Oops!

Just a quick update, some followers said they couldn't see my Hawaii and On-Set pics, so I have fixed those for ya in case you couldn't see them either. Thanks!

Summer Vacations and Getting Back To Work

Aloha Everyone!
I am so sorry I've been sort of neglecting my blog lately :( These past few weeks have been incredibly busy yet wonderful, and I just wanted to give an update and rave about a new product or two!

First of all, I was busily preparing for my birthday/big summer vacation trip to Oahu, Hawaii namely Waikiki Beach! I had never been to Hawaii and was very excited to go. This is the view from our window as we were preparing to land. Isn't it beautiful?


This was the view from one of our balconies.


It was incredible! We were able to see the largest fireworks show on Oahu perfectly from here. I couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July!


I was very sad to leave, but I know I will go back soon :)

Anyways, I've had quite a bit of work lately (which is great!) so that is why I haven't really had the energy to blog, but I'm fully recharged and ready to go with a couple of product reviews and a shot from yesterday's commercial shoot.



I recently fell head over heels in love with Too Faced Cosmetics Metal Eyed Liquid Metallic Liner. What I love about it is that it isn't a glittery liner like Urban Decay's (although we all know a good glitter liner has it's time and place and can be quite wonderful!) but this is rather a highly metallic liner. I love to use it all over the lid as a basis for an incredibly smokey eye.



I am also digging Gerda Spillmann Bio-Fond foundation. This little gem is what American Idol's key makeup artist uses on the contestants, and I can see why. It's a creme foundation that delivers a heavy medium-to-full coverage without looking or feeling heavy. An added bonus? They petite sizes that are perfect to de-pot and stick into your Yaby palettes (Freestyle or the 8-well ones) are only $16 this month. Joy! You can get the most popular colors for under $80 and they will last you forever as you don't need very much of the product at all.

I will be back in a few days with some exciting updates!

I love a good highlight

For those who do makeup (whether on yourself or on other people's faces for a living) regularly, you will understand where I am coming from. There are certain aspects of the face that you become semi-obsessed with. It might be the brows. I was pretty obsessed with full, thick, luscious brows a couple of years ago. If a model had ample brow hair, I would be there brushing through them, adding a little brow powder here and there, more brushing, and then finally lightly gelling them into place. *You can see a good example of this phase below*


I know someone who is currently experimenting with the perfect foundation-to-luminzer ratio that will give the skin a healthy glow without looking dewy. You would think she is trying to prove a molecular theory with the amount of work she has put in. But it's important to her nonetheless, and I know exactly where she is coming from.

These days, I am obsessed with highlighting. And not just the act of highlighting but finding the products that impart that almost natural sheen to the high points of the face. After much experimenting and product testing, I have found some products that I realize I must always have in my kit just for this purpose.

Make Up For Ever Shine On Compact Powders


These are absolutely gorgeous highlighting powders and I really don't know what I would do without them. The give the skin a luminosity that is not sparkly or glittery. I will describe it as almost iridescent. If you are able to play with them you must!

Smashbox Soft Lights in Tint

Wow. Just wow. Tint is a fabulous color for medium-t0-deep skin tones. It's a mixture of peach, pink, gold, apricot and champagne which looks just heavenly on warmer, deeper skin tones to highlight, and even more so when the light catches is just so. I daresay you could use it as a blush on lighter skin...

Benefit Hollywood Glo


While I am a huge fan of powder highlighters to gently sweep across cheekbones and the bridges of noses, I am definitely all for mixing a highlighting creme with foundation. I love Hollywood Glo when I am not only applying makeup to the face, but the body as well. It's as if I crushed dark beige colored pearl and sprinkled it into foundation. It's creamy and dreamy and I love it!

Kevyn Aucoin Beauty Liquid Shimmer in Gold



For beautiful, deep complexions with a golden undertone my go to product would be Kevyn Aucoin's Beauty Liquid Shimmer in Gold. Again, I mix this more into the foundation rather than actually applying it on top of the skin just because a drop or two adds just the right amount of luminosity and the pure gold color is spot on. Gorgeous!

Until I become obsessed with another aspect of the face, I will revel in sculpting my talent's faces with highlighters and allow myself a little moment of "ooooh" every now and again ;)



Model: Brandie
Makeup: Moi
Photographer: Courtney Dailey

Let's Go Viral!

Wow! Two blog posts in one day? This has got to be a record ;)

Just a quick post - Remember when I posted about the gorgeous model with the fabulous lips? Well, Courtney Dailey worked on those images and made them into cool little pics to be passed on to friends or those who just love a pretty picture :)

Here they are and feel free to forward them to anyone you would like! We want them to go viral :D

SCRATCH Magazine

Good news!! The photograph I posted under the title "Nailed It", along with the rest of the series (there are about 5 other pictures) were picked up for the August issue of the UK magazine "SCRATCH" !

We will get the cover (the turquoise nails and lips) as well as an editorial inside.

As much as I want to share the rest of pictures with you *they are gorgeous* I cannot until they come out in the magazine :( But I promise to post them as soon as the mag comes out :)

Behind the Scenes - A Week of Shoots

Last week was quite busy for me as I had three shoots scheduled. Two were tests with models and one was a commercial shoot.

The first of the week was with a model for possible stock photos (yay for $$$!) and also for portfolio building purposes.

Here is a quick behind the scenes shot of the first shoot of the week (stock):


We also did some on-location that day, but because I was helping hold the reflector, I couldn't snag some photos with my phone.

The next shoot of the week was with this GORGEOUS Australian model who relocated to Los Angeles and had the most gorgeous face. At certain angles she reminded me of Angelina Jolie.

We did some really clean looks and then we did a creative lip series. Since she has such fantastic lips, we did a look with some red glitter, super shiny iridescent gloss and one with about 7 or 8 different colors melded together. I cannot wait to get the pictures from this shoot back! I was so excited I didn't want to take any phone pictures as that would just not have done the looks justice.

Last but not least was a commercial shoot on Saturday. It went very smoothly and I think they will be a good set of commercials. Here are a couple of pictures from my vantage point on set:





(In the photo above you can see my lovely set bag. I love it so much! If you are wondering the brand, it's from Luxor Pro. It is so light but hold LOTS of products).

And there you have it! As promised, as soon (and I mean the minute they arrive in my inbox) I will post the lovely lip series from my mid-week shoot.

Lip Service

Hooray! I finally received the final pictures from a shoot I did about a month ago with Courtney. First we did some really clean looks, and then let loose with a fun beauty series focusing on just the lips, playing with color and texture.

I think they came out very well, and our lovely model Jolette did such a great job. I've posted them below.

As far as products, Surprisingly, I didn't use an actual "lip product" on any of the looks. I played scientist and mixed some products together to get what I wanted. For the pink and purple lips, I used my trusty Yaby eyeshadows mixed with Face Atelier transforming gel and topped with a clear gloss, while the yellow lips were actually Cinema Secrets creme makeup, and since it was super emollient, no gloss was needed.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! I will post a snippet about my quick and fun shoot today on Friday.