Pretty Pout

Beauty of Balance

For this shoot, I had to work with a delicate balance between softness and strength, between classically preened and urban edgy, between feminine and androgyny.   

The model is a pixie cut with a long fringe. The cut is styled with BedHead wax stick. The hair is tousled and left in its disheveled state. This sounds easy… and it should be, however it does require some bravery and a good sensibility for the beautiful balance. Simply said, You just have to know when it is or isn't right.

Her makeup is also styled with a balance between natural and intense. What makes this makeup beautiful is the strong focus on one feature of her face. This makeup wouldn't have the same impact if her lips and cheeks were as strong as her eyes. When you look at this image you can't help but to be drawn into those eyes.  

I think the challenge of a good artist is to understand when you haven't pushed it enough, and to understand when you've pushed it too far.

Classic Beauty

Photos by Marta Elena Vassilakis

Red lips and black precision eyeliner (TIGI Cosmetics)… Need I say more?

Cosmetic breakdown: TIGI Cream Foundation in Fair

                                   TIGI Blond Brow Defining Pencil 

                                            pencil in your shape by lining against the hair grow (to color hairs) then use 

                                            the tool at the end of your TIGI pencil to groom and soften the line.

                                   TIGI Vanilla High Density Single Eyeshadow 

                                            sweep the whole eye

                                   TIGI High Density split 

                                            sweep the crease (gold) 

                                            and dab the tear duck area (mix gold and silver) 

                                   Two sets of dimi lashes and a mascara application …top lashes only

                                   TIGI Black Patent Liquid Liner 

I like to use the lashes as my guide.  Lay the applicator on the lashes, slide the length of the brush next to the skin, and glide along the lash line. Start in the middle of the lid (where you want the most concentration of color) and glide to the outside edge of the eye. Don't reload your wand with product. Use the wand that has slightly less product to apply liner to the inside corner of the eye in the same manner as before.  Don't forget to lift the brow while you apply product. This will insure that you get the color close to the lashes. 

                                   

                                   TIGI Glow Blush in Brilliance

                                   TIGI Decadent Lipstick in Luxury 

                                   Red lips need to be applied with precision so use a lip brush

These next photos were taken by me.

Same beautiful technique, just on a different beautiful face. This model has some slight color changes however the application in the same. Use a foundation the leaves the model/client flawless ( if her skin is already flawless don't over use foundation, less is always more when it comes to foundation and/or powder, especially when she will be photographed). This model has a slight line on the lower lid from the outside corner and faded to the center of the eye. She is also only wearing one set of lashes. Only TIGI Cosmetics were used.

The hair was prepped with TIGI Strong Mouse and Ego Boost (split end mender). Then the hair was blow dried with a round brush, smoothed with a flat iron and roller set. Ever section through the top was rolled back except the 2 front rolls, which were rolled forward. The back and side sections were all rolled down. Each roller was placed right on the section base and the base should be the size of the roller. After removing the rollers the hair was shaken and finger combed into place. You should shake the hair by sliding your hands under the hair and placing your finger at the scalp, then gently shake the tresses till the curl break up in a way that is pleasing to you. Then lightly finger comb the hair into place.

Our Little Secret

I love to follow this blog for so many juicy reasons… check this inside info
http://intothegloss.com/2014/02/fashion-week-cult-beauty-products/

There are three products here that I use all the time.

1. TIGI Queen For a Day
This product is a foam spray that gives the locks fantastic style memory to create massive glamorous hair.

2. Avian Mist
This is an incredable way to set the makeup leaving the face free from that awful powdery finish.

3. Rosebud Salve
I love this as a finish product for creating a dewey finish to the lips, cheeks, lids, or all three.

free hand

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Free hand fun

One of my fav's

I had the opportunity last year to work backstage for a show in Chicago. I took my camera just in case I had a minute to archive some of the beautiful work that was being pumped out that day. It was a blast bringing together the skill of multiple artist to create one vision. I love what magic happened that weekend. I want to share some of the photos and break down the makeup for you. For this post I wont really talk about foundations, but I used TIGI foundation for all the models.

For the model above I used masking tape to create this… umm… mask. I cut the tape for the bottom shape. I placed the TIGI black shadow using the dome brush wet with liquid enhancer; loading at the top tapeline, transitioning to color downward, and then blend away. I left the lid natural. I repeated the process with the yellow from the VIP pallet and a clean dome brush, working upward form the bottom tapeline. Now, one more time, use the black brush wet to strengthen the top line… quick before the wet shadow dries… apply your black glitter with the blending brush. Give the outside corner of the eye a straight line. Add a slight brush of the orange to the cheeks, and a blot of yellow shadow to the lips for an edgy Avant Guard look.  

Below Eye colors come from VIP pallet and Gold from to TIGI Glitz duo. The details were created by color washing the orange over the eye lid, then loading yellow with the shading brush… not blended. I loaded the end my brush heavily with Orange and very intentionally placed the color to create this whimsical lash impression just under the eyes. The checks were done with Haute TIGI blush, and Serenity for the lips.

Below is a slight variation of the look from the previous photo 

Here is a wash of Glitz gold on the eyes, and serenity on the lips.

Bring on the drama with a cocktail of black liner and Luxury lip color to create the dark blackberry lip.

Here silver and gold from the Glitz split shadow was used on the eyes (gold in the inner eye and silver on the outer edges). I wanted this makeup to have a very monochromatic feeling, so I used serenity on the lips and then dabbed the gold shadow over the lip color to highlight the center of the mouth… fantastic on the pale blonde

The model above and below are the same girl… wow, the power of change! She had beautiful brows and lids for the sultry cat eye. I gave it a little twist by masking of this mime inspired line through the center of her eyes, and shadowing the line from dark to light.

more glitter  

                    

            

TIGI Liquid Enhancer and black were used to create this intense black with a glitter overlay. Gold Glitz under the eye adds a interesting pop of color to this look.

more VIP

Be inspired… then educated

Keeping with the theme of my last post…

I have used only one model. I did her hair and makeup once before arriving on location, and then tweaked it two additional times within 1 1/2 hr. time span. I shot all of the photos in the same small parking lot/alley (all within a 30 yard. range from each other). I will breakdown this hair and makeup in at the end of this post.

If you love photography, check my photography blog and I'll breakdown this session.

http://jacquettastylephotography.blogspot.com/  

Now to break it down for you…

Hair:  I wanted the first shots to have a prim feeling so I kept it neat. I like the way this beautiful ballerina baby doll looks in contrast with the urban background. 

Here is some tutorial for how I achieved this look.

First prep your hair piece. Use inexpensive synthetic extension hair, the type that is curly and take the time to break up the curls, but don't use a brush. Keep the rubber band in the middle of the extension hair (just the way it is in the package). Have someone hold the hair at the band while you take each of the curls, one by one and separate by dividing the curl shapes into smaller pieces by hand. Start the models natural hair with a high pony that is placed into a bun, Then attach the synthetic extension hair by placing and securing the band just under the base of the bun. Direct the hair laying toward the forehead. Make sure the synthetic hair is secure at the base. Now loop the hair over the bun and secure the ends under the back of the bun.

This look was created Using TIGI Fair Cream Foundation, and powdering all of the face with TIGI SHI SHI powder. Use angle brush to apply wax first then apply the power over the wax (powder color will deepen when it hits the wax).

Then TIGI Brow Sculpting Duo in Brunette.   

Create a light smoke screen of TIGI Feisty over the lid and blending all the way to the brow. Apply one set of false lashes. dust the apple of the cheek with bright pink red from the TIGI VIP palette. The lips were created by  utilizing the "lip tip" technique using TIGI Decadent Lipstick in Luxury. Luxury is an intense Red lip color, but when used in the type of application you can control the color to make a stain.

Use a lip brush and apply a small amount of lipstick to the center of the mouth where the lips touch and blend away.

Next look was done with some quick touches to create some variation from the fully primed look that we started with. All I did was loosen the curls from the bun. Then with eyeshadow I placed a wide sweep of color from the TIGI VIP palette just under the eyes. That's it… Oh, but the impact is powerful.

Last but not least…

I took the hair down and divided it into 3 sections with an asymmetrical parting in the front. I gathered the hair from each section into 3 high ponies, and wrapped each section into a knot (when you try this, place the knot as high as you want the hair to set).  I took the same extension hair from my first photos (three bundles of it), and attached it by the bands, to the 3 section knots, and used my fingers to back brush and arrange the hair the way I wanted it. For make up I lined the rims of her eyes with TIGI Perfect Pencil in blue. I detailed the VIP shadow  to mimic running makeup.  This look was really fantasy/dreamy to me. When I detailed the shadow I was intentional in the placement of color. I was hinting at the feel of long lower lashes in water blue. The last touch to this look was a hint of glitter