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!

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.

Weekend with Laura Mercier in Miami!

Well, where do I start? Firstly, I apologise for the insane length of time between posts but I've finally had broadband installed at home so there is no stopping me! You're actually more likely to want to slow me down! haha!

Last week I was lucky enough to spend 5 days in Miami with the amazing Laura Mercier company, learning about the new and exciting launches that they have coming up this season, insights into the company and spending time with some of the most inspiring artists in the business.

We started the first day with an amazing Q&A section with Miss Laura Mercier herself and the esteemed plastic surgeon and creator of Revive skincare, Dr Gregory Brown. This was amazing to hear the inspiration straight from the horses mouths (in want of a better word) What a way to start the 3 day conference!

I'm obviously not going to give you an hour by hour account as you'll drift off to sleep, fall off your chair and damage some part of your anatomy......and I certainly don't want to be responsible for any injury so I'll continue with my highlights!

Another amazing part of the weekend was sharing 2 hours with Laura's new ambassador Matin Maulawizada, who is not only a hugely sought after celebrity makeup artist but a truly warm, funny and kind man who does amazing work with Afghan Hands charity. He had recently returned from the Sex and the City press tour as Cynthia Nixon's artist so was a little tired but a trouper!

He, along with Laura took a 2 hour artistry class with only 15 of us in the room which meant we had a very intimate and honest session! I can not explain how valuable this was.

Laura spent time amusing us with stories of her time spent travelling the world meeting Mercier fans, working on some of the beautiful faces in the business and her time with the wonderful Sarah Jessica Parker, who has inspired one you the new fall collection products to hit Sephora this year......my lips are sealed until it has been launched and then I 'll tell you which one!

She shared some of her favourite looks and products, and was raving about using the Laura Mercier Bronzing Gel on top of your foundation but rubbing it between your hands and pressing into the skin for this summer glow.

On one of the balmy tropical evenings we were whisked off to the beautiful Vizcaya Museum and gardens for the award ceremony and wow, it was amazing! Some people were saying that it had been used as a location for the iconic film Scarface but I've yet to confirm that bit of trivia! After the awards were over, we went through to the casino and enjoyed the evening!

Above is a pic of me and the lovely Laura Mercier herself.

As you can imagine, we packed all sorts of other bits and pieces into the conference but most of it isn't interesting to write about. Although I'd been to the States before, I'd never ventured to Miami and it really was an "awesome" experience and one that has made me look to plan a return trip (for pleasure) to this beautiful and gorgeously hot state!

Please feel free to ask any questions relating to Laura or Matin and I will try and answer as best I can.

Thanks for reading and remember "makeup should be fun"!

Kisses,
Katie