Portfolio: Jasmine @ Elite

So a while back I posted some behind the scenes photos of a shoot I did hair and makeup for HERE.

Well here are some of the images. 

Photographer: Brendan Dolan 

Model: Jasmine @ Elite

Stylist: Ammy Garcia

Hair/Makeup: Jessica Rivera

Sweet 16: behind the scenes

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 I did makeup and hair for Rachel's Sweet 16 photo shoot!

It was an honor and a lot of fun because her older sister, Raiza, who is my age, is my college buddy! We were theatre majors at FIU and hung out in shop class. So while I was doing Rachel's hair and makeup, Raiza and I were catching up and talking about old times. 

Rachel has EXTREMELY long hair .... I couldn't even believe how long it was, but it was thin, and quick to work with considering how long it is. She wanted a glamorous hollywood hairdo; all swept to one side with cascading waves. I achieved this by using my 1" le anjelique curling stick.

Now, because he hair is super long, we knew it was going to weigh down the curls, so I used my Aussie Instant Freeze Hairspray to freeze those curls into place!

This stuff is so strong, her hair was stuck to her shirt! lol I then used two other finishing sprays to maximum hold. 

Now done with the hair, on to the makeup. She used a photo of Scarlet Johansson for makeup inspiration. It was a light pink/nude color, with a gray smokey eye.

She's a runner at her high school so she decided to take photos and her track and field. 

I had a lot of fun and can't wait to see the professional photos by LCN Photography. 

What did you guys do for your Sweet 16 or Quince?

REVIEW: NYX Cream Blushes

I absolutely love NYX's cream blushes. They are extrememly creamy which makes it so easy to blend, and a little goes a long way. 

 Top: Tea Rose, Glow, Rose Petal

Bottom: Tan, Hot Pink, Boho Chic

They retail for $6.50 for 5.3 grams. That is an amazing deal in my opinion. MAC's cream blushes have 5.6 grams but retail for $19.50! NYX has 12 shades of cream blushes. I honestly use all but one of my cream blushes all the time, which is TAN. I think it would be great to contour with or to give some color, but I just haven't used it that way for some reason. Hot Pink I got recently and have used it twice right away and I love the color. Boho Chic I use a lot on brides and to me is like a cream version of NARS' orgasm blush. Tea Rose, Glow, and Rose Petal I use a lot on beauty shoots because they are colors that look like a natural flush when blended out. 

I hate that every single one of the plastic covers have come off, so I'm constantly popping them back in, but all of my MAC blushes have done the same, so I can't say that it's due to it being drugstore vs high end. 

Just like most cream products that are not water proof, they won't last all day, so they are great for shoots, but for brides, I will use the cream blush and go over it with a powder blush of the same color. I have bought these online or from ULTA. 

I highly recommend these blushes. I can't see how any high end cream blush can beat these in performance or price. 

My Makeup on Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

So for Thanksgiving I decided to actually do my makeup, and I was inspired by one of the Olsen sister's photo in Marie Claire magazine (below). Oh and no I am not wearing false lashes, yes those are my real lashes. 

Here is my little copy cat pose hehe. The flash really toned down the eye shadow. I had it just as dark under the inner eyebrow as she did in the photo. She obviously had more defined check bones and I used gloss when she didn't.

I used Mehron HD foundation, all Yaby eye shadows, Revlon's Nude Attitude lipstick, and combined Bad Gal Lash & Buxom Mascara. 

I spent Thanksgiving at my Dad's this year. On the right is my younger sister. 

Actually, here are darker versions of it. 

Industry Terms & Lingo

Industry terms and lingo you should know. 

Here is a list of things you will hear on set. A lot of them refer to Film/Video work but the

more you know the better.

Last looks = get in there and do your finishing touches they are going to start rolling camera.

Finals or Final touches = See last looks above 

Speed = the cameras are on and waiting for the rolling command

Rolling = you will be severely reprimanded if you make even the tiniest noise after this call, they are filming.

What's your ETA = "When are you going to be done, talent has been in your chair way too long!"

Hot Spot = if they are talking to makeup, they mean a shiny place on the face

Dailies = what was shot that day (film, video) usually used when doing TV and film (the producers will review it)

Talking Head = you will just have a upper body type of shot, think TV news interview inset interview.

On location = anywhere not right in the studio

Its a wrap = The shooting is over for this project (completely)

One more for safety = they will do a retake of the last segment or shot just to be safe

One last time = NEVER means one last time - Probably like 10 more times

Key= the one in charge of makeup or hair or both, Key makeup and key hair are normally separate people

Set kit/Set Bag = the kit you carry with you out of the makeup room

Kit fee = fee you will get for your product usage, this is a TV/VIDEO/FILM practice and not commonly found in the print business

Tear sheet= ad or magazine page you will put in your portfolio

Eye candy = attractive women.

Clean makeup = they don't want to see the makeup, very natural

First hold = client has a hold on you for a makeup job, you will notify them if you get another offer, at that time they need to confirm or let you go

Call time = time you need to be at work

Craft Services = the people that provide the munchies (the most important people on any shoot)

Mike/Mic the talent = the sound guy is going to hook a microphone to the talent

Continuity = you need to make the talent look exactly like they did in the last shot in this particular scene, even if its 2 weeks later, better take good notes and a photo!

Check the gate = in video/film the camera man will check the film before moving on, to make sure the last shot was good.

Gels = the photographer and the TV camera crew put film over the lights that will screw up your makeup (usually used in-doors). when they use blue they hate you and want to make you look bad

Blow him out or blow her out = the lighting is so bright the talents features will disappear; better use more color and contour.

HDTV or High Definition TV = you will forget everything you know about makeup, you now have to make the person up so that they look great to the naked eye - what you see is what you will see on the TV or film. If you are shooting with a RED camera you better make sure things are MATTE MATTE MATTE to the naked eye because any highlight or glow looks like grease. Keep glitter far far away!!!

The model needs some CFM shoes = If you don't know what that means you're better off! High spiky strappy shoes that you might see on a hooker.

Glamour shoot = one where the model has a great figure and the photographer is going to try to see more of it.

Artistic nude shots = see glamour (above) with different lighting.

Money shot= In photography this is the shot that will bring in the money, the cover shot, the best shot.

Beauty shot= when shooting a product, this is a shot of just the product, no models or talent. When a 

people photographer says "beauty shot" it's a close up head shot usually.

Martini= last shot of the day

Abbey Singer= shot before the martini

Stepping in= what you say when you are stepping on to the set in front of cameras - NEVER do this while they are rolling

FLASHING= ALWAYS say this on set when you are taking any kind of flash photography, and say it loud enough for people to hear you- otherwise be prepared for a lot of angry faces and reprimand.

Losing light = means that you are using the natural light available for the shot and time is running out to get the shots required.

Closed set = only people who need to be on set are allowed on set

Lock it up/ locking down = they are moments away from starting, so now is not the time to go to crafty.

Turnaround = can mean two things: 1) the camera is moving to shoot the other side of a scene or 2) the amount of time you have in between shooting days.... for example you can have an 8 hour turnaround

Forced call = you mostly will find this with union projects- basically depending on your contract, you are guaranteed a specific number of hours in your turnaround- so say for instance you have an 8 hour turnaround and production gives you a forced call (cha- ching) and you only get a 7 hour turnaround- they will pay you extra for the time they cut into your turnaround- a.k.a. forced call

HOT POINTS- this means that somebody, somewhere is moving something that can hurt you, and being on a set, they are moving it quickly- ALWAYS move out of the way when you hear this. Don't expect please or excuse me's- just move- it's for your own safety.

Video Village- the group of people that sit around the monitors- if you can get a seat there, make sure all the other higher ups have gotten their seats- typically vanities stand at video village.

Hard out = the talent and/or crew needs to be packed up, cleaned up, and ready to go at a specific time, and not a minute later.

Grace = when production asks you to delay your specified meal time so they can finish up a scene or shot before the crew breaks without incurring meal penalties (i.e. paying you extra).

We'll fix it in post = We will fix it in the editing process/ We're too lazy/pressed for time/ inexperienced to fix the problem now, so we will hope and pray that no one notices in the final product. If anyone says this to you, don't believe them... fix it now if you can.

My Weekend of Makeup!

On Thyrsday, November 17, 2011 I did hair and makeup for Spanish actress Ana Obregon.

I went to her condo in South Beach and used airbrush foundation on her. She had never gotten airbrush makeup used on her before and she loved it. She also kept looking in the mirror and saying how much she loved her eyes. Another happy client!

The occasion was she was going to be on Television, CNN to be exact.

Then, on Sunday November 20th at 2am to 4am I was doing makeup on models for Cotton's 24hour Runway Show which was streamed live on MTV.com.

Get More: MTV Shows

Here is one of the makeup artists doing makeup on a model. We were sponsored by Maybelline, Make Up For Ever, Beauty Blender, and Tarte. Deshawn Hatcher was the Lead makeup artist who came from New York to put this all together, she's amazing. 

Here was my little set up. 

Here are the models walking the runway at 4am. 

After this, I got three hours of sleep and had to be up to do Ana Obregon's makeup again for her TV appearance on Univision. I don't know how I made it though the day!

-Makeup Artist Jessica Rivera

Review: Cover Girl & Olay Simply Ageless Foundation/Concealer

If you follow my blog, then you already know that I received Cover Girl makeup for free from Miami's FUNKSHION fashion show, although all I took was this foundation and concealer because we were donating all the makeup to a woman's shelter. 

The reason I decided to grab this for myself was because not only do I not own foundation for myself, but I was really impressed with it when I used it on the models. 

I apply the foundation with my Louise Young round foundation brush, and concealer with my Sonia Kashuk blending brush. 

The white is Olay Regenerist serum. 

PROS:

-Has SPF 22

-Can be light to full coverage (if you want light, use a damp sponge to blend out, for full, keep layering with a traditional foundation brush) 

-It only costs around $12 which is better than high end foundation prices.

-Foundation comes in 15 different shades, which is not bad for a drugstore foundation.

-Is easily found at the drugstore.

-Contain's Olay's Regenerist serum which is pretty much a moisturizer, so that's cool.

-Easy to blend

-With a good primer, this foundation lasts for a good amount of hours and doesn't fade away in visible patches. 

CONS:

-The concealer only comes in 4 shades. 

-Has a bit of a weird smell, but only when you get your nose real close to it. 

-I have met someone whose skin broke out from using this. 

-I don't like that the packaging is a screw on top. I wish is was a top that clasped down. 

-Since you can't open it at the drugstore, it's hard to find a match.

For me, this foundation works great. I love that it does not settle into the little wrinkle under my eye. I'm impressed with how long it lasts and how I look semi matte after hours of wearing this which is a first. I use matte primers with powder and I look more shiny than when I use Cover Girl's foundation. If you decide to try it, remember to use a damp sponge to get a lighter coverage. Here is a post of me wearing the foundation & concealer. 

Jasmine @ Elite

Today (Nov 13, 2011) I did makeup for a bride and then drove straight to a test shoot with an Elite model. 

Here is Jasmine with Elite who is from Denmark. She was so sweet and adorable. Even cuter was her practicing her english with us. I loved her look and got to play with her hair. She came in with super straight hair and I used my Deep Waver. 

This gave her those unique waves to her hair.

I used L'Oreal's Elnett hairspray for light hold. 

Then I used Beyond the Zone's Super Sexy Texture & Distort spray to give her hair that messy texture on top. I then back combed her hair. 

The photographer was Brendan Dolan and the stylist was Ammy Garcia. I really like working with Brendan and Ammy, it's super chill and relaxed and I have a great time. There was another model from Elite that I have worked with before and makeup artist Roselaine did her hair and makeup. So there was another friendly face to talk to. Sorry I don't have pictures of the bride, but hopefully I will get professional photos from her later. Hope you all had a wonderful day!

A friend's Wedding 11.11.11

*picture heavy*

The day finally arrive, 11.11.11

My friend Lesly's wedding!!!! I did her and her bridal parties makeup. The hair stylist Ashley picked me up and we were there from Noon till 7:30pm working, but we had so much fun. Music was blasting, we all knew each other, and no one was freaking out! Not even the bride. 

Here is Lesly before, and then after!

Here is the Maid of Honor before & after.

Here is Lesly's Mom (top) & Grandmother (beneath) before pictures....

And after!

I also did makeup for Lesly's sister and bridesmaid and future mother in law.

Here are the rest of the photos, enjoy!

Here I am with my husband at the wedding. 

We went for a classic pin up look which looked amazing on her, I love Lesly with red lips. My husband met up with me and the ceremony was fun because they came down the aisle dancing to a Black Eyed Peas song. Everything was going go until I went to the bathroom and left my purse there. When the DJ announced they had found a purse in the bathroom, I knew that was me. When I collected my purse, I looked inside and found that all of the money I had JUST made from doing makeup for the wedding was stolen. Sadly, it ruined my night and I left early. I could not enjoy myself knowing the girl who took my money was dancing and having a great time. I was bummed because my I was looking forward to this wedding for months and wanted to dance with my husband.

But lesson learned. And I have to think of worse things could happen. At least my makeup kit wasn't stolen or anything. 

The most important thing is that Lesly had an amazing wedding and I couldn't be happier for her and Giancarlo, congratulations!