Latest Photoshoot: Velvet magazine editorial ... Get the Cover look

It’s out !!! I have been waiting for this editorial to be published in the new issue of Velvet magazine … I love the result and the fact that we got the cover ... it looks amazing.

Absolutely everything about this shoot was great, our models the beautiful Gemma and incredible Masha (both available through my agent bareface), the fantastic Adam Browning-Hill behind the camera, the stylist extra-ordinaire Guillaume Nallet and the supporting team including photographer Jason Gareth, who I recently shot The Desert Dweller with.

Adam had originally planned to shoot this story in and around some amazing stranded old tankers in Sharjah (near Dubai) for which he had received permits. However, as the whole crew rocked up to start shooting at sunrise the security insisted that we needed a further permit ... after 3 hours of waiting we suspected that the city probably didn't want to be associated with some old stranded tankers in a fancy fashion editorial, which is why it was probably taking so long.

Slightly disappointed but not willing to give up on the shoot, we brainstormed locations and decided on the uninhabited "Ghost Village" in Ras Al Khaimah (about 45min away from where we were).
Check out my blog entry on the Kurv. magazine shoot for more information about this haunted place!

Thank you so much for these beautiful images Adam!

HOW TO: HAIR and MAKEUP

It was another 3am start for Hair & Makeup, curling and setting the hair and getting most of the makeup done before we moved to our location. I had curled and coloured the hair extensions the day before so all that was left for me to do on the morning of the shoot was to curl the models’ own hair and secure the extensions as well as cut them.

In terms of makeup, photographer Adam wanted the girls to have a beautiful golden "Cavalli Model" tan, which meant that I chose my MAC Full Coverage foundations 3-6 shades darker.

I used Illamasqua bronzer both as a blusher and on the arms adding a golden sheen. I then emphasized the eyes with loads of black eyeshadow from Mikyajy in the crease (all the way from the bridge of the nose blended out sideways) as well as underneath the eye. I added highlights on top of the lid using bronzy gold MAC pigment and my fave Illamasqua liquid metal in Solstice for the inner corner of the eyes. The lips were plumbed up using DIOR Lip Maximiser.

I had originally planned a more pewter/copper coloured look for the eyes, but considering the new location it just seemed that a darker eye defined with black eyeshadow worked better. I, however, stuck with the nail colour I had mixed the night before from the original eye shadow pigment and thought that worked beautifully even with the new look.
I do this a lot for shoots, it's so easy. Just get some clear nail polish, scrape some of your eyeshadow pigment off and mix it ... its that easy to get a nail varnish to match your eye look.

HAIR MASCARA to achieve GOLDEN EYEBROWS
My favorite part of this shoot’s makeup must be the golden eyebrows, they worked beautifully in combination with the golden jewelry and the overall feel of the shoot! Rather than bleaching the brows I used Frederic Fekkai Hi-Lights Hair Mascara. It’s amazing, the mascara is so highly pigmented that the brows literally lit up with the flash.

Beware though, the bushier the eyebrows the better this hair mascara works. You can see the difference clearly below, Masha on the left has stronger eyebrows so I was able to work many coats of the Hair Mascara into the brows; Gemma on the right has less strong eyebrows so the effect of the gold eyebrows is not as strong.

BEHIND THE SCENES

... take a peek behind the scenes of our shoot ...

Final shot of a long 14-hour day

About 30 of these jumps and we had the shot ;)

Latest Photoshoot: Beauty Shoot with photographer Martin Beck and Model Hana Nitsche incl. "How To" Makeup

There are a number of models I just adore ... German model Hana Nitsche is one of them. Inside and outside such a beautiful person.

When she was last in Dubai we got together very impromptu and shot some Beauty with the incredibly talented and edgy Dr. Martin Beck (frequently spotted wearing scrubs ... shooting loads of Hospital Ads recently). It was such a lovely day!

From a makeup point of view I wanted to expand my book with some, what we call here in Dubai, modern "European" fashion inspired Beauty, for me this meant demonstrating more experimental eye makeup combined with flawless beautifully contoured skin and a nude lip.

HOW TO "bleached but not bleached brows"

Instead of bleaching brows, I used an alternative method.

I filled one of my disposable mascara wands with foundation, I used RCMA cream foundation on Hanna. Using my wand I brushed the foundation into the brows - up and down & back and forth until all hairs were evenly covered, then I set and further concealed it with MAC Mineralize powder et voila finished.

A talented retoucher will do the rest and the effect is the same as bleaching, without putting your model through the hassle of bleaching.

The second look we shot centered around tiny beads which were glued to the face.

HOW TO: glueing near the eyes

The methods for glueing objects onto a face are endless, my two favorite glues for Beauty shoots are Kryolan Glitter Gel in clear (near the eye) and Ben Nye Glitter Glue (everywhere but the eye). So, in Hana's case I obviously used the Glitter Gel to keep her eyes safe and free from stinging. It worked great, the beads stuck to it perfectly and I could place numerous beads at once saving time.

The only downside of the gel is, looking at the unretouched photographs in "super-zoom mode" which makeup artists frequently do when examining other makeup artists work :) not excluding myself, that the glue leaves a tiny bit of shiny residue wherever it is not covered by a bead and, hence, again, our retoucher needed to help out here. Thanks Tamzin :)

Thank you Hana & Martin for these incredible photographs!

Latest Photoshoot: ESQUIRE Dior Homme Collection shot by Tejal Patni - Behind the Scenes

I recently had the great honor to shoot the A/W 2010 DIOR Homme collection with Tejal Patni for Esquire magazine. Tejal, a Dubai based photographer has shot countless covers and witty advertisements as well as many breathtaking editorials for leading magazines worldwide. His studio alone was so very impressive, with lights literally "flying" in right, left, and center :) , let alone the final images, which I absolutely adore.

GROOMING & HAIR
To create this look I used Mac Prep + Prime all over the face to create a beautiful even base onto which to blend the foundation. Paul has very little discoloration in his face, hence I skipped any concealer and let my RCMA foundation do the work. I thinned the foundation with water by using a wet beauty blender. I love the effect Mac Prep + Prime along with thinned out RCMA has, you really cannot differentiate between skin and foundation, it all becomes one and looks so incredibly real. I set the foundation with a little Makeup Forever HD powder and finished off with Surgica-Skin Refreshing Spray to remove any powder residues.
Paul arrived at the shoot with a beard stipples which we decided to shave off knowing that we didn't want any facial hair diluting the look we were after, clearly we wanted the hair to be the dominant element of the look for this shoot.

For the hair we took inspiration from a Hedi Slimane shoot published in Dazed & Confused in 2008, a series of photos creating a definitive record of London's youth in 2008. All kids were casted on the streets of London the day before the shoot.
Our model's hair was quite long, onto the shoulders. I curled all of Paul's hair with a 3/8" inch curling iron and pinned it loosely into place using loads of pins to avoid a obvious looking pinned up-do and keep it looking manly.

OUR MODEL NEW FACE PAUL F
Our model Paul was just perfect for the DIOR Homme collection and the Hedi Slimane look we were after! As a New Face at Bareface, Paul has already taken both the catwalk and fashion photoshoots by storm.

photo credits: www.tejalpatni.com , www.bareface.com , Esquire Middle East

Makeup Artist Watch & How To : Golden Goddess Look by Illamasqua's Creative Director Alex Box

Makeup brand's Illamasqua's creative mind Alex Box is without a doubt a makeup artist extra-ordinaire. She has collaborated with some of the best of the industry creating a continuous streak of breathtaking images and products.

This month she keyed a team of makeup artists at the Myer Fashion Parade in Sydney, Australia, designing the looks for the show including the beautiful Golden Goddess look for the 10 models opening the show.

Sneak a peak into Alex's box of secrets ... check out the behind the scenes photos from the show as well as the How To Makeup Breakdown authored by the master herself.

Alex Box on the Gold Goddess SKIN

Illamasqua Satin Primer was used all over the face for a dewy, fresh base. As all the girls had had spray tans prior to the show, a Illamasqua Cream Foundation in a shade a couple of shades darker than their natural skin tone was used and blended and buffed to perfection using an Illamasqua Highlighter Brush.

After dusting off any shine using Loose Powder, contour the face using Illamasqua Powder Blusher in 'Rumour', 'Spite' and 'Disobey' depending on the model's skin tone. This was applied using Illamasquas Blusher Brush II, using the tapered edge to smooth color under the cheekbones, down the sides of the nose and from the eye lids up to the temples to create an architectured face.

Next, use a small amount of Bronzing Duo, using the darker shade to enhance the contour and the lighter shade to add a touch of creamy highlight to the top of the cheekbones, down the centre of the nose and across the hairline.

Revert to an old trick and apply soap to the eyebrows to flatten them against the skin until they seem to disappear to keep the focus on the smokiness of the eyes.

Alex Box on the Gold Goddess EYES

To define the eye shape, Powder Eye Shadow in 'Wolf' re-exaggerated the shape initially created using Powder Blusher in 'Disobey'. Alex used an Illamasqua Eye Shadow brush to press on the color and blend it high up beyond the crease using Blending Brush I.

A Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' was used for an inky black smudge along the waterline and under the lashline, and Powder Eye Shadow in 'Gimp' used on top to build color intensity and to allow for a gentle fade out to deep grey.

'Gimp' was also used on top of 'Wolf' on the top eye lid, almost up until the brow and blended out again. The lid and outer third of the eye should be the most intense areas.

Spatter Liquid Metal in 'Solstice' into the inner corner of the eye and roughly blended into the eye color not further than 1/3 of the way onto the eye lid, with the concentration of color being at the inner corner. Alex used her fingers and an Illamasqua Lip Brush for a more defined shape to apply the 'Solstice'.

A sprinkling of Pure Pigment in 'Marvel' adds a shimmering yellow tone to the gold and is also used with Blusher Brush I to dab the color onto the temples and on the upper third of the cheekbones.

After using a coat of Volume Mascara in 'Harness', False Eyelashes No. 13 were used for a kitten look, and fastened to the natural lashes using another coat of Volume Mascara.

For a final shot of glimmer, add a touch of Pure Pigment in 'Android' to the outer corners and along the lash line to blend the line of the lashes and the smoky eye color.

Alex Box on the Gold Goddess LIPS

For a gentle, dewy highlight, a 50/50 mixture of Liquid Metal in 'Solstice' and Satin Primer was applied to the top of the lip.

The lips were blended out, to keep the focus on the super-smoky eyes, using a touch of the Cream Foundation used for the skin and a touch of Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant' to the centre of the lips.

Alex Box on the Gold Goddess FINAL TOUCHES

Gold glitter (for example from Mac) was pressed onto the skin for a bold look, like the modles had been rolling about in gold sand.

It is impossible to keep anything in relation to Alex Box short and sweet ... her creativity is so far reaching and her mind never seems to rest from seeking inspiration, hence a couple more of her legendary works to enjoy.

Photo Credits: http://illamasqua.blogspot.com and www.sassisamblog.com

Video Credit: www.youtube.com