Portfolio Shoot II

Erika. Photo by Jenn Tran.

Jame. Photo by Jenn Tran.

Lindsey. Photo by Jenn Tran.

Caitlin. Photo by Jenn Tran.

Paula. Photo by Jenn Tran.

Yesterday Jenn and I did a five hour session with a new group of women. Like the last session, it was a lot of fun with lively conversation. Most of the women weren't previously acquainted, but within minutes it felt like a girls' day with a bunch of friends. I spent about 30-45 minutes with each woman, working from notes I had taken in the days leading up to the shoot. I had done a lot of google image searches prior to look at celebs and period makeup, while jotting notes on which colors to use. When I finished a face, I turned her over to Jenn who was working in various places around my apartment. A favorite spot ended up being the wall of New Yorker covers in my front hallway. We had a run of ages between 23 and 34 (not that you could ever tell who's what age) and all women have remarkably lovely skin; it didn't take much to polish up their complexions. In some instances I used minimal color to simply highlight bone structure, focusing mainly on lips and skin. In others, I chose to dramatize the face in a way the owner wasn't accustomed to. A few ladies in this shoot rarely wear makeup, and I especially enjoyed their surprise and delight at seeing themselves in a new way. Capturing these looks for my portfolio would not have been possible without Jenn's incredible eye and use of light and surroundings. I am incredibly grateful to her for collaborating with me, and donating her talent to my fledgling business. My latest dream is for the two of us to be asked to make a book that features my makeup and her portraiture. Hey, it could happen!

Trend Watch: Minimalism

It seems like for years now we've been obsessed with flawless skin, heavily and darkly defined eyes, rounded-out cheeks and thickly glossed lips (something I will personally never stop doing!). Think the Kardashian sisters, the Olsen twins, Nicole Richie, Beyonce, Kristen Stewart and the kiddos on The Hills. It's almost like celebs can't leave the house without thick, dark liner and gobs of mascara. It's a great look...but it has lost some of its drama through its ubiquity. I mean, if you're doing a dramatic eye to grab groceries...how can you top that when you go out? And if your skin is always looking airbrushed within an inch of its life (though it does photograph beautifully) where are you in there? It's a high-maintenance look that can tend toward the grotesque if not done skillfully (see: Marilyn Manson...oh wait, that's the whole point). I've noticed recently however that we seem to be trending towards a fresher, cleaner, more neutral, natural face. I can barely contain my excitement.

Tiff, a natural beauty.

My muse, Tiffany was over this weekend and I decided to fearlessly explore minimalism on her. She was a great choice for this project because she and I always tend to do dramatic and colorful looks when we experiment. This would be uncharted territory for us. Lately Tiffany's been on a new skin care regimen that includes moisturizing liberally, microderm abrasion, upping her water intake and not tanning (yay!). Her skin was soft, healthy and ready to work with me. I started by doing her eyes up in soft pink iridescent loose powder shadow from lid to brow. Then I defined her crease with a neutral brown-toned pink matte shadow. I finished by pressing a pearly white-pink shadow onto her inner lid, and using it to line her top and bottom lash line. I took just a nip of warm-toned dark brown liner and pressed it into her lash line--I didn't want it to look lined, just wanted to define the root of her lashes.

I think she looks about 19 years old!

Typically I do the eyes first so I can clean up any fallout before I move on to foundation/concealer. Because these colors were bright and soft, I let the fallout stay because it brightened her under eye area nicely. I took concealer and mixed it with the loose shimmer shadow I used on her eyes and blended it into her under eye area, around her nose and on her chin--areas where most of us have some redness. I made sure to blend the concealer out as far as it would go--onto the apples of the cheeks, into the inner corners of the eyes. I then took a spot of liquid foundation smaller than the size of a dime and brushed it onto the rest of the face, buffing well with a soft, fluffy brush when I was done. The key is to let the skin show as much as possible. You're not trying to cover it up with a flawless mask. You want to allow the variation in our natural skin pigment to show. We all have darker skin under our eyes (duh, it's very fine skin with a lot of blood underneath), redness around our noses/mouths, brows, cheeks. We have freckles, moles, acne scars and fine lines. And we all have beautiful skin just waiting to emerge! What I tried to do here was brighten darker areas and minimize redness without turning Tiff's face into a doll-faced mask. I think the result is astonishingly beautiful.

We finished with a neutral light caramely brown lip pencil and a coat of Vaseline and a light whirl of neutral matte reddish-brown blush. When I showed Tiff how incredible she looked we all freaked out. My husband said he felt guilty even looking at her because she looked so fresh-faced and young. Compare these pictures with the others of her on here and notice the difference between these looks! It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see more of this look.

My Muse

Tiffany is one of those rare friends with whom you just know you're in it for life together. She showed up at my previous day gig as the new manager of a project I was working on. As we were introduced we looked into each others' eyes and there was an instant understanding. Tiff feels more like a long-lost cousin than a former colleague and as you might imagine we've spent a lot of time exploring beauty together. I like to tell Tiff she's my muse because from the first time I put makeup on her I found her to be the most open to exploration of anyone. Tiff believes the artist works best without direction, when she can completely tap into her creativity. As a result, she and I have tried many different styles on her deep brown eyes and smooth skin. I love knowing that I have a canvas that is completely mine on which to explore new techniques and color.

Portfolio Shoot I

This weekend, I was able to procure the services of my friend Jenn Tran, an amazing photographer. I had four friends model makeup looks for me (Jenn included). It was a lot of fun to showcase several looks and to play around with different features and skin tones. None of the girls had met prior to our session, but by the end we all felt it had been a uniquely fun, girlie experience. It got me thinking about the importance of bringing women together to celebrate individual and collective beauty. In today's horrific economy I doubt many of us are taking time together to feel pretty and feminine--there are too many things to worry about. It was an amazing opportunity that I hope I will get again.