Makeup for JacQ's album release party!

Yesterday I got the pleasure of doing makeup on recording artist JacQ for her album release party at Sky Room in New York City (my hometown). It was such a great event and doubled as the official launch for Gossip Meets Couture Magazine.

When I got to the hotel JacQ was a bunch of nerves because she was nervous about performing. We all tried to console her and reassure her that her talent would win everyone over. After she showed me the dress we got started. She suggested that we do silver and I thought that silver would go great with her blue sequinned dress. JacQ wanted to do a wet look so I knew just what to break out of my kit - my L'oreal Hip eyeshadow duo. The silver looks metalic and wet without having to wet the product (that can get really messy). I added a little bity of depth to it with an eyeshadow given to me by niece by ELF. I didn't really know if I'd ever use it but it came in handy for this! I swept the L'oreal metalic silver from lashline to crease and along the bottom lashline, then to add a little depth we took the darker gray from the ELF palette and went in the crease and over the silver on the bottom lash line. We finished the eyes with long thick falsies, mascara, and liner - bonita! For the cheeks we used a peach color from Make Up For Ever and of course put a Tokidoki highlight right above the apples and under the eyes. We finished to look with a nude lipstick from NARS. She ended up lookin hot and once she got on stage she performed her butt off. 

I danced the night away with my girlfriends and dined on White Castle burgers later (classy, lol). Look out for JacQ she's a double threat - a talented beauty.

My New Favorite Highlighter!

One of my new favorite products is the Tokidoki Kabuki Luminosa Highlighter, this is what I used on the model in the picture above to attract the light to her cheekbones. I was looking for a new product to add light to the face. I previously used Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion from Smashbox which was great but the fact that it was liquid would get a little messy and sometimes moved or melted product once I put it over foundation and powder.

I'm no stranger to the Tokidoki brand, I've seen it at Sephora before. While I love the Japanese art they use on all of the packaging, I don't typically use their products. Don't get me wrong the products are fine and the packaging is so fun that you have to pick them up and look them. I do have a couple of the lip glosses but I didn't find the shadows to be pigmented enough of super blendable. This is why I was really surprised when the Tokidoki highlighter was recommended to me when I asked one of the associates at Sephora what they would recommend in place of my Smashbox lotion. At first I said "hell to the no!", but after the associate was so sure it would work great I reluctanlty bought it. Let me tell you girlfriend knew what she was talking about because it's amazing! It highlights cheekbones like nothing I've ever used before. I also like to use it on the bridge of the nose to bring it forward and it looks great.

Gold star for Tokidoki on making one of the best damn highlighters ever!

My day with Basketball Wives star Meeka Claxton!

I was summoned to do makeup and hair for Meeka Claxton, wife of NBA baller Speedy Claxton, and star of  the hit reality series Basketball Wives, for the cover of the online magazine Gossip Meets Couture. Now before you guys start throwing shade at me, I had mixed feelings about Meeka Claxton too after seeing her in action on VH1's Basketball Wives. I wasn't reluctant to take the job of doing her makeup and hair but I was ambivalent as to what she would be like. I can't front though, she was funny as hell at the reunion show when she called Tami "THR ( Tami Hoodrat Roman)". I fell out of my chair when she said that one. Folks I have to say that once you meet her, you can't help but like the girl!

I showed up to the New York City studio space and was shocked that she was already there! Usually the talent is at least a few minutes late but she was actually early. I also could not believe her figure - she's so much smaller in person! She looked to me like a size 6 at the most, she looks much heavier on TV; and she's prettier in person too. When I walked up to her to introduce myself and discuss what makeup looks she would prefer, she was open and friendly. To my surprise there was not one diva bone in her body (surprising for the wife of a NBA player). Meeka was extremely open to anything that would match the wardrobe, her only request was that I not age her more than her 32 years. A reasonable request I thought.

As the day progressed and I finished her hair and started makeup the shoot began having some difficulties, the manager informed us that we had to change studios in the middle of makeup. I thought for sure Sasha Fierce would come out in no time but she remained calm and collected and had her Assistant help her gather her things to move into the other space.  Even after having to wait for me to lug all of my hot tools and pounds of makeup  - and having to wait for me to set up all over again she was very zen. I was thoroughly impressed, especially since that studio move got me a little pissed. She just smiled let me do me thing and we had girl talk! Meeka asked me about the contour I was giving her, what matte eye shadows I prefer, and my NARS blush. We also spoke about her business ventures and the fact that she would not return to the VH1 hit show.

We ended up doing two looks both with a sleek side bun and bang. One look was a gorgeous neutral  eye created with Make Up For Ever's palette created by Orlando Santiago and a red lipstick by Dior. The other was a brown smokey eye created with the same eye palette and a pale lip created by a mixture of a Make Up For Ever lipstick and OCC lip tar. She looked great!

I like so many other people had preconceived notions about Meeka - Ms. Claxton if you're nasty, lol, but she was so nice. That really taught me not to believe the hype you see on these reality shows.

MAC and their damn Strobe Cream!

Now I'm not the biggest fan of MAC - I'm actually not a fan at all because of the 8 cosmetics companies that I applied for Pro Cards with MAC is the only one who shut me down. The funny part is all the others were free! I was willing to pay for that damn MAC card and they dissed me, so I'm on a MAC strike. Sorry guys I was having a moment, that hit a nerve. Now back to my original point y'all I replaced all MAC products that were in my kit including my Barbie edition lipstick (that one hurt) except for the Strobe Cream. I can't find anything that comes close to it no matter how hard I try! I've used other creams that claim the same thing but they don't even come close.
For those of you  who are not familiar with Strobe Cream let me enlighten you. It's a moisturizing cream by MAC that can be used on the face or body and gives a glow like nobodies business. I think only Jesus himself could give you a better a glow honey! It's rich in texture but doesn't feel heavy, and it has a gorgeous luminous quality about it. Not only does it look good on bare skin it's fabulous under foundation. You can get the same finish you get from a baked powder using Strobe Cream under or over your foundation. I also use it on the body when photographers want the models to reflect light on their skin. I recently did some research on this fabulous cream and found that it's also full of vitamins and antioxidants that nourish the skin and promote healthy cells.

I have a hate/hate relationship with MAC but I can't seem to shake that damn Strobe Cream. I always say I don't need or I'm going to use a less superior product but I always come back for more! The price makes it even harder because it's only $15 - damn you MAC!!! I have no choice but to recommend this product because "I can't quit you".

The Best Damn Foundation Period!

My all time favorite foundation for any project I do is the Black Opal cream stick. I can't use it on everyone but I use it whenever I can, trust me. I feel very strongly about choosing the right foundations because they can make or break your look. I'm not a huge fan of liquid foundation at all for photo shoots, videos, or movies because it takes way too long to build and even then it's not always enough coverage. HD foundations are great but super expensive! I need to have at least 10 skin colors on hand at any given time when doing a job with multiple clients. At over $40 each HD is not my first choice, the Black Opal cream stick comes in at about $9 and it's really high quality makeup. I don't always know what ethnicity I'll be dealing with so the more options the better. Although I've done a few celebrities I'm not the personal MUA of any of them so I still need to budget it out honey! Black Opal cream sticks provide an insane amount of coverage using very little - one stick last for at least 2 months. The beauty of this stick for me is that is goes on so well with a wet sponge (my favorite way to apply foundation)and looks so natural!

Although Black Opal markets their products to African American women, I can use the lighter shades on some of my clients of other ethnicities and it's a great match. I've used it on Caucasian, Latina, and Asian women and it looks great. You can also use it to contour and it works beautifully. Black Opal is super accessible too, you can find the products at your local drug store. Go get some you'll thank me later.

Pucker Up There's A New Gloss In Town

So coming from a former Lancome Juicy Tubes addict this may sound a little crazy but I have converted to L'Oreal's Colour Riche Le Gloss line. I've been using Juicy Tubes for years but one day I noticed on the bottom of the box it said manufactured by L'Oreal. What? I'm buying this expensive department store brand and it's manufactured by the same brand you get a CVS? So of course I had to see what the difference was between to two.


I went to my local drug store a few days later and sought out some L'Oreal lip gloss. Typically I can't stand drug store lip gloss because in my experience it's been too thin and either rubs off quickly (cough Cover Girl) or runs down your lip when you body heat warms it up (cough Revlon), so I wasn't very optimistic about a new product they just launched called Le Gloss. I picked a color that I thought was really pretty called Really Rose (because in my opinion you can never have too much pink) and brought it home to put up to the test. First off I was already impressed with the elegant shape of the tube and the slanted tip for smoother application, but when I smelled the product I wanted to eat it - it smells like cake! For the moment of truth I applied some to my mouth and the consistency was perfect. The best part was the color was a lot more pigmented than the Lancome Juicy Tubes which goes on pretty sheer and it tastes good too. My lips looked great and the color spread evenly. I asked for pink and Le Gloss gave me pink - long lasting, cupcake smelling pink no less. I am officially converted. I love Lancome but the L'Oreal Colour Riche Le Gloss is a much better product in my opinion. Since then I've gone back to CVS when they had the buy one get one 50% off sales on all the L'Oreal products and stocked up honey! Try it you'll love it, I promise.


 

Mary Kay Eye Primer

So my next recommendation may be a little controversial, but I stand by it nonetheless. I really like the Mary Kay Eye Primer! I discovered this while doing makeup for the Emerging Trends show during Boston Fashion Week. Mary Kay was the sponsor for the show and urged us to integrate products from their collection as much as possible during our makeup application. At first I was very leery thinking "Is this a joke? No Makeup Artist carries Mary Kay in their kit it's crap!", which was a very ignorant reaction I must say. After much persuasion from other Makeup Artists there that said they swear by the eye primer I gave in and tried it. To my surprise the primer worked great and held the shadows in place. I then offered my sincerest apologies to the fine folks at Mary Kay, ate a lot of crow, and asked if I could take a few home with me.

Since then I've gone from thinking Mary Kay was an embarrassing product to own, to proudly having it as an integral part of my kit and urging you to try it.