The Golden Globes!!!!

The Globes are often seen as the warm up for the Oscars, with the stars of both TV and Film, getting together for a slightly less formal ceremony than the one that takes place in March.

I quite like the red carpets looks of the Golden Globes as celebrities often experiment a little more than they do at the Oscars. Those who have read my blog or know how I feel about beauty, will know that I believe  it comes in the individuality of a person not in how others perceive beauty to be. Beauty comes with confidence, with accepting that you are completely unique and embracing what you have. One of my favourite actresses who does just that, but with huge talent and a quiet unassuming flair is Tilda Swinton.

Tilda has the confidence to be herself with no assistance of fake tan and her makeup is minimal. Her unusual, unconventional beauty is breathtaking.

J'adore Dior's Charlize Theron looking demure and sexy all at once.

Stage and Screen Royalty Helen Mirren, proving why you shouldn't mess too much with the face. This woman is beautiful without feeling the need spend her life in surgery. Her makeup is pretty and elegant, never taking over her face.

Dianna Agron from Glee has the most serene face. I always think that she has a beauty that is timeless, you could almost put her in any era. Her makeup here is sophisticated and yet, still young and fresh. 

Claire Danes is a favourite of mine, another unconventional beauty. Claire has a warm, open face that can look exceptionally pretty and young but also graceful and serious. I love this makeup, but again, I'm slightly bias as the artist was the lovely Matin.

There was a definite trend of red lips on the red carpet this year and I'm hoping that those if you that haven't tried it before go out and experiment with this sophisticated and chic look. There are hundreds, if not thousands of different reds out there and there is one for each of you.

Go, play, have fun.......it's only makeup!

Lancome's Visionnaire

A friend gave me a bottle of Lancome's latest serum, Visionaire LR2412, when it was launched last year and despite trying it a couple of times, I didn't really give it my full attention until about 6 weeks ago when I began using every day.

Lancôme claims it does the following:
To reduce wrinkles
Minimise pores
Correct skin tone

As I was given this product, I hadn't received the whole sales patter on how to use etc. And to honest I always check the Internet anyway as sometimes you can be mis-informed by a consultant who either hasn't had training yet or is a little confused etc. This is what I discovered, Lancôme recommend that you use it day and night but I'll be honest, I only use it once a day. I choose to use it in the morning for one reason, Visionaire LR2412 has a light reflective finish that gives a fantastic glow to the skin. Lancôme also recommend that it can be used around the eyes.

The molecule LR2412 is literally the 2412th molecule that they tried out and it was successful. It is based on the structure that plant leaves have to repair themselves. Lancome took this research and came up with LR2412 to mimic this process but with the skin cells, therefore repairing the skin. Said to penetrate further than other serums (other companies also claim this) it apparently works from the inside out.

Now, I wouldn't say that if I was using Botox, that I'd give it up for this product but it had certainly had a positive effect on the texture and tone of my skin. The redness has improved a great deal and my skin feels smoother and softer to the touch.

Over all, I was pleasantly surprised by this serum.

My Beauty Icons

My beauty icons are a diverse group of women from all different era's of the 20th Century. In fact as a child/teenager, I often wondered if I was born in the wrong era or had "been here before" as some people say. I loved the old black and white movies, the porcelain skin, the arched brows, the strong lip. I loved actresses that were both feminine but strong and confident with it. Actresses like Katherine Hepburn,  Vivian Leigh, who had that inner strength but also the comedy actresses such as Doris Day. I adore women who are confident enough to laugh at themselves.

Not only was I obsessed with the golden era of movies but I was captivated by the supermodels of the 90's and wow, that group of models have never, and will never be repeated. My sister would buy me a subscription to Vogue every year for my birthday and then I would buy a second copy every month so I had one to rip up and display on my bedroom and dormitory walls.

The pairing of Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista for the Chanel Campaign was phenomenal.

My all time favourite face, Christy Turlington, a timeless classic bone structure that seem to fit every type of makeup.

But no one has ever manage to pull off as many looks as Linda Evangelista, a true fashion Chameleon.

and who can forget the formidable Naomi Campbell, classic Yasmin Le Bon, exotic Yaseem Ghauri, sexy Helena Christensen, beautiful Cindy Crawford, regal Tatjana Patitz, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer...... I could go on.

The infamous Supermodels who George Michael went on to use in his Freedom video, if you have never seen this video, I demand you go and watch it now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYAc7gB-0A

They were everywhere!

The late, great Versace and his girls.

Here are a few of the iconic pictures that made me fall in love with this crazy business.
Many thanks for letting me indulge in my memories and I hope you enjoyed a trip down memory lane.
x

The big wide world of Makeup Aug-Dec 2011

So, when I got back from my honeymoon, I had to hit the ground running which was hard but satisfying all the same.
We were still in the middle of wedding season (although wedding season seems to be never ending) so I had a lot of brides booked. I love bridal makeup as it a much more personal aspect of a makeup artist's job. Here are a couple of my brides.

Some of my other highlights of 2011 are listed below, but apologies for the fact that they aren't in any particular order.

It's always nice to see your work in print but it's equally as nice to be quoted in a magazine. This year I was particularly proud of being quoted in the fabulous Wedding Ideas Magazine, a magazine that I found very useful in the run up to my wedding and also on the ElleUk.com website.

One of my favourite things.......not in a Fräulein Maria way, is to combine a great job and a great friend. This opportunity presented itself twice this year in the shape of Luke Stephens, makeuo artist and Beauty Editor for Who's Jack Magazine.
Luke contacted me to ask if I would meet him with him and a group of woman to discuss how we felt the beauty industry represents women with darker skin. Luke knows that this subject is something I feel very strongly about and so I was excited to part of the discussion. The article Luke wrote on this subject is definitely worth the read. Here is the link.

http://www.whosjack.org/whos-jack-magazine-51/

The second time I heard from Luke on a professional level, was to ask if I would join him in a shoot for Who's Jack? Well, not only was it a great day with a fab team, it also ended in wine. More jobs like this please???????????
It was for the December issue and all about party looks! So we spent the day, in a bar, getting 4 gorgeous girls from Leni's Models into party looks.

http://issuu.com/whosjack/docs/wjnovdec/89

I could go on, and on, and on!!!!! I worked with so many great people last year and hope I get to work with them again.

Until next time everyone!
Play, have fun, it's only makeup!
XX

Happy New Year!!!!

Well, that's another year over! And what a year it was! I made 2 life changes in 2011 and so far, I'm not regretting either, which is great news, considering one of them was getting married!

Here are some of the highlights of my year, both professionally and personally.
At the beginning of the year, I was still working for the incredible Laura Mercier as the National Makeup Artist, but I began to get itchy feet. I was finding it increasingly hard to fit in my freelance work, as I was spending most of my time travelling between UK, Ireland, Europe and sometimes the States. I had been with this fabulous brand for 5 years and have so much to thank them for. The experiences they gave me, the faces I was honoured enough to make up, the places I visited and the artists I worked with, including the Great Miss Mercier herself, made it the hardest decision I've had to make so far in my career.


Here are some memories from some of my time spent with Laura Mercier.

 Switzerland

 

Miami 

 Aberdeen

Artist Photo Shoot, Houston

Two of Laura's Great Artists, Tayaba and Matin

And my final international event was in the greatest city in the world........New York.

 Henri Bendels, 5th Avenue

One of the New York artists

So in May, I finally left the company and began my journey as my own boss! And I love it! It's tough, don't get me wrong but it's worth all the hard work.

Now over the next few months my freelance work started to build, it's funny how things turn up, just when you're getting a little concerned. The summer was filled with shoots, meetings and brides, including me! I married my husband on 23rd July in Faringdon, Oxon (my childhood church) and danced the night away at The Frogmill, Andoversford.
My husband is Scottish so they wore the traditional kilt etc and I wore a Pronovias dress which is still hanging on the back of my bedroom door........ not because I want to keep looking at it but because I have nowhere in our tiny flat to store it!
I love that now, when I makeup a bride on her special day, I can truly empathise with her emotions. 

Photography by Mark Sherratt and jewellery by www.glitzysecrets.com 

This took me to July. And already I'd given up work and got married. These are both stressful enough on their own but muggins here decided to do them both together! No wonder I have Psoriasis. Was I mad?

Check out my next blog to find out if I made the right choice? Work wise people.....I'm not talking about marrying Pete!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.