting) purchase of the day was the portable airbrush compressor by Sparmax. I airbrush ALOT (like 90% of all my jobs) and I have grown to hate lugging my Silver Jet compressor. Granted, it's not THAT heavy...but it is another piece of equipment to carry (Especially when I have to do hair...I have a backpack for all my hair stuff, my train case for my makeup AND a bag for my airbrush compressor and accessories. It's alot to carry!!). So, needless to say when I researched portable airbrush compressors, this one stood out in my mind:

Not only does it come with a carrying case I can clip around my waist *GASP! I don't have to actually hold it? Sold!* it comes with a hose for the airbrush gun, a battery pack (with charger) or a connection to use if I am near a plug. No more fumbling with my airbrush bag?? Be still my heart!

Chris and I went to lunch with my friend the talented Rachel Rose (http://rachel-rose.com/) who happened to be working at the OCC Cosmetics booth. We had a gab fest over really fattening fast food *we really needed our sustinence ;) * and overall had a great time.

Tomorrow, my friend Laura Judson and I are hitting the show and we are going to listen to our friend KJ Bennett (http://kjbennett.com/) who works with Make Up For Ever give a seminar and then do more shopping!

I have to pick up some Crown Brushes (if we can even get through! That booth was crowded and busy all day!) and I may pick up the set apron from Make Up For Ever. As I have mentioned a few *hundred* times, anything to make my life on set easier is a huge plus for me. I have a little set bag, but the pockets don't always fit what I need perfectly (pockets are either too big or too small generally) but it does the job. The set apron is something you can either attach around your waist OR sling over your shoulder. It has room for brushes, hairspray, brushes, combs, powder, puffs...literally anything you would need to carry on set with you so you can leave your kit in the makeup room. They ran out today *pooh!* but they may have more tomorrow so I am crossing my fingers and I will report tomorrow if I get it or not.

Tonight was a mixer/afterparty for the makeup artists but being the old lady fuddy-duddy that I am, I came home and crashed. Open bar or no, I needed to unwind and relax from walking all day.

I will report day 2 of The Makeup Show tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Busy Days

I've been bad. Really bad. I haven't updated my blog in over a week! Bad blogger! Bad!

Ok, now that's off my chest I'll explain why i've been M.I.A. I not only work on set, but I also do many weddings each year. In fact, I have my own bridal beauty business that is separate from my freelancing and it really picks up after Valentines Day. I can confidently say that the Spring wedding season is in full bloom. My week was jam packed with scheduling previews with brides, conducting previews with brides, and making sure my lovely freelancers who I send out to weddings I cannot personally do myself, have those previews and wedding scheduled in their books. It's pretty exhausting.

This next week should be a little more calm (but I'm sure that will change come Monday morning!) as it seems I have just one commerical set for this week and on Thursday I am doing Summer's hair and makeup for her cocktail party that my dear photog friend Courtney and I are attending. Pretty easy week and I am looking forward to it all.

I wanted to post a story from late last year (December 2008) as I found a couple of photos I took of all the pretty hats and accessories. Enjoy!