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... :)