Back in the game

So you may remember my post about having depression and  not really working much but Im happy to say Ive moved on, recovered and Im now following my 2 passions; makeup and baking.

I did a shoot last weekend which has been entered into a competition for Stylist magazines 100th edition. It was for Mamma Jamma Cakes, a friend of mines specialist cake business and she is soooooooo lovely, I think we're quite similar. Shes doing what I want to do and Ive done what she had planned to do which was to go to uni to study theatre design. It was a really fun shoot out in the woods and the "set" was all dressed out to look like a mad hatters tea party. It looked amazing. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side but the models were absolute stars and carried on despite being wet and covered in cake from the food fight. I cant wait to see the results although I wished Id done a better job with the makeup. Even though I had practised a couple of looks, the makeup on the day was different. Once I saw the colourful aztec print cake I knew that what Id planned wouldnt have worked so I sort of winged and although she was happy, I would have liked it to stand out more but at the same time the focus was kept on the cake so......I guess we'll see how the piccies look.

Ive got a few other shoots lined up. Ill hopefully be shooting with Charlotte Chapman again soon, I love working with her. Then in November I will be doing another massive shoot in Birminghams Custard factory with Jeff Land and the team at UKWP. Ive been told to bring plenty of cakes to sell. Im actually hoping to get some of the cakes in the shots. As far as Im aware this shoot will be a mixture of Urban and Unusual weddings so a good mix of styles and a good mix of models and clothing so Im really excited.

I was goign to give up the makeup altogether but Im back in the game although not as active as before. Im not seeking out work like I used to, Im sort of waiting for it to come to me and Im happy to help out and have fun and if I get paid thats a bonus. I do enjoy doing makeup, I dont know why I thought about giving it up.

As for the baking, Ill be doing a lot of it in my spare time and I'll be helping out at a cake shop 1 day a week and joining a local baking circle too.

Ive rambled but never mind, no-one reads this anyway.

Tumble weed

Well I seem to have neglected my blog over the last couple of months.

Not much has been happening to tell you the truth but Ive been working so much (non makeup work) I just haven't physically had the time to take on any makeup work. That and my health has been suffering too. Nothing too serious. Its a lame excuse I know, but unfortunately when you have to pay your rent, creative work doesnt always bring in the pennies and a normal job takes over.

Also my time came. I think in everyones life they will experience 'the time'. The time when things just get too much and you end up having anxiety attacks over nothing, crying for hours over nothing, getting angry over nothing, feeling like your life needs to change.

So thats why Ive been away. Ive been trying to get myself right and figure out what needs to change.

Im hoping to get back into my blog soon but just bear with me whilst Im away. You can also have a look at some other things ive been up to during my time. I also have another blog called Silent Piano. I had a little go at making a comic. Ive been doing lots of stuff to keep me busy and that was one of them. Enjoy!

Beauty Bargain

So at the weekend I randomly popped into Savers, went into see if they had some good shampoo at low low prices. I didnt buy any shampoo but I did come across these beauties.

Revlon Creme Gloss. I wasn't sure about them and they werent priced so I only bought 2 in the shades which looked most exciting. I chose 065- crush on coral and 020 fiercely fuschia. I almost didnt buy them until I saw they were Revlon so I thought maybe they wouldnt be too bad. Its quite rare to find branded makeup in Savers. They priced at £1.40 each which is very cheap but this also made me dubious about the quality but me oh my was I surprised when I tried them out. Im such a pessimist.

The applicator is a brush which put me off completely for a number of reasons the main reason being hygiene especially for using it in my kit, might not be so bad for personal use, the other was the fact it didnt look like it would apply very well since it was so soft.

After a lot of twisting and clicking the bottom to push the gloss through to the brush a whole lot came all at once. I even started to think Id got a dudd and was never going to get any product out.

Heres how the 2 shades look on the back of my hand. This was when I became impressed. I love the colours, they were a lot more vibrant that they looked in the tube.

TOP: Firecely Fuschia BOTTOM: Crush on Coral

I lined and filled my lips with colours that almost perfectly matched the 2 shades before applying each gloss with a lip brush. Once I saw how they looked on, I was hooked. Crush on CAt this point Im very impressed, especially at how little they cost.

Fiercely Fuschia

Crush on Coral

I was massively impressed. Non-sticky, easy to apply, really glossy finish. I am in love. They had a few more shades available in various red and nude tones and I will definitely be filling my kit with these beauty bargains. I cant wait to use them and I cant wait to get more and at £1.40 I dont have to feel guilty about the price.

Bridal season begins

April is the month the bridal season kicks off......well for me it seems like its all kicking off now. And of course we have the Royal Wedding to look forward to. So I thought I would share with you a bit about the bridal makeup work Ive been doing and what is still to come for me this year and also my 3 top bridal makeup tips.

My first piece of bridal work came last year when I organised a shoot with Catherine at The White Dress Boutique in Leamington Spa. I used some girls from my workplace as willing models and teamed up with local photographer Lucy Clarke for the shoot and the girls all looked gorgeous in their wedding dresses. You can see the photos on my facebook page.

My most recent photoshoot was a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. Some of the photos are in my Bridal Gallery already and it gave me a great opportunity to work on a variety of models and also build my portfolio. We shot at the Menzies Welcombe Hotel and at Billesley Manor in Stratford. It was great to see so many different wedding dresses as well as some Indian bridal outfits and was brilliant to meet and work with so many photographers. One of my favourite looks from the day was definitely on Tiff who wanted to look a bit like Katie Price, false lashes, dark eye makeup, bright pink lips. Was fun to do.

This Saturday Ill be doing my first Bridal Fashion Show at the Smudge Magazine Wedding Fayre which Im sure will be a great day.Im a bit nervous but also very excited.
Later this year I'll also be doing a photoshoot with local dress designers LuaSarcy. Lucy and Sara are both fab so Im really looking forward to working with them.

I absolutely love what I do and bridal makeup is possibly one of the most rewarding jobs, making someone look and feel absolutely gorgeous on their wedding day, I cant think of anything better and of course its always nice to meet so many lovely brides.

My top 3 tips for bridal makeup:

• Always use waterproof mascara, especially if youre an emotional bride or if your eyes get watery in the sun like mine. Use brown mascara for a more natural look and use black for a dramatic look or to finish off a smokey eye. Similarly, make sure you use a waterproof eyeliner. Liquid liner tends to run unless its waterproof. I prefer to use a cream or gel liner.
• Your wedding day is not a day to be trying out a new look. You want to look like yourself but at your best. You dont want to be unrecognisable, especially to the person youre about to marry, so stick to a look you know works for you, and if you dont usually wear makeup, keep is simple and natural by highlighting your best features.
• Make sure you have a touch up kit. Touchup kits usually include some extra powder for avoiding any shine throughout the day and some extra lipstick. Your wedding day is a day of kissing, talking, drinking and eating so youll probably need to touch up the lippy at some point. For a longer lasting lipstick, use a lipliner to line and fill the lips before applying your lipstick. Applying it with a brush also helps.

Whispers of a Sea Nymph

You can now see Issue 2 of Rebel Magazine online. My work is featured on an 8 page spread from page 74 onwards and the series is called "whispers of a sea nymph". Its been nearly 8 months since the shoot and I must admit, i was beginning to wonder if Id ever see the images but seeing them today has made it worth the wait :)

Some other photos from the same series are dotted around in the issue which Im really pleased about.

Take a look here

I do prefer the cleaner looks, the smudgey looks didnt turn out so well but its still early days, im still learning and this was my very first photoshoot so.....I think I can be forgiven a little bit.

I may be doing more for Rebel Magazine in the future so....watch this space. For now, I hope you enjoy Issue 2

Photoshoot with Charlotte Chapman - Sneaky peeks

So today I had my second photoshoot with the fantastic Charlotte Chapman. Her photos turned out amazing last time so I was very excited to shoot with her and we had an absolutely stunning model today.

It was a lovely spring day, the weather was gorgeous, the flowers are just starting to blossom, I couldnt have asked for a better setting or better weather. The makeup for todays shoot was soft, pink and feminine with some shimmer and a bit of an edge. Our model Bayleigh usually wears bright red lipstick so it was a bit of a shock to see herself with nude lips. The looks were based around 2 flower necklaces charlotte had so we did 2 looks, for the second look I added some blue eyeshadow, metallic purple cream eyeliner and a pink lip.We wanted it to look really carefree, just really chilled out and I actually challenged myself to do hair. I was very impressed with myself. I managed to do a loose fishtail plait with a little help from youtube and I put some curls in as well, the look was quite messy which is what we were going for. Its given me the confidence to try out doing hair again.

Anyway, here are some sneak peeks from the shoot - behind the scenes style. I didnt get as many as usual as I was holding a reflector most of the shoot.

Ill put some of the finished shots up when theyve been edited. Im very excited, I forced Charlotte to show me some of the pics she shot today and they already look amazing. Im not sure how well the shimmery eyeshadow will show up...hopefully itll be pretty. Lots of flowers around so definitely a good spring shoot :)

Thanks to Bayleigh and Charlotte for a great day.

Rebel Magazine Issue #2

Some of you remember waaaaaaaay back sometime last year when I did some makeup for Rebel Magazine.

The release date of issue 2 kept getting pushed back for a variety of reasons BUT now they have set a release date for the 30th March.

Heres the pic theyre using for their promo:

You can still see Issue 1 here. And dont forget to check back on the 30th to see the full set of images from the shoot. I still dont know which ones theyre using so Im very excited although I think theyve used one of the best for the promo. What do you think?

MUA:Victoria Steele
Clothing and Jewellery: Shiromi Lazarus
Model: Cyan Cheung
Photography and Styling: Namal