Archive for May, 2011

Have you ever found a pair of shoes that you absolutely fall in love with? I found my pair! So for months now I’ve been looking for a pair of combat boots that don’t make me feel like a man and decided that the best solution to this was to find a pair that were high heels.  I don’t know what’s wrong with my feet, but every pair of combat boots that I’ve tried on make my feet look huge and I just don’t look cute at all.  A few weeks ago I decided to buy a pair and now I can’t take them off my feet.  I wear them everywhere and I know all the abuse is going to take its toll on them eventually.  I was talking to my sister about finding “solemates” and realized I had to buy another pair.  So I bought another pair today, well actually, I bought two. I know, I know! It sounds terrible having three pairs of the same exact shoe but I swear, if I don’t buy them now I’m going to be devastated when the time comes that I have to buy another pair only to find out they aren’t being made anymore.

But yes, I love these shoes.  Whenever I work weddings I tend to wear a lower heel since I’m on my feet all day.  Sacrificing fashion for function is something that I’m irritated by, especially with shoes. My sister pretty much put it in perspective for me.  You either get a cute shoe that’s not comfortable at all or a comfy shoe that’s not the most attractive thing in the world.  Now I don’t have to sacrifice one for the other! I wore these bad boys for 12 hours and was absolutely fine, even with the heel being about five inches tall It probably helps that there’s a platform that lowers the arch for me but still I cannot get over these shoes.  I think it’s comparable to the feeling you get when you’re first starting relationship and everything is right in the world.  Don’t judge me people, it’s the closest thing I can compare it to! I’m sure you’ve all run into that shoe.  The shoe that, when you try on for the first time, makes you feel like Cinderella.  And yes, I did just write an entire post about the shoe of my life.

So let me know if you’ve ever found your solemate.  Wasn’t it amazing when you found them?  And send me pictures, I want to see!

Yes, I have two pairs in black.

They make me feel fabulous.

This past weekend Justin and I headed out to Las Vegas for Bobbie and Kelvin’s engagement session.  We shot at two locations; at the Montelago Village Resort in Henderson and then we headed to the strip to take some pictures during the evening.  The shoot at Montelago had a business feel to it so I made Bobbie’s makeup very natural, neutral eyeshadows, a rosy blush and a pinkish nude lip–something that would be appropriate for someone working in the office.  During the shoot on the strip, I gave her a darker, smokier look that played up her eyes.  If you guys want I can show you all a few tricks to transform a day look into a night look so keep a look out for it!  Thank you Bobbie and Kelvin for being such a great couple, and I can’t wait to do the makeup for your wedding!

I guess I should be studying and getting ready for my trip this weekend, but I decided to take a break from all that yucky stuff to blog! This week I visited the lovely Salon 25 in Cypress because my hair was just growing out into a hot mess.  Have you ever woken up one morning and realized how long your hair grew out? I definitely don’t have long hair, on the contrary, most people find my hair to be pretty short, but it was just way too long for me to be comfortable. Anyway, I went to the salon on Tuesday and had my hair cut for the summer. Thank you thank you thank you to Moya who did an amazing job with my hair.  I’ll post a couple of pictures below, but ohman she totally got the look I was going for.  I love having big, messy, just got out of bed hair and now with my hair cut I can style my hair in like 30 seconds! I think I’ll be keeping this style for a while. Oh that rhymed. Anyway,  Moya gave me an asymmetrical bob, and took it pretty short in the back which is exactly what I wanted because I’ve had my hair short for such a long time, that whenever I feel my hair touching my shoulders I get weirded out.  She also gave me a lot of texture and volume to play around with, which I think I have too much fun with. I’ve been going to the salon since it opened four years ago and I absolutely love them.  Sometimes I just want to go visit even when I don’t need my hair done just to talk with them.  I even got Justin to go there for the first time today! I forgot to take a picture but trust me, his hair is amazing.  And thank you Chris for taking my weird and indecisive description of what I wanted and translated it into amazingness on Justin.

Anddddd I had feather extensions put in! I’ve always wanted to incorporate a loud color into my hair but have never been willing to dye my hair so putting feather extensions in was a great decision because now I have fun colors in my hair and I can take them out whenever I want.  I’ve had the biggest obsession with feathers for the longest time and I think this is such a cute trend.  I was skeptical about it at first but you can wash them, style them and do pretty much anything that you do with your own hair.  I love love love feather extensions!

Thanks again to Salon 25 for another amazing experience.  If you’re ever looking for a great place to get your hair done please consider going to them.  They do such an fantastic job and all of the people are absolutely wonderful!

I’ve been getting a few questions about which type of eyeliner is the best and to be honest, each kind of eyeliner is good for their own reasons! Don’t worry, I’ll break down three different kinds of eyeliners and provide recommendations for you guys today so you can decide which one will work for you.

1. Pencil liners.

So what can I say about pencil liners, we’ve all seen them, and it’s usually what we think of when we hear the word eyeliner.  Pencil liner is great for a fast and easy application, and if you’re new to the world of eyeliner, then I would highly recommend this.  It is by far the easiest eyeliner to control, and easy to fix if you make any mistakes.  Pencil liners are easy to blend, so if you’re going for a smokey look then these are for you.  However, I find that pencil liners have a problem with smudging throughout the day, which can be a problem if you’re looking for a clean line.  Also, pencil liners are prone to giving you raccoon eyes which means if you’re going to be wearing makeup all day, you’ll probably have to touch up a couple of times.

recommended pencil liners:

NYX slim pencil liner
Urban Decay 24/7 liquid liner
MAC eye kohl

2. Liquid liners.

This kind of eyeliner is great for giving you crisp, clean liners which is perfect if you’re going for a cat eye or bat wing look.  It can be a little tricky to use at first so don’t get frustrated if it takes you a little while to get the hang of it! If you’re just starting out with liquid liner, I suggest drawing a few lines on your hand first before actually applying it to your eyes so you get a feel for how light or heavy the liner applies and to go from there.  I also suggest finding liquid liners that have a felt tip, because the brush tip applicators that come with the actual liner are usually flimsy and super hard to control.  If you do happen to get a liquid liner with a brush applicator, you can always use your own eyeliner brush to apply.  The nice thing about liquid liners is that it has great color pay off and it stays put for a while unless it gets wet, however, it does tend to flake throughout the day.  Also, liquid liner usually doesn’t do too well in the waterline of you eye, so if you want to line the inner rims of your eyes, you’ll have to look into a pencil or gel liner as well.

recommended liquid liners:
L’oreal Lineur Intense
NYX felt tip liner
Prestige liquid liner
MAC penultimate liner

3. Gel liners

This is probably an eyeliner that some of you may not have heard of before, but is actually becoming more popular with consumers.  Gel liners come in a pot, and require a brush to be applied.  Gel liners are applied the same way as liquid liners, but are much more unforgiving when it comes to mistakes.  Gel liners are pretty much water proof and they have great staying power, which is why I use this eyeliner not only on myself, but on my clients as well, especially brides.  If you decide to start using gel liners, I suggest that you practice practice practice, because I find that nothing is more annoying than finishing my makeup off with eyeliner and having to take off all of my work because I couldn’t get the liner to match on both of my eyes.  I’ve been finding more and more gel liners at the drug store, so it’s a lot easier to find these days.

recommended gel liners:
MAC fluidline
L’oreal H.I.P gel liner
Maybelline cream liner
Stila smudge pot gel liner

recommended eyeliner brushes:
MAC 209
MAC 266
Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner brush

Here is a picture showing how these different liners apply:

from left to right: liquid liner, pencil liner, and gel liner.

And here is a photo where I tried smudging the eyeliner to simulate how it would fade during the day.

from left to right: liquid liner, pencil liner, and gel liner.

As you can see, both the pencil and liquid liner had a good amount of smudging and fading but the gel liner held up pretty well with minimal wear.  However, deciding what liner is best for you just depends on what you need. I actually use each of these pretty equally depending one what look I’m going for for that day.  I hope this has helped you guys!

Hey everyone, I just thought I’d share this with you guys while I’m taking a break from studying. Tomorrow at 12 pm PST, NYX Cosmetics is going to be holding a huge huge HUGE sale for their 12 year anniversary. It’ll be going for 12 hours and if you guys haven’t tried out NYX already, it’s a great company to look into.  Their products are really great quality, and I actually use quite a few products on my clients as well as for my own personal collection. According to what one of the reps told me, most of their products are going to be $1.20 which is insane! I’m probably going to go through their site tonight to figure out what I absolutely need so I can go crazy tomorrow.  :D Let me know if you guys pick anything up!

A couple weeks ago, Justin and I worked with Christine and Tim for their engagement shoot at Laguna Beach behind the Montage Resort.  I also had the privilege of working with Christine for her makeup and we aimed for a more dramatic eye and nude lip. Christine and Tim were a really fun couple and totally made being at the beach enjoyable for me which is saying a lot because I’m not a very beachy person.  Their wedding is in March 2012 and I can’t wait to work with them again! Congratulations!

So Justin sent me this picture from Danny and Caritina’s wedding which was in the beginning of April.  He used one of my makeup palettes as a background for the wedding rings.  It’s so cute that I have to share it with you guys.

A couple months ago I was asked by one of the PCN coordinators to do the makeup for some of the characters for Pilipino Cultural Night at Cal State Long Beach.  For those of you who don’t know, PCN is a huge event that celebrates the culture and people of the Philippines.  I have been to a few different PCNs and was so amazed at how much love goes into the show that I couldn’t turn the offer down.  I have not worked in theater make up in a very long time and man was it stressful! I was on my feet for the majority of the day, and silly me, I was trying to break in a new pair of high heels (fail on my part). But all in all, I was so proud of the entire cast and show.  I got to have some creative freedom with a few of the characters which was so much fun, I haven’t had the opportunity to really be artistic with makeup in a very long time.  I don’t think I’ll be working in the theater makeup industry any time soon…I forgot how much pressure there is working as the only make up artist with tons of cast members! Once again, thank you so much to the PCN coordinators for giving me the opportunity to be apart of something amazing and I hope that I’ll be able to work with you guys again next year!  And congratulations again to all the amazing people who were a part of PCN this year, you guys were amazing! Here are just some photos from the day.

Photos courtesy of JustinElement Photography.