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Random Makeup Musings

Since becoming a full time freelance makeup artist, I've quickly learned that it's a feast or famine job. Right now, it's famine time. I got a jury duty notification that set me back two weeks of work. I have yet to recover from that. I went out hustling, selling myself the other day and people were responsive but responsiveness doesn't turn into cold hard cash. Every opportunity that does come up, seems to interfere with my schedule, not to mention I made an error in my resume that could explain why my phone hasn't been ringing. Because my damn phone number was incorrect! What a stupid, rookie mistake. I'm old enough to know better and I didn't. It's taking me a while to get over that too.

So as of late I've been test shooting, printing new pictures for my book, GETTING MY VERY OWN WEBSITE TOGETHER! and contemplating selecting pictures for my comp cards. Then will come the full on assault and any and every agency in New York City. Wish me luck!

My website is coming!!!

I finally took the plunge and registered my own URL. I'll make another announcement when it's ready but let it be known that www.makeupbyaina.com is coming soon to a computer near you!

In the meantime you can click on my portfolio on Dripbook and take a look at some new pics I've added. Enjoy!

Mineral Makeup, Part 3

Alas, my long overdue part three of my experiences with Mineral makeup.

After getting a chance to play with them at a private event at the Bare Escentuals boutique I decided to give mineral makeup a try on my own face. I bought the "dark" kit which includes two shades of the mineral powder foundation, a mineral veil, "warmth" and "clear radiance" the highlight & shadow products.

Yes, I'm a makeup artist, but in my everyday life, I don't wear much makeup, unless I'm up for a makeup job, or going someplace special. At most, I'll wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick or gloss and that's it. I certainly don't wear foundation every day, but I wanted to take the new makeup for a real life test drive so I wore it for a few consecutive days.

The first time I tried it, I used the light to medium coverage brush. It took longer than I thought. By the time I "swirled, tapped and buffed" the fourth step, the clear radiance onto my face, I knew that I wasn't going to do this every day, even if I was the type who wore foundation every day. Despite the lengthy application process, the final product looked nice. I thought the makeup gave natural but even coverage and my face looked nice, but not overly made up.

A I suspected, I got tired of the four step process, not to mention mascara, blush and lip stuff I needed to compliment the look since you can't really wear just foundation without doing a full face of makeup. Also, I noticed that my face started itching. It didn't turn in to a full blown reaction, and I'm not sure if it was the powder itself, the summer heat (so not fun to wear a full face of makeup in the heat of the NYC subway system) or the semi harshness of the brushes you have to use to apply the product.

So my final verdict is mineral makeup is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there!

Sharon Gault Workshop

Last month I attended a workshop through my Makeup Artists Meetup Group hosted by the awesome Makeup Forever NYC store and presented by the awe inspiring Sharon Gault.

Before I even get into the details of the workshop, I'm taking a moment to freak out about how amazing the Makeup Forever store is. I absolutely loved being there surrounded by all the beautiful colors, the open space. They have such great products, it was difficult not to lose my mind and shop my ass off.

As soon as I walked in, Sharon came right up to me and introduced herself. Moments later, she was asking me to be her model for one of the three demos she planned on doing; apparently her model wasn't going to show. I happily accepted, I mean, come on! to have Sharon Gault do my makeup! Dude!

On top of that, there was a camera crew there! Sharon is shopping a potential reality show and they were filming the workshop...and OMG I got to be in it since I was one of the models. Lord knows it it will ever appear on a TV set near you, but it was still exciting to be involved!

Sharon's first demo was a look she created doing the makeup for Keri Hilson's video "energy". The look was pretty natural, but the concept of the video was a sort of "Million Dollar Baby" look so the skin needed to glow. The most important thing I learned was that every part of the body shown on camera is the MUA's responsibility. During her demo, Sharon like audience particicaption, so one of my collegues got up and helped put MUFE face & body foundation on the model's legs.

I was next! This fun demo came from the Solange video for "I Decided". We now interrupt this regularly schedlule blog post to gush about how freakin' inspiring Solange's look is. She is really working hard to stand out from the other female solo artists out now and I have to say, it's turned my opinion of her as an artist completely around. Whoever was involved in creating her look and sound needs recognition ASAP!

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog: This look was all about the lashes, and I'm sure you're familiar with MUFE's amazing selection of eyelashes! I had about 8 lashes on my face. She even had one of the participants come up and do a little something something to one of my eyes and it looked fierce!

The cherry on my sundae was the fact that I got to keep ALL the lashes they used on me! Yippie!


After several shopping breaks (more on that later) we were given a third demo. Sharon did the makeup for the poster for the upcoming film Red Sonja staring Rose McGowan (I know, right!!!). this was super drama, and gorgeous! Keeping the whole face simple, she used black eyeshadow in the crease and winged it out. It looked awesome!


Okay, now the shopping breakdown. All of us were able to enroll in the MUFE discount program (yeah, baby!) and we took full advantage of the discount! I got a few shades of their HD foundation, which has quickly become my most favorite foundation ever. I've only used it a few times on a few test shoots, but it just goes on so nicely and looks so damn good, I don't think I'll be buying much else in terms of foundations for a while. I also picked up the HD powder which is so fantastic all my other supposedly translucent powders are collecting dust in my kit.

Above all else, above the demos and the makeup and the lashes, it was just inspiring to be around her and to hear her encouraging words to all of us. The timing of this workshop couldn't have been more perfect for me. Just weeks ago I left the corporate world to pursue makeup full time, and when I'm down, doubtful or just plain scared, I remember workshops like Sharon's and am filled with hope, confidence and that fire in my belly to continue to persist and I know I'll make it! It was an amazing opportunity to share with her and with all the participants and my colleagues and friends.





(MUFE makeup images courtesy of Make up forever)

I know I know

it's been way too long since I've updated this blog. I have so many experiences to share with you, but before I get into all that here's a brief update on me:

My full time job finally set me free last month and I've taken the plunge into being a full time freelance makeup artist! So far it's been great! My first week out the gate, I got a call to assist on a foreign film. This was my first experience doing makeup for a film and while the schedule was killer, it was lots of fun. I can't wait to do it again.!

I've also been working with the amazing Anne DeMarco and she's asked me to be on her team for fashion week! It's only for one day, and it's not even paid, but I'm overcome with excitement!

I still have so much work to do on my portfolio. More connections to make, so much more work to be done, and I'll be updating you every step of the way now that I have the time to update this baby!

Just A Girl Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago, I did a photo shoot for the new R & B Group called Just A Girl (AKA: JAG). Last week I finally got the pictures. I love them. The Record Company Loved them, and I could not be happier! The photographer is Roberto Chamorro.
I did Makeup on the young lady on the right, Charlie.

Mineral Makeup, Part 2

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a meeting with the Makeup Artists Meetup Group. This was my first meeting with them and it just so happened to be at the Bare Escentuals Boutique in Manhattan! I didn't even know Bare Escentuals had a store in the city. I'd always walked right past the BE section at Sephora because I just didn't know enough about mineral makeup.

The first thing we did was watch a demo of the basic foundation application on a model who was one of the attendees. The Makeup artist started by doing a quick color match on the model's skin. She was a brown skinned girl, which I was glad to see because it's still difficult in 2008(!) to find good foundation that matches darker skin tones. Someone asked if they were going to address their limited shade selection, and happily, they are! They are coming out with three more shades to address darker skin!

First was a quick prep with some moisturizing spray and a light moisturizer. You can obviously skip this step if you've already cleansed and moisturized.

Next came the color foundation. There are two types of brushes that come with the starter kit, the light to medium coverage brush and the full coverage kabuki brush. The model wanted full coverage so the MUA used the kabuki brush. First she placed the mineral powder in the cap of the jar. Then she demonstrated the famous swirl, tap, buff technique. You shouldn't be able to see any foundation left in the cap. Then you tap the excess and cover a small area at a time. There are two types of brushes you can use. One for light to medium coverage and one for full coverage.

After the color foundation, came the "Mineral Veil". I'm still not 100% clear on what this product does or why you need it, but here's my best explanation: It enhances the foundation. I think it's supposed to add a "glow" to the skin, and give the skin a more refined finish. I know... very vague, but like I said, I still don't fully understand this product. I think it made the skin look a little more "made up" like you could totally tell she had foundation on, you know?

Next came "Warmth" This product looks very red/bronze and you use it in select spots to bring the features back out that you've just flattened with the foundation. The MUA applied Warmth on the cheeks, around the forehead around the sides of the chin, much like contouring.

Finally, came "Clear Radiance". This is the highlighting product, you use on the tops of the cheeks, the chin, down the nose and the forehead.

When she was done, the model looked great. Honestly, she could have put on some mascara, and lip gloss and been done with it. The MUA used the full coverage kabuki brush and it definitely gave full coverage. If you don't like to look like you have a bunch of stuff on your face I suggest you use the light to medium coverage brush which gives a more natural look.

After viewing the basic demo, my attention turned to the eye shadows. These are also minerals in loose powder form in tons of colors! They all have a slight shimmer to them, but that shouldn't scare women with maturing skin into not using them. What I loved about these shadows was their versatility. Again, you only need a tiny bit of product to use on the eyes. The colors are very blend-able and can create subtle or more dramatic looks.

My absolute favorite product is the eye liner sealer. You can take any shadow, add the liner sealer and use it as liquid liner. Let me tell you, that liquid eyeliner does not come off. It just doesn't. Not until you want it to. One of the MUAs demoed a basic smoky eye, then did some really cool face painting.



There are just a few simple general rules to follow when using mineral makeup...

• You must use their brushes to apply the foundation and the concealer - This was one of the first questions I asked the MUA during the demo. The reason being that other brushes aren't built for all that buffing that is needed to apply the makeup. The bristles will eventually fall apart...on your face. I plan on testing that theory, but since the brushes come with the starter kit, it's not like you have to shell out extra cash for the brushes.
  

• You only need a tiny bit of each product - They aren't kidding. It's nice to know that even though the starter kit is a bit pricey, it will last you for a very long time because you need so little of the product.
  

• It's all in the application - by working the product in one area of the face at a time it really makes a difference in the way it looks. Once you get the technique down (and they provide an instructional DVD so you can learn the proper technique) you're good to go!
  

After seeing, hearing and playing with the product, I broke down and bought a starter kit for myself. Check back soon for Mineral Makeup part 3 where I share my personal experience with the products!

My latest Show!

I recently helped design the makeup for the off Broadway play Oroonoko along with my mentors J. Jared Janas & Rob Greene. It's a fantastic play set in the 1600's in Africa. It the story of a would be king who through a series of events gets sold into slavery. It's also probably the most depressing play ever but extremely compelling and very well acted by the cast.

I learned so much working on this show including some great special effects like putting whip scars on the backs of one of the slaves. I learned how to work with 3rd Degree, which is a SFX material that is used to make all kinds of gross looking scars, burns, etc. I was thrilled about that because I have been itching to learn some SFX and now I can say I've at least had some experience. More pictures to come!

The sweetest thing is seeing my name in the Playbill. That is truly a thrill. I'm so happy to be doing what I love, even if I'm not Pat McGrath yet. I'm on my way!

Online Portfolio

Hey All!

Check out my bootleg version of an online portfolio. This will have to do until I secure a domain and build my professional website. Comments and constructive feedback is welcome. If you don't think the picture could be in Vogue, It won't go in my port! Enjoy!

Mineral Makeup, Part 1

Every time I tell someone I'm a makeup artist, the question I get most frequently is, "What do you think of that mineral makeup stuff"? Then I have to reply, "I've never tried it". Finally I've decided to go get some and try it out. Step 1: go to Sephora and pick up some Bare Minerals or whatever. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Okay, I'm back!

And I'll be giving you mo' beauty, mo' tips, mo' product faves, and more updates on my life as a makeup artist just starting out. I promise!!!