Sunny with a slight bit of haze

The beautiful Makenna one more time: the same girl, the same day, different mood.

Royals

 This is the model from my last post… same day different mood

Remember to keep checking back for a breakdown of hair and makeup styling.

Angelic Vintage Glam

I just love this model. She was so easy style. Her hair skin and facial features along with these vintage pieces of clothing worked well for the mood of the shoot. It seemed like every thing she tried on inspired me and the photographer (Marta Elena Vassilakis).  Stay tuned for more pix from this shoot followed by cosmetic and hair breakdown. 

Demystify the Cat Eye

… So, does the cat eye makeup technique leave you scratching your head? If so… don't cry, you are not alone. This is challenging even for many makeup enthusiast. Here is some instruction that will work for most everyone. 

Keep an eye on the eye!

 Believe it or not, this application is as easy as 1 2 3…

Before I give you some of the tricks in my bag… I want to share a tip for a clean liquid liner eye frame. When you apply liquid liner, use the lashes as your guide. Instead of tying to create a perfect line on the lid, place your brush on the lashes and slide along the lash line and you will never get it wrong. This technique can be used for the simplest of eye frames.  

 I know this sounds too simple, But every time I teach it, I get this reaction.  

The technique draws a crowd every time.

 Now, let's build upon this simple eye line at take it to the dramatic cat eye.  

Step 1. With the eyes open (left), mark the intersection where the eyeliner will pass through the crease of the eye. 

Step 2. Mark where you want the eyeliner to end. The diagram on the right is what the points will look like when the eye is closed. Every eye has a different shape so these points will look different on every eye. 

Step 3. The image below shows your final step. Connect the dots and fill in the shape. When the eye is closed there is strange triangular shape, but if the technique was done correctly, you will end up with a perfect cat eye sweep of liner.

Simply Beautiful

Makeup and Hair Jacquetta Sorensen 

Photo Marta Elena Vassilakis
First Model Patience
Second Model Karissa

These two simply beautiful looks show the power of focusing on one feature of the face.

Both models skin was prepped with a light moisturizer and primer. I used TIGI Whipped foundation on both models (color #1 applied with the foundation/concealer brush. The one on the far right). The whipped foundation is a cream to powder matt finish. I love this for HD photography. 

I then used a mascara wand to apply TIGI concealer to the brows. Just rub the bristles with the stick of concealer and comb into the brows for this really interesting effect.

For Cheeks I used Haute (top right) on Patience.

On Karissa I used Awaken (bottom left) . I only wanted to apply a wash of color to the cheeks so I used the powder brush (first brush on the left). I loaded the product just slightly to the lower portion of the apple of the cheek. I then transitioned the color back toward the hairline and temple… making sure the color is completely blended away before it hits the hairline. 

 

For the lips I custom blended colors I do this often because I'm a control freak and I just feel the need to make the color exactly what I want. Patience's lips were the focal point of her makeup. The color was a mix of black lipliner and Passion TIGI lip color.  Karissa's lips were a mix of Splendor, and finesse TIGI lip color and concealer. Both of the custom blends were mixed on a pallet then applied to the lips with a lip brush (4th brush in from the right). 

Patience eyes were a wash of golden bronze shadow and a ton of brown mascara… keepin it simple.

Karissa's eyes were the dramatic focus of her image. The technique for this is simply complex and I will break it down in a post to come. For now, just know I used TIGI black patent eyeliner… I love it for the shine. I didn't use mascara. I like the way her blonde eyelashes are highlighted with the contrasty black background.

Sun Kissed… What is Balayage, anyway??

What is Balayage, anyway?

Although these next images aren't technically Balayage… there was a bit of hand painting in this color process. The model already had a beautiful rich color. She only wanted to add a touch of radiant dimensional bronze tones for the summer. This technique only requires 12 color packets

I use TIGI Color Meches so I can paint the color where I want it in the packet. In the application I used decolorizer and color in the same packet of highlights to create a very random and soft effect. There was very little done to the hair but it created a high impact. 

A lot of women want some change in their hair for the spring. Let this be inspiration to try something subtle and beautiful during these sun shinny months, and enjoy a little sparkle in your life.

A brush of fresh hair