Pat McGrath

I am so inspired by British makeup artist Pat McGrath and her work. She has had no formal training in fashion or makeup and only completed an art foundation course, but it only proves that she has pure talent. Most of her creations are too whimsical for everyday wear, but some are completely wearable, like this one (see picture above). She prefers to use her fingertips to apply makeup. She has worked with designers including Prada, Miu Miu and Dolce and Gabana.

Watch her at work backstage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QznjFJ83Rc8

and more of her whimsical creations taken from her MySpace page:

Wedding Stuff

Yesterday, I went shopping for stuff for my wedding next June and managed to get most of them in Citymall. I've surveyed most of the bridal houses in town but I finally decided on Eternity Bridal House in Citymall as their package was within my budget and their gowns were well kept. I already have a gown for my wedding, thanks to my fiancee's mum and am thinking of making a cheongsam with some lovely silk material that my fiancee bought from China for the wedding dinner, so I'll rent the gowns for the photoshoot only and exchange the wedding day gowns for something else. I tried on about 10 gowns and decided my favourite and the most flattering for my body shape was the mermaid tail dress. It's not as bulky as the A-line or the hooped skirt and it really accentuates the curves.

I'll be getting Sheila Liaw of Iro Iro Citymall to do my hair and makeup. She charges RM400 per session, so that'll be RM800 for the wedding day & dinner. I'm thinking of doing a simple, fresh-faced, pink cheek, pink lip look and my hair up for the day and a more dramatic smokey eye and red lip for the dinner. The first time I saw Sheila's work was at a bridal fashion show at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort. I was quite impressed by her work then. I went through her portfolio and found that she studied makeup in Singapore and worked in Taiwan before. She was also the makeup artist for Sweet Memories Bridal House until 2007. She is very neat, but I did not like some of the looks that I saw in her portfolio, like the neon pink and neon green eyeshadow and the brows looked very unnatural to me, but overall, the hairstyling was very pretty and the makeup looked polished. I'll get a trial before the wedding so I'll keep you all posted on the results. I think she uses a combination of Japanese products and sells them in her shop. She also gives makeup and hairstyling courses. For the photoshoot, my makeup will be done by the bridal house's in-house makeup artist, May. I've heard some good comments about her makeup, but I've yet to see it for myself.

"Quote"

"The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural" - Calvin Klein

Twilight

I watched Twilight last weekend and it was awesome! I haven't read the book before so I didn't have a clue on what to expect, but I wasn't disappointed. At least now instead of having nightmares about vampires sucking the life out of me, I'd be having sweet dreams of friendly vegetarian vampires. I googled Twilight makeup and found that it was done by a MAC artist, Jeanne Van Phue. These are the products she used to create the pale faced look for the vampire characters (http://makeup411.com/breakdowns/id/380/):

Skin Care
Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Cream SPF 55P+++
Foundation
SK-II Air Touch Foundation in OP-3
Powder
M.A.C. Blot Powder/Pressed in Light
Blush
Visiora Compact Powder in PC 103
Eye Shadow
M.A.C. Eye Shadow in Blanc Type, Flute and Wedge. *Flute was a limited edition color and is no longer available; Girlie is an equivalent (it's in the Satin category).
Mascara
Smashbox Limitless Lash Mascara in black waterproof
Lips
Smashbox Lip & Lid Primer and Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in Good to Go (a plum/brown color)

I must say that the makeup was flawless, even in close-up shots. Apparently it rained the entire time they were shooting, so the SK-II makeup they used must be really long-lasting. Too bad they don't have Smashbox here in KK. I can't wait for their next sequel, New Moon, to be released.

Steph's Wedding

My best friend Steph got married last month and I had the honour of being one of her 6 bridesmaids. Her hair and makeup was done by jane Fong of 52nd Street Hair Salon in Wisma Sabah. It was such a lovely transformation as I've never seen her wear any makeup before. Her hair was pulled up elegantly into a chignon for the wedding ceremony and set into curls for the wedding dinner.

(L-R: Me, Chloe, groom's youngest sister, bride's youngest sister) I did mine & Chloe's makeup.

Stuck in a Makeup Rut

Have you ever been through a period when you just don't feel like wearing any makeup at all? Well, that's what I've been going through the past few weeks.

I just dread the thought of having to go through the whole makeup regime thing every morning before going to work, every single day of my life. But I hate getting comments like "you look pale today" or "are you sick?", so I haphazardly slap some concealer on my spots and under my eyes and dab some lipbalm on. Then I realise that I look weird without drawing my eyebrows, so I draw a thin line and simply blend it with my fingers. Then I think I look anemic without some blusher, so I quickly dust some on. Force myself not to look at the mirror anymore and head off to work. Bad makeup days are always the worst days of my life.

Last week, to counter this lazy makeup spell I had, I went and bought myself a new bottle of MAC studio fix foundation, a new Cyber Colours liquid eyeliner from Sasa and a much needed eyebrow pencil from The Body Shop. Suddenly I had new-found inspiration to try techniques that I never thought of doing before. Now I'm really looking forward to making-up my next client. Who wants to be my next guinea pig?