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.