Designer Trunk Show

This past Sunday I was invited by a friend to do the makeup for a fashion show where up and coming designers can show-case their work.  I had a blast being back-stage, experiencing the 'vibe' of working with models, designers, hair stylists etc etc - it was very energic and upbeat.  Here are a few photos I took of the makeup looks I created for the show - the designers wanted somewhat of a cat eye and something that could later be morphed into a subtle smokey eye:

MAC Taupe Lipstick - Take 2

I've been wearing a lot of my Taupe Lipstick by MAC lately - but I've been combining the look with a lot of gold toned makeup to really play up the warmth of the lip colour.  I created a look where golds, golden browns and bronze toned take centre stage:

For this look I started with my basic face prep and used MAC's Gold Deposit as a powder all over to set my foundation and concealer.  I then used Refined Golden bronzer as a contour with NARS Silent Night as a highlight and mixed Makeup Up For Ever #54 Copper shadow and NARS Taj Mahal for a warm, golden blush shade.  I created a natural, warm eye using Silent Night as a base, MAC's Saddle eyeshadow from lid to crease, Teddy eyeliner and NARS Galapagos to smudge into the upper lashline before finishing with mascara.  I then applied Taupe lipstick by MAC! 

I really like this look - I think its a fanatastic natural, warm, golden makeup look that is perfect for everyday and when you want to create a balance between softness and golden-warmth!!!

Rimmel 'Airy Fairy' Lipstick

I've read a lot of great reviews on Rimmel's Airy Fairy lipstick and its a colour I always wanted to try, but just never got around to picking up for myself.  Today I noticed it was on sale and didn't hesitate to grab a tube - as soon as I put it on, I 'loved' it - I decided to create a look that was both natural and warm-neutral to compliment this amazing lipstick shade:

For this look I wanted to create a very warm, gentle effect - I started with my basic primer, St. Moritz tinted moisturizer by NARS, Secret Camouflage #4 as concealer.  I then applied MAC's Refined Golden Bronzer as a powder.  I used Pretty Your World 'Hot and Spicy' blush as a contour, NARS Silent Night as a highlight.  I then mixed MAC's Gold Deposit with Pretty Your World's 'Orgasmic' blush.  For the eyes, I used Silent night as a base, applied MAC's Soba from the lid into the crease and used Teddy eyeliner.  I then smudged NARS Bengali eyeshadow into the upper lashline and used Make up for ever 'Diamond Shimmer' eyeshadow to brighten the eye - in the inner tear-ducts and on the brow bone.  I finished off the look with Rimmel's Airy Fairy Lipstick!!!

Clinique Rosette Lipstick

Thanks to a good facebook friend, I was given a task to go and search for CLinique's Rosette lipstick.  Rosette has been recommended to me as a warm pink shade that is perfect for Autumn women - I kept my makeup the same as in the previous post with MAC's Taupe, but just switched the lipstick shade:

Here is rosette next to a swatch that is said to be a perfect pink for true autumns:

MAC Taupe Lipstick

Taupe is one of those colours that many people probably by-pass because of the name or have the wrong impression about the colour.  There is nothing 'taupe' about 'Taupe' in my opinion.  It is the most stunning reddish-golden brown shade and I am so happy that it belongs to the True Autumn palette.  It is often described as a deep autumn shade and perhaps its the ideal 'cross-over' colour, but there is no doubt that True Autumns can lay claim to this lipstick as well - check it out:

I wanted to create a makeup look where I used Taupe as a natural lipcolour surrounded by golds and bronze shades.  I started with primer, St. Moritz tined moisturizer by NARS, Laura Mecier secret camouflage #4, MAC's Gold Deposit as a face powder and Refined Golden Bronzer as a contour blush shade.  I then applied Make Up For Ever #54 eyeshadow in Copper as a blush shade and used NARS Silent Night eyeshadow as a highlight.  I also used Silent night as an eyeshadow base and applied NARS Bengali from the lid into the crease.  I then used a fluffy eyeshadow brush to blend MAC's Woodwinked into Bengali.  I used Teddy eyeliner and smudged Bengali into the upperlashline before finishing with a coat of black-brown mascara.  I applied Taupe lipstick as my finishing touch:

If you're looking for a deeper natural shade to compliment your warm skintone, Taupe is definitely a colour to try - it works so well with the rich gold and bronze shades of the True Autumn palette!!!

True Autumn Celebrity Collages

I love seeing looks in perspective and in comparison to one another and I really think that one of the best ways to see how you 'fit' into your season is to do a celebrity collage comparison!  Sometimes when you see your own colouring next to someone of the same season, the similarities start to appear - with these collages, I see the warmth really come about - particularily my warm golden skintone, warm eye-colour and the warm chestnut base I have in my hair - check it out:

What is your seasonal type?  Try creating a celebrity collage of women who belong to your season or if your not sure, try comparing your photo to women of various seasons, perhaps this will help you determine your best 'fit' - one thing is for sure, knowing what celebrities share your colour type is really helpful - you get a lot of different makeup and wardrobe ideas!!!

A Lesson in Accepting Your Season

I'm learning that doubting your season at first is really a stepping stone to fully embracing it!  The thought of getting stuck in one palette and not moving beyond its bounderies creates feelings of fear/anxiety - you get that feeling of being 'boxed in' and then you start to question - what about 'x' colour, its not in my palette, but I wear it well - and thats when the doubting begins!!!  I recently experienced this doubting/accepting process and had a light bulb moment so to speak - its not the palettes that are the issue - its how we choose to use them.  Just like with everything else in this world, you can become obsessed and fanatical about something, not seeing beyond your limited perception.  Yes, you can choose to see your palette of colours as the be all and end all, no exceptions.  OR, you can choose to see your palette as your guide to your best colours, using your colours to create an image of harmony.  Your palette is your guide, its where you stop and tell yourself - why look good, when you can look your 'best'?  So yes, 'x' colour may still look good on you and by all means wear it!  Yet at the same time, having the knowledge and power of your ultimate best shades gives you control to look your ultimate best.  Perhaps true red isn't in my true autumn palette, but knowing that chocolate golden brown, warm ivory and camel are my power colours, this allows me to use those shades close to my face, as accessories, perhaps even layered over or under the red - its about knowing how to take any wardrobe peice and making it work for you!!!  So the lesson is to not ever allow yourself to feel or even be 'boxed in' - celebrate the colours you know work for you and celebrate every other colour that you love - work 'with' your palette to look your ultimate best, but don't become so fanatical that you stop looking 'outside of the box', just move forward with the inner strength and knowledge that you have the power to be your best self!!!

Perfect Pink for True Autumns!

I am so happy that I tried the deep autumn drapes because I got a lot of honest feedback and the consesus is to stick with True Autumn!  There is a harshness with the Deep Autumn drapes and something that is a little off, something too muted and washed out about Soft Autumn.  The general consensus is that True Autumn gives me a natural glow that the other autumn palettes fail to deliver.  So that puts an end to the autumn confusion and gives me confidence to pursue True Autumn will full force and vigor!!!

I love following the 12 blueprints facebook group because it is the most amazing place to share ideas about colour analysis and get honest feedback about what colours work and what seasonal palettes to explore!  I love the openess and general passion for colour analysis that exists on that site!  Christine Scaman, the creator of the page and a certified sci/art colour analyst, recently shared a link to a makeup page called 'discover your truth', which had a great visual for true autumn's perfect pink shade (https://dyt.liveyourtruth.com/store/type3-details/3556/type-3-makeup/-1) - I immediately had an idea that I wanted to explore.  I have always had a very pigmented natural lipcolour and always knew it was some kind of combination of pink with a hint of brownish-coral - its very complicated to describe.  Because of the pink tones I sometimes wondered if I wasn't a cooler or neutral season, but after Christine posted this link and I saw that the true autumn pink looked like, I had no question - that is the natural colour of my lips:

The two dots on the top right corner are taken directly from the True Autumn swatch and the colour on the bottom left is the visual of the 'type 3 symphony' eyeshadow from the 'dressing your truth' site that is the perfect representation of True Autumn's pink!  Its so interesting to me how amazing the true autumn palette really is and how my placement in the True Autumn palette does in fact make sense!!! 

Deep Autumn Drapes

I have to admit that I'm a little bit taken aback by this recent Deep Autumn discovery - for so long I've been focusing on Soft Autumn vs True Autumn, that I've completely neglected poor little 'Deep Autumn' - I've received positive feedback about my recent Deep Autumn collages, but then got a request to actually see some of these colours draped over me vs compared to a childhood photo, so here it goes - I decided to pick some classic deep autumn shades - a deep olive green, a golden yellow, a warm burgundy shade and black:

Deep Olive Green:

Golden Yellow:

Warm burgundy:

CHeck out the black-brown cabinet in the background - also a DA shade

Black:

Deep Autumn

I got a lot of positive responses with my most recent Deep Autumn collage, which made we want to perfect the collage and include some more DA colours and visuals - check it out:

The 'Three' Autumns

I've gotten a fairly positive response to the last True Autumn collage I posted - There has been one other request by some of my readers to see a Deep Autumn collage created and compared to True Autumn and Soft Autumn - so here it goes:

Deep Autumn:

VS

True Autumn:                                                                                     

                                

                                                                             

VS

Soft Autumn:                                                                                                      

There is no question that I have some type of autumn influence - but which autumn is the best for me???

True vs Soft Autumn Collage

I recieved a request to create a true autumn collage based on my childhood photos and comapre the true autumn to the soft autumn collage, so here it is:

True Autumn:

VS

Soft Autumn:                                                                                                                             

Honestly, if there was a season that was in-between these two, I think that is where I would fit in the best!!!

Soft Palette Comparisons

I'm so inspired to do a yet another colour harmony collage based on the childhood photos I just posted.  Soft seems to be the season I gravitate towards the most and the natural flush in my cheeks and lips as a child seemed to be very much like the shades in the soft palettes.  I decided to compare the Soft Summer and Soft Autumn palettes - I'd love to hear what you think:


Soft Summer:

VS

Soft Autumn:                                                                                             

I think its a really tough call - both palettes seems to work really well, but I actually can't help liking the Soft Summer a little bit better???

Childhood Photos

I love finding photos of myself as a child because its so much fun to look at all the natural shades and colour harmony that existed back then - not yet tainted by makeup!  I am particularily interested in my natural hair colour shade:

I really love this photo because the lighting is perfect - this is probably the truest representation of what my hair colour was - I would 'love' to have this shade again now!  I also love how this photo picked up on the natural flush of my cheeks and lip color!!!

In this photo where I was younger you can really see how rich my brunette hair was - I also love how you can see some of my natural wavy, curl!  I wish this photo wasn't that fuzzy and you could see my eye-colour more clearly!

Yes, I was little ms. chubby cheeks in this photo - this was my holy communion photo - I still remember the hairdresser coming to my grandmothers house that morning and doing my hair - I got my first taste of being pampered and I loved it!

I love taking trips down memory lane!!!

MAC Blushbaby with Retro Lipstick!

Usually when I decide to create a look, I start with a colour inspiration based on one of my feaures features, so I go with a red 'lip' or a chocolate smokey eye.  I then find complimentary shades that will enhance the look I want and open up the feature I want to bring into focus.  Today I wanted to create a look centered around a soft, natural cheek/blush colour.  I've had blushbaby in my makeup case for a while, but don't often use it because I always assumed that it lacked a certain 'oomph' - the colour wasn't pigmented enough, it just looked boring - that my assumption and I sadly admit that it was a wrong assumption to make.  It wasn't that blushbaby lacked pigmentation - its that I was pairing it with the wrong colours and wasn't contouring my jawline with a deeper shade.  I finally played around with blushbaby and started using deeper, neutral based shades with a brown-peach undertone with a hint of pink.  I really love this look as a classic everyway work look:

I always start my makeup look with my basic face: primer, foundation, concealer and powder (I used bronzer instead of translucent powder for this look).  I then used the following shades:

Portabello eyeshadow duo NARS, teddy eyeliner by MAC smudged with nars galapagos

Bobbi Brown tawny blush as contour with MAC's Blushbaby blush and Retro Lipstick by MAC!

This is such an easy daytime look to wear because the colours are neutral leaning warm and the look is very natural-classic! 

Soft Autumn - AGAIN!

I don't know what it is about this palette that keeps on pulling me back in time and time again!  I'm actually starting to wonder why I'm fighting it so hard???  Have I been drapped in person for a season before?  Yes, twice actually, as a true autumn, but I just can't shake the feeling that true autumn is not 100% accurate about me - my grey-green eyes have a soft/muddy quality that are so distinctive of dominant soft types.  My natural lip shade is no where near orange or anything fully warm.  When I wear orange toned blushes, all you see is a streak of orange.  Pinks are generally off on me as well, which clearly shows that I'm not a true cool season either.  I am deifnitely something 'neutral' - the brights are too bright, the deeps are slightly too harsh for me, but the softness just seems to fit and the level of warmth just seems to fit as well - check out this collage I created of my face sans makeup surrounded by everything 'Soft Autumn':

Everything just seems to harmonize so well!  I've decided to pursue my love affair with this palette and give it another go - perhaps I gave up a little too early the last time!  I think this may just be the best palette for me!!!

Bridal Makeup

I love bridal makeup - Its so much fun to see a woman become transformed into her best self.  I love the shimmery irredescence effect, along with a pop of colour.  A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to be one of the makeup artists for the Toronto Bridal Fashion Show at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto.  I've blogged about this experience in another post, but recently got some updated photos from the event that I wanted to share:

Creating an elegant bridal eye-makeup look is something that I really love and I think without some definition and enhancement to the eye, the look is missing that little extra 'spark' - I think that the perfect bridal eye-makeup look is not over-done, not too smokey or dramatic, but at the same time it shouldn't be too neutral and natural.  Brides should simply 'glow' on their special day!!!  Their eyemakeup should be defined, pretty, soft with a romantic flair.  For the Bridal show, I had to take into consideration that the models would be under heavy lighting, so the makeup I did had to be just that extra bit more dramatic, but the effect of simplicity and romantic glam is still my goal regardless if its a fashion show or a garden-party wedding!  Here is the final look of the model I was working on (pictured above - one with flash, the other without):

Here are two other looks that I created at the fashion show - this is more of a before/after comparison:

Model 1 - Before - model with no makeup, a clean canvas

After - model with a classic, defined eye!:

Model 2 - Before - model with no makeup, a clean canvas

Model 2 - After:

And during the show:

Bridal makeup should always be chic, elegant, pretty, feminine!  The bride, at the same time, should feel like the world is her oyster, transformed into her best possible self - this is why I love makeup so much - I love being part of that transformation - I love a woman's face when she looks into a mirror and recognizes how magnificent and beautiful she really is!!!