My Portfolio Memoirs: Haunting Beauty

I vaguely remember this shoot actually happening but I recall the experience of skillfully working towards this test shoot and the moment in the make up room.  The wonderful Stylist, Tessa Wright had sourced some sensational choices, we'd chosen a model called Sam, I think but sorry to the photographer, I cannot think of his name!
My hair and make up input was created based primarily on the sheer nature of the Preen blouse and blonde, pale model; I was aiming for something quite monotone in all aspects which is why the photographer lit softly.  The chosen top was embellished and stunning, something unseen on the high street ten years ago.  The model had very, very long hair and a lot of it so I was keen on an up-do to show off the details in the lace collar, therefore, I began to section off the top part, put that aside, then slick the rest back into a ponytail and out of the way.  I then came back to the top by taking a hairband and partly pulling hair through it to the shape you see in the image, then stray hairs around the face I kept as is and even pulled some out of the loose ponytail for a slight veiled effect.
The complexion is almost dead-pan, no contouring, not even a distinct lip colour, just a line of shade cutting down the bottom lip.  At this time, I loved sculpting hollow eyes and used a bronze shade right up to the brows and plenty of eye liner. False lashes were applied but I became frustrated as they were not long enough.  Thinking on my feet, I took a pair of scissors and sliced through a small section of my hair.  Was I nuts?
While the hair dropped onto the tissue, the model, stylist and whoever else was in the room looked perplexed possibly worried.  I wasn't too sure this would work but I probably gave my hairdresser at the time a bit of a head start.
I twisted a few strands so that one end looked irregular, the other I snipped off evenly, then dipped into a small drop of Duo lash glue. Hands still steady, I held the lashes of locks at the centre of the lower eye and gently held it in place till it felt secure.  It was a moment of 'I need longer lashes' and it worked so I carried on, feeling more and more sure this was going to look unique, creative and be a winning image for my beauty portfolio as well as a step towards pushing my artistic boundaries to test and try the weird and wonderful ideas that would pop into my head.

If there is an image from my portfolio you'd like to know more about please get in touch.

www.nadiramakeup.com

Spring / Summer 2013: Antique Silver eyes and Watermelon Lips!

Lucky old me, I get to work on such a variety of shoots and that's how I like it.  Some are more creative than others, that's fine with me though when I have artistic licence to do be inspired by Fashion Designer, Suzannah S/S 13 collection, I am momentarily floating on powder puffs!

Suzannah, unrivalled designer of quintessentially British fashion with vintage charm, has unleashed refreshing watermelon tones as well as her ever popular cool minks so I mixed up the exact shade for lips for her Look Book shoot a few weeks ago.  

For this I used a combination of OCC Lip Tars and Chanel Rouge Coco Sari Dore to create a creamy block of watermelon.  

Eyes were laid with Ellis Faas Lights of soft sparkle in shades Antique Silver on lids surrounded by Green Gold, topped off with A/W addition YSL Volume Mascara in Khaki.

Hmm, how delicious to finish with watermelon lips, I'm looking forward to sporting this look next Summer, bring it on!!

To see more go to www.suzannah.com and see my favourites from this collection in my Fashion Portfoilo www.nadiramakeup.com 

Enhancing the faces of MCM.

Although I don't do very many high fashion shoots my work reflects current trends, seasonal looks and those delicious new must-have make up products, so I was delighted to be asked to do make up for the models at the MCM Fashion event in London using some of my most high performance products in my kit.

As you can see, they went out on a limb with branding with their iconic logo onto a Routemaster!

Here are all the models with their final look; high shine with elegant in the MCM colours.

I will take you through the look and make it brief...

I began with a light cleanse using Cover FX Clean FX Cleansing Mousse, then applied their BritePrep FX for an all over sheen.  The eyes were contoured using Ellis Faas Creamy Eyes E104, avoiding the centre of the eye.

The contours were accentuated further using the deep aubergine in Suqqu Blend Colour Eye Shadow 05 palette, then lined the upper lash line using Chanel's latest Autumn addition, Long Lasting Eyeliner (Stylo Yeux Waterproof) in Noir.

I highlighted the lids using RMK's A/W Ingenious Powder Eyes in 01 Iridescent Brown, the darker shade around the shape of the eye lid and pale bronze in the centre and across the brow bone.  Lashes were coated lightly with Givenchy Waterproof Phenomen'Eyes Mascara in Brown, upper lashes only.  The base, Cover FX Total Coverage B0 was then buffed on using Cover FX brush #160, Conceal FX in Light dabbed under the eyes to conceal any shadows, then I contoured cheeks with RMK Ingenious Powder Cheeks in Bronze (new season colour no less).

Once hair was beautifully styled I completed the eyes by lining Chanel Intense Eyeliner 75 (a bronze metallic shade) along the lower lash line quite liberally and Dior Brow Mascara in Gold combed generously through brows.   Not forgetting final touches to this look, nails were tidied up with the stunning gold/silver shade Kaleidoscope by Chanel.

The venue was the historic, English Heritage site, the Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner, steeped in history and such a high end event, I had to make some impact with lips though not go over board, so I chose OCC Lip Tar in Petty Beige, the exact colour match to MCM's Heritage range, why not!?

I loved the 'neutral' aspect of this look with the focus on highlights, contours with depth; nothing but enhancing.

5 Make Up and Hair Looks: Fashion Press Event!

Its not often I can show you my work live but on April 4th, I tweeted my work as it happened for a sumptuous Fashion Press Event at Quo Vadis for designers Suzannah, Rebecca Street and Edwina Ibbotson to name a few!

The Salon model was Rebecca Pearson from First Model Management, very beautiful and great fun to work with.

My make up kit is vast but I literally kept it to a minimum with a few staples from myface cosmetics, mainly mymix foundation, mycover concealer, Blingtones, R&B Blush and Lip Pop all kindly supplied that very afternoon and they didn't let me down.

My hair kit is stacking up with some fantastic products and appliances, namely Enrapture Extremity Heated Hair Rollers and...

...Operation Glam and Lee Stafford.  These are the only two hair products I used, yep, I told you I was going minimal!

Hair was setting nicely with the Enrapture rollers, which has to be said are so quick to heat, easy to roll into hair sections and so secure with firm grips.  After applying the base (mymix, Fair 01 and 03) and concealing lightly (mycover, Fair 111) around Rebecca's eyes I started applying the wet look Blingtones to the eye lids and into sockets as well as along the lower lash line. 

Hair beautifully curled in no time!

Hair brushed through to create a bouncy wave and gently sprayed with Lee Stafford Hair Spray to finish.

Finishing touches to eye brows, Rebecca is looking gorgeous even in her boyfriends jumper but now the finished look...

Sultry and seductive waves with hot cheeks with Paradiso Pink and a reddy pink Lip Pop gloss to add colour and stand up against the stunning Absinthe dress by Suzannah.

Seeing as I was challenging myself with many looks I decided small tweaks to hair and make up here and there would work with all the dresses to be worn by Rebecca.  The second look had intensified sockets with myface Blingtone Bellbotton Blues and cooler lips and here is the end result...

Just a hint of drama!

Later I began the third look with more intensity of the Blingtone blue shadow adding depth to the sockets and around the eyes, then softened slightly by blending with the brown Blingtone.  My lovely assistant finished off with a pale Lip Pop while I hastily created a new hair style to flatter the next dress.

As well as this alteration to eyes, I backcombed the ends of the hair then secured into the nape with grips to create a shortened, fuller version to achieve volume then a touch of hair spray to retain the shape.

Look number four went back to a fresher style.  I applied a thick eyeline of the silver Blingtone to brighten eyes, then another pop of luscious Lip Pop with Bleeding Love Lip Stick.  Hair back to something smooth and sophisticated.

And finally another elegant look with hair speedily waved with Enrapture Jumbo Waver then pinned up to one side to show off Suzannah's showstopping dress.  A hint of definition in the sockets using a charcoal eye liner pencil (a quick tweak) and to finish a cool pale lilac Lip Pop was added on top of the previous red lips.

And there you have it, 5 looks designed and applied with a few essentials and a really enjoyable fashionable evening!

Find out more about myface at http://www.myfacecosmetics.co.uk/home

 Lee Stafford products at http://www.leestafford.com/ Lulu's Operation Glam products at http://www.lulusplace.co.uk/operation-glam and Enrapture Hair Appliances at http://enrapturehair.com/  and Suzannah http://www.suzannah.com/

NB: Images are a mixture of my own and supreme snapper, Antonio Salgado.