Menswear Inspired Shoot

Last week we shot Samantha Loxley from D1 Models and I was just so unbelievably pleased when I saw the results. Samantha was a dream to work with and I think her relaxed manor and lovely laid back approach comes across well in the final images.

Photography was by Daniel James Towle. I can't speak highly enough of him. His work is beyond beautiful!

Hair was by Tim Furssedonn. Tim is so inspiring to work with that he is spoiling it for all other hair stylists out there - he sets the bar so high!

Styling was by Daniel David. This was our first time working with Dan and we swiftly booked him in for future shoots so his name will be appearing on my blog again soon. Definitely one to watch!

Sequin Brows

I love a good test shoot - especially when the photographer and model are kind enough to let me live out my fantasies ... involving sequin brows!

Photographer: JC Candanedo, Grey Pistachio

Model: Gabby from Space

Makeup: Me

Inspiration: Chanel AW 2012/13

The Making of a Beauty Shoot - part two

The day had come, the studio was ready! Aside from a very stressful tube ride to the studio (northern line, I hate you), I was relaxed and ready for a fun day. I find doing hair as well as makeup quite a lot of pressure so I was thrilled to hand over the reins that day to Rachel Williamson, and I was super excited to be working on a shoot with a stylist as not many test shoots have that luxury. 

JC Candanedo working his magic with a little help from Rachel Williamson

The team met at the studio at 10am and started setting up. The clothes Eizabeth Adena had chosen for the shoot were lovely - a perfect mix of sophisticate, rock chick and disco queen. I may or may not have rushed home to purchase a certain furry disco queen jacket at the end of the shoot. Shhhh. 

Christiana working on her first look with Anastasia

Jessica shooting her first look. For the final versions please go to my portfolio page.

The first looks of the day were natural looks mainly for the models to use in their books. I love doing this type of makeup, I find my natural skin-focussed style lends itself well to this kind of shoot. My model was Jessica and I kept the look very simple, just sweeping a taupe colour through the socket, adding some mascara, grooming brows and keeping the lips pretty natural. I love the movement of her hair in the final version of these shots which can be seen on my portfolio page. I love a wind machine!

Anastasia with her natural look by Christiana

Once we had those looks nailed, we moved on to the more creative and exciting looks. Christiana shot her model Anastasia first with these incredible statement lips. Anastasia has such beautiful, full features that she pulled the look off with ease. I'm afraid some of these shots are being kept under wraps for the time being as they are part of an editorial submission, but trust me, they are amazing!

Rodarte inspired look on Jessica 

My first creative look was on the delightful Jessica Turner. I was inspired by the Rodarte AW2014 runway show so I went for a dense application or brown cream shadow over the socket teamed with a metallic lip which I mixed up using Bellapierre loose pigment.

Next up it was my turn to do a statement lip and I went for gold foil (stolen from my daughter's craft box). Truth be told, I hadn't really done too much of a practice on this look prior to the shoot, but boy I was happy with how it went on the day. A happy accident you might say. 

My final look was on Anastasia. I was inspired by a picture of Amanda Seigfried ... a purple smokey eye, a glossy lip. It took a while to get this look happening from a styling and hair point of view, but after a few clothing changes, we got some really lovely shots.

Anastasia on her final look .. before we changed some of the styling around. 

So what did we end up with? Well you will have to wait for part three of my post for the final images. Behind the scenes snap shots by me and Christiana, but professional photography by Grey Pistachio. Our location was the fabulous Flash Avenue Studios.

New Work - fashion + beauty shoot

I did a really interesting shoot with Antonio Milevcic, fashion photographer, and Elissa from M+P Agency last week. The shoot took place in Bromley which took me right out of my comfort zone and forced me to drive off into the unknown. Aside from a few technical i-phone issues, I made it in one piece. It is a lovely part of the world.

I kept things very natural for the first look. Elissa's skin is amazing so she didn't need much coverage. The eye makeup was kept to a minimum and I just enhanced her natural features.

I went darker on the eyes for the second look and added some texture to her hair. 

And for the final look I put the hair back in several messy braids and went super-smokey on the eyes while pairing the lips right back to almost the colour of her skin tone.

Photography: Antonio Milevcic

Hair and Makeup: Pascale Maestri

Model: Elissa from M+P Agency

New Work: Beauty Shoot

Here are some shots from a beauty shoot I did last week with the photographer JC Candanedo of Grey Pistachio and our lovely model, Chantelle Masuku. These were actually taken in my house - my daughter's play room to be exact. JC did a stellar job of working in a tough environment, having to negotiate his way around the toys and general kids rubble that permeates my home. I'm really pleased with the final results!

The first look we did was very natural. Chantelle has the most incredible lips - a makeup artist's dream to work on!

We did another set playing around with a beautiful feathered neckpiece by Eva Orive ....

And then finally I unleashed my glitter!

A massive thanks to JC and Chantelle for being absolutely delightful to work with, and for travelling to me for this shoot!

New work - Wilma from First Models

A few new portfolio shots today. These are the last to come from some work I did with photographer Steve Nyman. I went a little edgier on the eye's with some gradient grey eyeshadow, flawless skin and a nude lip. 

The model is Wilma from First. It's time to get testing again!