How to ROCK your glasses with make-up
 
    I have now joined the glasses world! After years of putting it off I finally am just too old to justify not wearing glasses. One of my biggest excuses for not wearing glasses was that I would not be able to wear my fun eye make-up anymore. Being a make-up artist this did just not fly. But alas I have them now and I cant believe the difference! Its a whole new world out there. I also have been experimenting with what eye make-up works with them and what does not. First and formost you need eye make-up if you are wearing glasses! Without it you get lost. For example here is me this morning with no make-up. My eyes are hidden behind my "hipster" frames! Even my smile looks small and the shadow of the glasses makes my cheek bones look flat. Needless to say I need some help if I am going to make it through the day without someone asking me if I am sick!


    Here is me with make-up on much better! So this is what i did. First I applied blush to the apples of my cheeks. This helps with the dark shadows that were making my cheek bones disappear. Next I used a light color shadow on my lids. I per fer Bone from Jane Iredale. I put that all around my eye not just on my lid. Below my eye and all the way to the brow bone on the top. Next I added a little sparkle by using Jane Iredale 24kt Gold dust in Champagne. I made sure to keep the dust out of the inside corners of both my eyes so they popped that much more! I then lined my top lash line with a black liquid eyeliner. I used to use a Dark brown but since the rims of my glasses are black I needed something just as dark as they are to stand out! For my bottom liner I used a Navy colored pencil in my water line. I have blue eyes so the Navy brings call attention to my eye color not the glasses but what is behind them. If you have Green eyes a minty green liner on the inside of your eye works best. Hazel eyes call for mint green as well but can also use a copper color. Last but not least brown eyes get to have the most fun you get to use purple, dark brown, wine, or even black works good. To make my lashes standout behind so much hardware I applied Jane Iredale lash lengthening conditioner before I put on a heavy coat of dark black mascara. So there I am all ready to start my new life with glasses wish me luck!

Make-up tips for perfect family portraits

  Family Portraits are always a little stressful! Making them the best they can be is actually very easy though. Everybody always wants to look natural...the way they look everyday. Achieving good looking photos and looking like you look everyday is actually a little tricky! The key to good looking pictures is a little more make-up than usual. I know I know that contradicts with looking natural, but if it is done the right way it makes a perfect picture! Accenting your best features, and creating a smooth even pallet on your skin is key!

For instance during Chandra Lacost's family photos she gave her beautiful lips a splash of red color and her eyelashes a healthy coating of mascara...more than normal so the camera could pick it up! Her cover up was also a little heavier than everyday but looks radiant and perfect on camera.
Chandra's Daughter Keanna on the other hand is a little too young to wear such a bold lip confidently so we drew more attention to her almond shaped brown eyes! Not by loading her eyelid with color but just adding more liner than normal to her top lash line. We used a dark brown liquid for a softer look than black would give but it still stands out! Leaving her lips in a neutral glossy color also draws attention up to the eye! This way she still looks youthful and vibrant rather than made up and wearing too much make-up for a 15 year old.  The LaCost family also has the amazing Maria Wong as there family Nanny. She has a completely different bone structure and color pallet than the other two girls. A worry with this would be her standing out more in a photograph being the only person that looks different.

To combat this we make Maria's skin as clear and even in color as we could. Using more concealer under the eyes than usual and also using a matte powder on top of her cover up. We lined her eyes with a dark brown liquid liner as well, but on her eyes we made a little thicker of a line and also applied the liner on the bottom. We put a coral color on her lips and added some gloss. Just a little pink blush on her cheeks and she was good to go! 
                                                    

So in conclusion if you want that perfect natural looking family photo remember that a little more make-up than normal is essential its just wear you add it that makes all the difference! You could always just hire a professional though! All MUA's across America would appreciate the business! Thank you to the LaCost family for letting me help create and for all you do for me in general! Also a thank you to Jessica Jensen Photography for displaying and editing my creations so well! This was a fun shoot and turned out exactly how we all imagined!

Theater Make-Up and More
   OK so this is when I get to write about where my passion was unleashed with Make-up. The Theater is somewhere I grew up! I started at a very young age and continued on into my early 20's. During this time I was able to experiment with all sorts of different looks! I learned to make people old, people a different race, and simply how to show emotion through the way you "drew on your characters face." You can even change your sex.
Learning how to express emotion through make-up has really helped me almost take on a different outlook. Not only can you enhance your features but you can hide some too. You can make yourself appear sun kissed,
 or sometimes even sick. Happy, or Sad. You can make your nose bigger, or smaller the possibilities are endless as long as you have the imagination. I think having the knowledge how to do these not so everyday tricks gives me a whole other realm of clients to tap into in the world of Make-up. This last November the Rio Cafe Cantina threw a Day of the Dead party. They invited me to have a face painting booth where I made over 50 people into skulls. There were sugar skulls, scary skulls, and non-traditional skulls. The party was so fun and provided another opportunity for me to get
my name out there in the community! Booking an MUA for a themed party is always a great way to get the crowd involved, and it makes the event that much more memorable!



   This last Saturday I was able to work with Julie House a Theater entrepreneur herself. Together we transformed her into a Mermaid. She was a moving character for a mutual friends art gallery GRAND OPENING!
   Queen La De Da's located in Illwaco WA. The gallery is very nautical and pirate inspired so Julie as a mermaid was perfect! I hope to be able to work with Mrs. Julie more because she is so fun and laid back! Also I am excited to be able to put fun creative things like this up on my blog! A BIG Thanks to everyone involved! 

I hope to provide more make-up services in the future for parties, Grand openings and shows!

                                    How to Achieve this Sexy Smokey Eye





1) Cover the lid with a nice Champagne color not too brown not too white. Using a regular eyeshadow brush go just above the crease, but not all the way to the brow bone.

2) Line your eye with a fairly thick black liner. You do not want to use a liquid this needs to be a smudgable liner! A cream to powder liner works best I like the way Jane Iredale Mystikol in onyx goes on like a cream but drys like a powder! Using a Chisel Shader brush I like this one by Jane Iredale make a stroking motion upward bringing the liner up to the crease. The pigment should get lighter as you reach the crease.

3) To refine the outer edges of the shadow use the same brush and make a semi-circle motion inward to blend it into the eye.

4) Highlight the inner corner and outer part of your brow bone with a light shimmery color blending down into the crease using the same eyeshadow brush you used for the champagne color.

5) Line the inside of your upper and lower water lines with the same black liner apply a light amount to the bottom of the lash line only to the middle of your eye. Then smudge the rest of the way over and down a little. Don't get too crazy with it or you will look like your liner is running.


6) To make lashes stand out with such a dramatic eye use a lash conditioner. I have tried many but my favorite to wear under any mascara is Jane Iredale Lash Conditioner! Then use black mascara on top and bottom lashes!

Winter Ball 2012
When I get do to Special Events make-up it is hectic crazy with all the different looks girls are trying to achieve, and definitely not as organized as a photo shoot, but it is such an instant gratification! Seeing the look on the clients face when they are all done and ready to go to there event is priceless. When I am hired to go do someones make-up for a special event you know that the client does not want to look normal...They want to look glamorise and that is exactly what I gave to three girls this last weekend. They all had different dresses, desired looks, and face shapes, but when they looked at there finished product they were all enthralled with the way they looked!  It makes you feel special to have a Make-Up Artist come and do your make-up for you before you go to a big event! Like you are a celebrity! It makes the event that much more special and memorable! Thanks girls for having me this weekend and I look forward to helping you get your glamour on again! 

  The Life of an MUA
   This last weekend while doing a photo shoot with two of my best girlfriends I had a moment of clarity. Standing in the sun on a peaceful day in Knappa Oregon looking at two beautiful models surrounded by the peaceful scenery and quiet chirping of birds I had to snap myself back into reality...I was working! I was taken back by how blessed I felt at that moment! It made me realize how lucky I am to be able to do what I love for a living. The ability to be able to go to work and just make things beautiful is something not a lot of people in our society get to experience. Sometimes I think I get used to the glamours and enjoyable parts of my job and dont push myself farther. For the last two years I have been an on staff MUA at Medical Spa LaCost in Astoria, Or. Being able to practise my craft at an hourly rate has really given me the experience I need to excel in this industry. It has been fun, stable, and rewarding, but at that moment staring at my work being put onto film, enjoying myself so much I realized that it is time to take it to the next level! Hence the reason why I have a blog now. The next day I sat at the computer making myself a Facebook page, joining online networking sites, and exploring all the different options I have to make sure I can continue to grow and succeed doing what I love! I all of a sudden feel like I have a purpose...a goal...a future more than I ever have before in my life. If you know me that is pretty hard to believe. I have been looking for my place in the world with vigor for so many years now. But guess what this is it! Thank You to all my friends and family for all the support and encouragement you give to me! A special thanks to Patricia Willis for making things happen and making sure she pushes me to do something with my talents! Thanks to my wonderful boyfriend Clenet Corderman for understanding why I come home every night with crazy make-up and sometimes even looking like a different person. Thank you to Chrissy and Katie Karjalainen for always haveing a free face to practise on and so many good ideas! And thank you to my Momma for blessing me with the passion for beauty and fashion. She still inspires me everyday! I cant wait to see where Mundel Make-Up Artistry will take me next!