Monday, 24 September 2012

L.F RAMBLES - BLINK!


The song that got me into them. Oh and Tom Delonge was the first of many realistic fan girl crushes ;)

Yes, I kept the confetti from the show.

Short story: I went to see* Blink-182. The band that epitomised my early teens *fan girl moment*.
Even though Blink 182 was my favourite band at the time, I eventually branched out and I didn't really listen to much of their music for at least a good 4 years. I didn't even check out their latest album until a couple of weeks before the gig. So when I was there kind of surprised myself that I still knew all the lyrics to their songs. 
I managed to somehow get to the front-ish (about 3/4 rows behind the barrier). And it was a really good time jumping about like a loon. Oh The All American Rejects also supported. NOSTALGIA - geez 10 fricken years has passed. Damn. 
Anyway they were really good and the atmosphere of it all was ace. CRAZY hot (Mark said it was the hottest gig they've had so far) and with the bonus of being pressed against really sweaty men. MY FAV'.

So a bit like after The Kills gig, I'm listening to a lot of Blink now and getting into them again. Memories!
While in rant mode:
  • Gigs should be in height order - I know you can't control your height but us 5 footers can't see jack. I was tip toeing!
  • PUT YO PHONE DOWN AND ENJOY THE LIVE MUSIC.
*I was meant to post this AGES ago. I saw them in June!

Friday, 14 September 2012

THE 'HELLO MARGARET!' PROJECT

The film in all its glory! I'm even in the credits section at the end. I did all the make-up apart from opening 'tear' scene. 
The 'day' looks I had to do for the characters Lucy, Daisy and Ruby. I was given quite open briefs for each character but even though this was a fashion film Jenny still wanted the characters to look 'real' - so I had to create looks that were wearable (wouldn't look out of place in the streets) but still with an edge.
I've included this photo as a before and after with how I adapted the brows after reviewing the photos from the first day. The brows were over plucked but I didn't 'deal' with them effectively so..... 
This is the second day and hopefully you can see the brows look more fuller and overall more flattering to the face. With the Daisy character she had to have an 'edgy' look. I decided she could have a 60s mod vibe to her with the statement eyes and nude lips.
Ruby was the rock chick out of the gang. I played around with black eyeliner and cream textures to create a greasy creased look. She has a more 'distressed' vibe going on and I played around with creating the outer wings of the eyes by dabbing brush marks using the cream to create a feathered effect. For the lips I went for a stained red, focusing the colour on the inner parts of the lips and faded the edges using a cotton bud tip.
Ruby's look had to look 'well put together' so this make-up was more muted and I did a classic smokey brown eye with gold cream dabbed onto the inner corners just to liven things up.
Onto the experimental looks for the characters! This was probably my favourite look from the whole project. Ruby is still rocking the rock chick vibe but it's much cleaner as I decided to go with precise winged eyeliner, painted lower lashes, pink neon lips and holographic stars and glitter to the face. It's quite simple but it has such a statement factor. She was also a dream to work with because her skin and facial features were a make-up artists DREAM.
Daisy's gone to the dark side. I had Brody Dalle vibes going through my head whilst doing her make-up. Playing around with navy tones and a winged shape. For the lips I decided to go all out on the stained inner lip effect. P.S Ruby's look was just an amped up version of her existing day make-up with added glitter!

Hey guys so I'm finally sharing with you the super cool project I was involved with! Jenny (founder of Hello Margaret!) basically asked me if I wanted to do the make-up for a commercial for her fashion company. And of course I said yes!
It was a 4 day shoot with a really tight deadline because it had to be done in time for the  launch of her website, but the video is brilliant (not biased at all). I'm really proud to be part of it and I got to work with such a fantastic group of creatives. 
Hope you guys like the video and here's a link to the backstage photos so you can see more of the makeup.

Monday, 10 September 2012

L.F RAMBLES - UNI BLUES


I've heard of them AGGGGES ago but never really got into them. Anyway random YouTube stumble couple of days ago and I found this. The song/video is FREEKING awesome. It always gets me smiling. 

Teen years *sniff*

Oldie but still love this.

The lyrics are so beautiful. 

I know I shouldn't blog when I'm 'down' (nothing bad just 'woe is me' moment) but I got my uni enrolment reminder through the post recently and I'm NOT excited about being back up to Geordie land in 2 weeks or so. I've had almost 3 months off but it's gone incredibly quick. I've got a decent job now (pay wise) and I've settled back home.... and I don't want to go back. Has anyone else got cold feet about uni before? The uni, people, place, course is fine. I just don't think my path is graphic design atm. I know I've had on and off feelings about it for the whole of first year. Maybe it's because I'm thinking about the future too much. I don't really see a career path in my chosen subject in the horizon and graduating seems to be much closer then I want it to be. Argh the future freaks me out. 

Anyway positive things:
  • Current man crush is Josh Klinghoffer - he's super talented and has that awkward but cute thing going on.
  • Listening to Nirvana a lot lately. TEEN FUCKING SPIRIT.
  • Gym is going well. I succumbed to the dreaded first year weight pile on and I'm back to my 'original' pre uni size - which is still overweight btw LOL. I'm keeping this lifestyle up (bye vodka binges) because it's TOO damn hard to shift the pounds.
  • Still perving on the fit personal trainer at the gym. He's not the usual tanned steroid pumped type btw. Ew.
  • Self imposed shopping ban is going well. The key is not to venture into town and don't get enticed by online discount codes/free shipping. YOU CAN DO IT.

Thursday, 6 September 2012

BRIDESMAIDS

This is my friend Fiona who was one of the bridesmaids. Fiona was actually my former gym buddy and seriously one of sweetest and sincere girl I've ever met - she'll get along with anyone and she's always really bubbly. I've done her make-up before but it was a really rushed job and I didn't feel happy to upload it. With Fiona my main focus was actually her skin as she had dry red patches on parts of her face and I had to cover them without looking mask-like or too cakey.
The eye make-up is a bit more 'done' then a typical wedding theme, but I think it sits on the 'glam line' without looking inappropriate. I don't have before photos but I'm really happy with her outcome as I feel like it was a 'transformation' whilst still looking like herself.
This was a really impromptu job but the brief was very natural and minimalistic. The eye makeup is literally eyeliner set with eyeshadow and inner shimmer in the tear duct area. The skin I used a light veil of foundation, highlighted the skin, soft blusher and filled in the brows. For both of the girls I used a tinted balm which adds colour and moisture.

Hey guys, so no major jobs for 2 months and now they all come at once. Typical, but not complaining! I'm more confident with doing bridal related make-up now as I used to feel 1000x more pressure just because the client will be photographed and judged all day and if I did something 'off'' it'll be my fault.... but I'm fine now. Keep to classic styles, softer tones, defined features, thin layers and you should have beautiful clients who still look like themselves.

Saturday, 1 September 2012

BEING FRIDA

I referenced to a lot of photos but I decided to use this as my main source for the makeup. Bright lips, blush on the upper cheekbones and obviously the iconic brows. 
Taken after the party so everything's not so 'fresh'. Also I'm not rocking the facial hair - sorry!
My outfit all bought from charity shops, I spent around £20 for everything. 

Hey guys, finally showing my face. I went to my friends 21st where the dress code was to be something from your first or last initial. I decided to go as Frida Kahlo because A. she's awesome B. I've always wanted to rock a mono-brow.
Ironically when my friends first saw me the first thing they noticed was the hair! They didn't even notice the brows until I pointed them out. Shout out to my mum for doing the hair, she did a really good job of doing a plaited up do and securing our home decorations into my hair ha!
You guys like my Frida Kahlo inspired look?