Sunday 27 February 2011

Isabel Marant - Spring Summer 2011



As I skulk out of my winter coma, I am looking to freshen my mood with
an even fresher Spring wardrobe.

I love the street, tomboy feel to Isabel's Spring 11 collection. Very wearable and adaptable,
I think this show is really inspiring to someone who hasnt got the funds or time to update their look.

x

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Hair envy..

The Muse...



Opening all the big show these seasons, Arizona Muse has such a presence about her, in a way thats subtle and etherial.

x

Monday 21 February 2011

Artist Tip!

Well, at MAC Im very lucky to surround myself with lovely people. The girls and boys all have such different skills, that watching them and asking them questions allows me to grow and become a better artist.

One artist I have working on the floor with me from time to time, when she can tear herself away from all her celebrity clients (!) is Miss Francesca Neill. Really one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet.. which is a shame really, because with brains behind her (degree in psych) and looks that has her working, herself, in front of the camera- not just behind.. you just would love to hate her. But cant! And to extend her lovely ways she has allowed us a sneak peak into her world to understand what she does and how....


Francesca's has been freelancing as a MUA for 6 years now, and has worked within all areas of makeup over the years, but especially enjoys the TV and Music industry. Here she has built up a list of high profile clients including Craig David, Alesha Dixon and Nadine Coyle. She loves the creativity of the music videos and the impact you can create with powerful makeup. A snippet of her work below..


Alesha Dixon arriving for the 2011 Brit Awards
Another area that has drawn a HUGE amount of attention recently, in the beauty field and to Fran (who is trained in them) is HD Brows.

 "I have always been a complete brow obsessive but never really satisfied with the regular method of either threading, waxing or tweezing, so when i was introduced to HD Brows by the amazing Nilam Patel herself I was ridiculously excited. I went away and did my training and I have never looked at brows in the same way since!!! HD Brows isnt just shaping and tidying -  it is eyebrow artistry!!! This treatment defines your natural beauty through a unique and revolutionary 7 step high definition process. It can transform even the most over plucked brow into its perfect shape, dramatically enhancing your facial features and giving your face the structure you have always wanted. This unique procedure can only be performed by a highly trained and skilled HD Brow stylist." And that skilled stylist in London would be the be the lovely Fran! Below are some before and after pictures of the HD method.

I have been dying to get my brows done in the HD style, as it really does allow you to create a brow which you might not necessarily have. So for me, I really want to thicken and strengthen my brow- all of which Fran can do! So, I have to book in and get them done asap and show you the results. Fran and I have been trying to get together to get them done- soon!
Ok so now to talk about Fran's top 5 makeup products and why....
5 top products

1) Working within tv and music, where a good base is essential and has to withstand intense light heat etc .... I swear by MAC studio fix fluid! Amazing coverage, amazing longevity, amazing finish........ just an amazing product. Also looks great mixed with strobe to give luminous skin! Requires hardly any touch ups but still looks super natural.

2) Being the brow obsessive that i am one of my fav products that can be used on ALL clients without fail is the new HD Brows palette, it has 6 suit everyone matt, neutral shades for brows - but can also be doubled up as shadows and eyeliners. GENIUS!!!! Use a small angled brush ..... 266 from mac is perfect, and ur good to go. 

3) Fluidline ....... Essential product for any makeup bag or kit. Creates the perfectly defined eyeliner that doesnt fade or smudge but can also be smoked out to create a full on sexy sultry smokey eye. Again a fabulously versitile product that u should not be without.

4) Who doesnt love a juicy tube by lancome!!!! Such a great product, fab range of shades. moisturising, glossy, gives beautiful pout. Great shades inline with ss11 trends, soft pastels and also more vibrant shades for the more daring. LOVE..... and they taste good too ;-)

5) Finally ...... MAC skin finish in Soft and Gentle ..... and for darker skin tone gold deposit. Amazing product to manipulate texture..... so even if u have an oily skin and have to opt for a more matte finish.... just sweep a little over the cheek bones, down the nose and the cupids bow ....... and as if by magic .... hello glowy radiant skin. Great cheekbone enhancer.
If you wish to have the HD brows that Fran and all of the top celebrities swear by, give Fran a bell on the details below to book an appointment:
Mob: 07960200202
Hope yourve enjoyed the read!
x

Alex box for Vivienne Westwood..

Crazy cat she is. Forever looking outside the box (scuse the pun..) and using quirky techniques & ideas for makeup looks, Alex sure made a bold statement at Westwoods London FW A/W 11-12 show. Having always collaborated with MAC and often lending her skills to many of our collection visuals, shes become quite the demanded one.

London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2011-12 Make-up Trends: Play Time

In the words of the funky lady herself, "it's as if a child has finger-painted over the top of a beautiful 18th century veneer painting. It's surreal but serene".

x

MAC Collections- TA DA DA DAA!!

Its such a strange thing working for MAC. I think as artists for the company we very easily forget how amazing it is so be entertained and inspired by such an insane amount of collections. With always one on counter at any one time, having new colours and products to play and create with enables me to constantly try new and exicitng things on myself and my clients.

Coming up, there are a number of collections which will make any girl (and boy) squeal out loud.. Unfortunately, due to employee confidentiality, not much can be said on my behalf sadly, but one that I can discuss, which will be released into our hot little hands on the 3rd of March is Wonder Woman!



Already been shown the collections, and been given the opportunity to have a play with them- let me tell you.. this is one collection you need to get your cute, spring coloured painted paws on on!

With all products packaged with really cool designs of the great woman, with cherry red and bright blue colours and pops of yellow.. all products are SUPER! sized... umm....hello?? Amazing! The collection has a number of goodies, with lippys, mascaras, lipglosses and mineralised powder compacts.






So from what you can see... a great collection, with colours for everyone. You dont know how many people come in on a daily basis asking for a coloured mascara.. so using the Opulash formulation MAC have brought out 4 of the bad boys. Having used them in some applications myself I was really surprised by the lack of tackiness they had! Rather than the end result looking like Jordan dipped in coloured paint, the mascaras gave a lovely hint of colour to the lashes, emphasising the applicants own eye colour.

In case you dont know what colour to choose...

If you have green eyes go for the green or purple colour.
If you blue, go for the blue or purple.
If you have brown- go for all!

Now.. onto the powders. Oh my word they are sublime... having the mineralised bronzer in the centre of the compact and a shading colour and a blush at either end; there are two types. One suited for pink or paler tones and one for darker. I love both! Definately buying a number of these- for personal and professional use!

And jut to let you know- all these products are HUGE. All have been jumbo'd to suit the theme.. so expect big things ;)

Ill promise to write about more collections from now on!

xxx

Stunning: Rodarte

Nothing could be more calming, soft, carefree and light filled than Rodartes Autumn/Winter 11-12 collection.
All reviews mystify in the extraordinary display of warm palettes, strong textures and pretty details.. yet another collection from the awesome duo.

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x

Sunday 20 February 2011

Ssshhhh!!!!

Like the very naughty, impatient girl I am.. I have been completely wrapped up in all the new trends popping up from New Yorks FW last week and Londons FW this week!

I had my heart broken earlier this week, when offered a job with the London Fashion Council working for the PR and Advertising Team over Londons FW; but due to clashing work schedules.. I had to turn it down! Events and advertising is another area of business I love and it would of been good to see all the Fashion Weeks process from another vantage point. Oh well!

In summary I think what has been seen so far is my kind of woman- powerful. With a definate 'Dont mess with me' feel, I love the empowerment the next few seasons will bring to a womans look and confidence!

So what have we seen from the makeup side of things- RED RED RED.
The red lip is going nowhere! After being around for a few seasons already some would think its past its used by date, but with such new and exciting twists on the look and with such a diversity of colours to wear, designers feel that it still has alot to give to fashion.



And not just the red lip; red, coppers and rich browns are also been seen on eye looks too. Now.. with a bit of time, let me show you how best to wear them. Can be tricky! But if done well.... wow!

New York Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2011-12 Make-up Trends: Red
Thakoon A/W 11-12

Hair styling wise.. all us gals will be happy to hear its all about the pony tail! An easy look, that doesnt take hours to do. Seen as a very clean, smooth look at Marc Jabobs to a sexy dishevelled pony tail at others. And another trend thats music to my ears! A full fringe. Ive been rocking mine on and off now for a year or so and I love it. Happy to see it on the runways and red carpets again!



For fashion A/W 11-12 brings
  • A new feel for richness, detail and sumptuous fabrics flourished throughout the NYC collections taking many shapes and forms - see Proenza Schouler, Rodarte and Thakoon
  • At Donna Karan and Victoria Beckham new shapes emerged like the wrap skirt, the midi length and a u-turn of the body con va-va-voom trend that dominated last winter.
  • Androgyny was the calling card with Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim delivering luxe utility
  • The romance with the Seventies is still in the air - as seen at Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors and Marc by Marc Jacobs
(vogue.co.uk)

Well, Im not going to go too far into it just yet... these seasons are ages away! But for all my aussies- heres your trends for the next few months!

Love xx

Whats standing in the way of control?

The amount of people who come in to see a MAC artist to complain that they look shiney, and on perusal they do- but they may also have dry or dehydrated skin!

So many think that to combat the issue one must cake on as much matte foundation and powder as possible. And to be honest, nothing does worse things for your skin. We have to analyse our skins intensely for us to know that the product we require is going to give us an optimal finish. Firstly what type of skin have you got? Oily? Dry? Combination? Ok, combination? But what kind of combination? Is it normal to dry or normal to oily or oily with dry patches? The reason for the absurd amount of questions is because so many people think they need something but in reality they dont.

Ok so once you have anlysed your skin.. what have you got?

* If you have dry skin, you need to make sure your using emolliant skincare and makeup. Emolliants are products that will soothe and soften your skin. So using a moisturiser like Keihl's Ultra Moisturiser will help hydrate the skin and become a great base for foundation to stick to (as so not to allow your foundation to flake or become patchy). Then find a foundation that has a dewy finish, as it causes light reflectants on the skin to deflect off and create a smoother texture and softer finish. Use cream blushes to finish the look and really highlight the cheekbones.

* Have you got oily skin?
Righto, then you need to ensure your using silica based products. Silica in products sucks up any excess oil/moisture on the surface of your skin, so are very important! Great moisturisers are Oil Control by MAC, Simple Oil Balancing Moisturiser or most with a gel formulation rather than a cream. Use a primer, its so important!! If you dont have a primer down on the skin to create a barrier between the moisturiser and the foundation, the oil will cause the makeup to shift and move around- something which can be really annoying as it means your makeup lasts about 20 minutes before its all over your clothes!


Buy a foundation that has a matte finish (MAC's full coverage Studio fix powder or liquid is phenom.. and NARS Sheer Matte is lovely!) and then something thats extremely impoartant is using a powder to set it all at the end. This powder will also be the key throught the day to touch up your look with, to continually reduce any oil on the surface and to deshine you! For a more flawless finish, go for a higher coverage powder or if you dont want to pack on too much product, use low coverage products like MAC's Select Cover Foundation; which is water based, or for those who dont want any product on their face but need to deshine- MAC's Blot powder is amazing!! With only 2% pigment, all its really doing is taking away the oil and sweat...

Dark skintones in particular have a big issue with shine. I think, if managed well, dark skin looks amazing with a dewy finish. But so many of my brown sugared honeys hate it and opt to use Fix or Blot powder. Just make sure you dont use translucent powder if you do have a darker skintone, as it can make you look grey and ashy- and this is not a good look!


* I have combination skin! If you do, think about it. If its normal to dry, make sure you're using a good moisturiser and carry a powder with you, just in case you get shiney in the t-zone.
If you have Normal to Oily, again use powders. if its normal to oily, then I guarantee you that you will become shiney throughout the day.

And last but not least! What if you have shiney skin, but want a dewy finish? Great! These next few seasons are all about the sheer, dewy look. So just make sure you dont go for a full matte foundation, I personally LOVE MAC's Sculpt foundation. With a satin finish (not matte, but not dewy), it will give you what you need, without too much hydration. Then use a satin finishing powder. Again I heart MAC's Mineralised Skin Finish.. its made of minerals so has light reflecting micro particles in it to deflect light in a very natural way.



I hope you enjoyed this novel of knowledge! More tips coming over the next week...

X

Oh my!



Its been such a long time since werve heard from these guys.. their music becoming such classics to us and without so much as a peep from their London base the very thought of a new album was crazy! But! theyrve made everyones 2011 by springing the new album 'The King of Limbs' into our ears..

Ever so Radiohead in its melody and lyrics but with new soft scatty beats to bring them into the new decade I am ever so confident that this album will be one of this years biggest.

Beautiful x

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Spring Summer 11 Tends Continued...

Well well well....

Hope you didnt think I gave everything away! There is so much more!

Dont want to do bright pops of colour? Rather wear something softer and prettier... well my dear, the pastel
trend is all yours!

Having seen alot on the runway, from lovely pastel liners, to lilac lips and blown out soft washes of colour on the lids, there is so much to interpret from this trend! Very japanese harojuku girl inspired...
No need for black liners, smokey eyes or bold lips, this look can be really intensified with the soft romatic flyaway hair and soft girly styling. Really pretty...

 Etro SS 11

 Ashish SS11

XX

Wowzas

Sorry kids, I blogged out for a while- had me some nice ol holidays with the boy in Berlin. Was the most amazing time.. really connected to the beautiful laid back vibe and to be surrounded with the arty vibe the city had to offer, was really refreshing. Lots of incredibly inspiring street art and creatives to surround yourself with!













Lots of stuff coming your way soon too! x

Oh and yeh! if you hadnt noticed- I went for the Alexa look on the hair.. for now ;) !