a few of my favorite things

I clearly haven't been keeping up as much as I'd like to, but I wanted to share some of my favorite everyday things. 

I have a serious addiction to sunglasses - I usually tend to switch them out every month or so - but the sunnies pictured above have been my favorite this year. They're by Quay in the style Fleur. I also own them in gold (and they come in silver!). They're a bit pricey, but check eBay for dupes. 

I decided to find myself a scent this year. I have historically been one to go for fun, light, tropical scents - but this year I found something slightly more sophisticated than my Bath & Body Works body mist. From the Femme Fatale collection of TokyoMilk, I give you Everything and Nothing. This scent is my favorite because of the romantic, but bright notes of rose and jasmine blended with sweet orange and tea leaves. Seriously. I will never give this up. 

Lastly, there's Love and Light hand cream from Lush. I am not typically a dry-skinned person, but I do have some dermatitis issues ever now and then and lately they have been in desperate need of some moisture. Since Formulae Known As is discontinued (I hope you hear my heart breaking, Lush) I've been forced to find a new go-to. Love and Light has become my saving grace when it comes to dry, cracked skin because it soaks in quickly and doesn't leave an oily residue (unlike the not-so-recently-reformulated Charity Pot). Also, I love the scent. I can't pinpoint what it reminds me of, but it has some of the same notes as the Lush conditioner Happy Happy Joy Joy. 

Thanks for reading... See you soon :)

Muench/Young Wedding || May 2015

Last month I had the pleasure, and distinct honor, of doing the makeup for my best friend's bridesmaids -- including her incredibly beautiful sisters. It was such a pleasure to be able to do something I love and contribute to such a special day. The time flew by and we had so much fun getting ready together. Here are some final photos by KC Photography, courtesy of Amanda and her beautiful mama, Karen.

FAQ

Hello & welcome! I've had an influx of questions and messages recently, so I'd like to answer some of them publicly!

Q: Do you color hair, too, or just style it?
A: I color hair! Coloring hair is actually probably one of my favorite things to do. I love being creative and helping people bring out their personality via their hair color(s).

Q: Do you have a salon?
A: I do not have a salon. I am a self-trained freelance stylist, so I can either come to you or you can come to me. This just helps keep my costs lower on my end and yours. :)

Q: Are your tools and products clean?
A: YES. I sanitize my tools and products between each client.

Q: Do you do any special effects makeup?
A: Yes! I work with special effects and costume/character  makeup as well as formal, bridal, film, pageant, theatre, and special event makeup.

Q: Do you do trial makeup?
A: Yes. :) If you choose to book me for your event, we will discuss a trial run of the hair & makeup look you're hoping for.

Q: What are your rates?
A: This was by far the most frequently asked question and it also has the most complicated answer. Prices may vary depending on the length of hair, process, complexity of desired hair/makeup, necessary products, & time consumed.

Hair
Half-head Foils $30-50
Full-head Foils $45-65
All-over Color $30-40
Formal/Bridal/Pageant Styling $35-45
Styling Trials $25

Makeup
Portrait or Professional $25-35
Formal $30-40
Bridal $50-75
Trials $25


I hope this has been helpful! See you soon... :)

Rave or Return? Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette

Hi :) If you haven't guessed by the obnoxiously long title (I'm working on it, okay), I just picked up the new Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette so I'm going to do a quick demo + review on it!

The key to contouring your face (or anyone else's face for that matter) is understanding light and shadows, which is why Light + Shade is such a great name for Kat Von D's latest product.

Clean & Moisturize

This should be the first step for just about anything in life.

(Oh heyyyyyyy.)

Prime

I like this primer from Hourglass, but of course you can use your

favorite primer (or just skip a step!)

Foundation

I used my Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous foundation

(why are the names so long!?) in the shade Soft Honey.

Conceal

Concealer is important! I told someone recently that if I don't look like a

warrior princess when applying my concealer, I'm doing something wrong.

My favorite is the Maybelline Fit Me concealer.

I wear the shade 20 Sand. :)

Eyes

I was running errands and cleaning today, so I wanted a neutral eye.

I use Kat Von D's High Voltage eye primer just about every day;

today I went in with Makeup Geek's Beaches & Cream all over

my lids, and Barcelona Beach in the crease. 

Tools

The angled foundation brush (right) was used to define the contour.

The small powder brush (center) was used to blend.

And the setting powder brush (left) was used to highlight.

Kat Von D Shade + Light Palette

Contour

It didn't take long for me to realize how much I wanted this palette.

Whenever I've contoured in the past, I've pulled products from 

different brands -- which isn't a bad thing -- so this was my first

experience with products that are designed to be used together.

I first used the shade Sombre -- which is very much a neutral taupe --

to carve out my cheekbones and create a shadow.

Next I blended out the harsher lines with Shadowplay -- a soft, warm brown.

This is something I don't do very often because I don't usually care or have

the time to do it well, but I used the darkest shade in the palette, Subconscious --

which is a deep, dark brown -- to contour my nose. I used the small brush again 

to blend out the contour.

Contouring the forehead, I used Sombre again and blending it out with no extra product on the small blending brush.

I contoured my jaw and under my chin with Shadowplay.

Highlighting

I set my concealer and highlighted my under eye area with Lucid -- 

a pinkish nude color that truly brightens up this area.

For the bridge of my nose and the center of my forehead, I used the shade Lyric --a 

yellowish beige. This might be my favorite highlight shade in the whole palette.

To give some life to my face, I used Makeup Geek's blush in Spell Bound.

This is such a universally beautiful shade; it's described as a light tan with 

salmon undertones making it my dream summer blush, but also just a 

great blush for every skin tone because it is so buildable.

Here's my final look for the day. It seems like it may take a lot of effort at

first, but I've pretty much got my routine down to 6 or 7 minutes. :)

Campus MovieFest 2015: Breakthrough

This was my second year with Bitter Glass Productions for Campus MovieFest at USF. Last year our film, Positive, took home awards for Best Drama, Best Actor, and Best Soundtrack. We went on to compete at the national level in Hollywood, CA. It was such an incredible experience and I'm so glad I got to be a part of the team again this year. Speaking of this year, our film, Breakthrough, was honored with a Jury Award (CMF's new system of judging), Best Actress, and Best Soundtrack once again. It was such a fun night and so great to see everyone's hard work pay off. 

Savannah's character, Rachel, had to be several different ages for the film, and Nick's character, Dr. Emery Golden, M.D., primarily had to be in his thirties. This was interesting for me because of the versatility that I had the opportunity to show with the makeup. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for all of the filming because of class/work/etc. but I could tell it was going to be phenomenal just from the time that I was able to be present.

The first shots we did were of an overtired Rachel -- a "no makeup, makeup look."

• I used Makeup Geek eyeshadows, of course, in Peach Smoothie, Cupcake, and a tiny bit of Hipster and Bitten all under the eyes to make her look as naturally terrible as we could.
• I also took some clear mascara (Maybelline Great Lash) to her lashes and eyebrows to keep everything in place and prime them for the upcoming scenes.

Dr. Golden's look had to remain mostly the same throughout the film because 1. black don't crack, 2. the character of Dr. Golden is in his thirties for the majority of the film, and 3. black don't crack. This look is mostly comprised of contouring wrinkles and other signs of aging. (I should have gotten more pictures with some better lighting. Oops.) 

• I used NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder in Brown/Dark Brown to deepen his natural lines and create some additional age lines above his eyebrows and under/around his eyes. 
• I also used a little bit of Tehran CreamBlend Stick Makeup in White on the ends of his eyebrows as well as in his hairline around his temples to create some graying.
• We set everything with the darkest shade in BH Cosmetics Contour & Blush Palette.

At this point, Rachel is 18 and fresh-faced. 

• We used Savannah's personal foundation: Lush's Colour Supplement in Light Yellow.
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer in Brightener under her eyes followed by...
• Laura Geller Baked Highlighter in French Vanilla to set it and highlight the center of her face.
• Contour/bronzer is Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer in Medium/Deep
• Highlighter is BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal
• Eyes are Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie and a light layer of L'Oréal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara in Blackest Black 
• Eyebrows are Anastasia Brow Wiz in Soft Brown
• Lips are Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien - a natural, rosy pink

By the final chronological scene of filming Rachel is 22 years old, so we matured her by

• Contouring her face more with the same Too Faced Matte Bronzer
• Added Cupcake, Hipster, Bitten 
• Physicians Formula Eye Booster liner in Blackest Black
• Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara in Black
• an additional layer of L'Oréal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara in Blackest Black
• and Gerard Cosmetics Lighted Lipgloss in Rose Hill

And that's all I've got for now.

Thanks for reading! See you soon... :)

Miss USF, Part 2!

It happened!

A few months ago, this lady asked me to do her hair & makeup as she competed in the Mr. & Miss USF Scholarship Pageant. While she didn't win the whole thing (a travesty all its own), she did take home Miss Congeniality! We had such a fun time through all of the rehearsals and the show itself. It was an honor to be her backstage assistant while also overseeing the pageant from my position with Sound & Light at the Marshall Student Center. 

 

We kept Amanda's hair similar to her interview hair (which you can read about in Part 1 of this Mr. & Miss USF miniseries), but a faux half-updo instead of the full effect. More versatile, still well-mannered, but less "clean."

On to makeup...

Face

- Hourglass Mineral Veil primer - always.
- L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder in "Creamy Natural" - perfect because you don't need to set it with a powder and risk looking caked-on or overpowering in photos, inevitable at pageants
- Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser in "Brightener"
- Laura Geller Baked Highlighter in "French Vanilla" - to set the concealer and highlight the center of the face
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer in "Medium/Deep" - stage makeup requires an intense amount of contouring, and this is a great, matte bronzer that can be built up for extra drama. 
- NYX Powder Blush in "Mocha" - a beautiful, deep rosy color.
- BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in "Opal" - again, always.
- Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray
- Gerard Cosmetics Lipgloss in "Rose Hill" - a perfect dream for the whole pageant

Eyes

- Kat Von D High Voltage Primer - I'm a broken record, but this is another holy grail.

- Makeup Geek eyeshadows are my go-to because they are both so affordable and so gorgeous! For this look I used:

- Peach Smoothie all over the lid

- Cupcake on the upper lid and in the crease

- Hipster in the crease

- L'Oréal Infallible Eyeliner in "Brown" smudged and blended out with Hipster again on the lower lash line.

- Physicians Formula Eye Booster liner in "Blackest Black" - this is actually a 2-in-1 formula with a lash-boosting serum, it's also my favorite liquid eyeliner for a classic wing.

- For the evening wear portion of the pageant, we amped up Amanda's eye makeup with a little bit of Makeup Geek's Bitten in the crease and Corrupt in the outer corner.

- Gerard Cosmetics Brow Bar To Go in "Blonde to Brunette" combined with Anastasia Brow Wiz in "Soft Brown" on the brows.

It was a wonderful experience for both of us!

Thanks for reading! See you soon... :)

Miss USF, Part 1!

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to do my best friend's hair & makeup for her Miss USF interview. The actual event will be this Thursday, which of course I will be posting more about. I could go on and on about how much Amanda deserves this title and why, but I'll try to stick with hair & makeup...

Hair: Half Up/Half Down.

• First of all, we did a couple "quick" color corrections on Amanda's hair this week to match her extensions. I wouldn't recommend this for most people (for the sake of your hair, color match your extensions as opposed to trying to match your hair), but these were specific circumstances.
• Amanda put 1" hot rollers in her hair in the morning before she came over and we left them in until we finished with her beautiful face. 
• After, she put in her extensions and curled everything together with a 32MM Magic Wand by NuMe -- definitely my favorite curling wand. It is actually magical.

Makeup

Face

- Hourglass Mineral Veil primer - always.
- L'Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder in "Creamy Natural" - perfect because you don't need to set it with a powder and risk looking caked-on or overpowering in photos, inevitable at pageants
- Maybelline Dark Circle Eraser in "Brightener" 
- Laura Geller Baked Highlighter in "French Vanilla" - this is perfection for setting concealer
- Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer in "Medium/Deep" - great for contouring or bronzing
- Makeup Geek Blush in "Infatuation" - one of my favorite blushes for warming up the cheeks
- BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in "Opal" - I caved & bought this in January and I will never give it up. Absolutely a holy grail product in my personal collection and in my professional kit.
- Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 004 Sandstorm
- Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray

Eyes

- Kat Von D High Voltage Primer - again, another holy grail product that I use on everyone.

- I used a L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Endless Pearl in the center of the lid and the inner corner (after all of the Makeup Geek shadows below).

- Makeup Geek eyeshadows are my go-to because they are both so affordable and so gorgeous! For this look I used:

- Peach Smoothie all over the lid

- Cupcake on the outer half of the lid and in the crease

- Hipster in the outer crease

- Bitten in the outer corner

- Gerard Cosmetics Brow Bar To Go in Blonde to Brunette on the brows

- Milani Color Statement Lipstick in Nude Creme

 

Isn't she flawless!?

I swear, if she isn't Miss USF by this time next week, something is very wrong with the world.

Thanks for reading! See you soon... :)