Get Outside The Box

This makeup, hair, and photo session was quite the experience.  I am a big fan of Pat McGrath (the best makeup artist ever). She posted a instagram contest that I decided to take on. The contest was to recreate her work and post to Instagram with the hashtag #backstagewithpatmcgrath. This was so exciting to me! The one thing I didn’t consider was she would see this replica… oh, my, the pressure was on.

This was during a season of intense scheduling. I was so busy I could hardly see straight, but I needed this challenge. It really lit a fire in me that I needed. Here is one of my inspirational images. This was from the Spring 2011 John Galliano show. Pat McGrath and Julien d’Ys creatively designed each look so not one of the models was alike. Gilded waves, lids, and lips in combination with intense color adorned each model. This was in contrast to many of the season’s minimal looks.

I started with a temporary lift with face lift tapes and used Temptu airbrush foundation in 01, covering everything including the brows and lips. I then used Makeup Forever HD Powder and purposely left it heavy and slightly powdery. This powder is made of 100% silica. This mineral, if left unbuffed and heavy, will look ghostly. This is not usually a look that would be favorable. My belief is you have to know the rules before you can break them. This is one instance where breaking the rule is good.

The eyeshadow was done before the brows so I could get plenty of color pigment into the model’s own brow hairs. I used TIGI Perfect Eyeliner in black as a base for my shadow. The black liner was smudged under the eye, on the lid, and onto the inner brow. The tear duct area was left open for highlighting. I used a combination of Tigi metallic and teal shimmer shadows of the top of the black. I used a Ben Nye shadow in orange on and above the brow, as well as, under the eye on the hight of the cheekbone. The tear duct was highlighted with a gold shimmer from urban Decay.

Brows and Beauty Mark: Precision Black Pen from TIGI.

Eyes: Love It mascara for the lashes

Cheeks: Blushed with Awaken from TIGI

Lips: Luxury from TIGI, dabbed with fingertips

I didn’t win Pat’s contest, but I won a fresh sense of passion and inspiration by trying something new.  I’m a firm believer that pushing past our fears, even to the point of failure, Is how we become better. None of us will grow if we stay were we are most comfortable. Moral of the story… make the decision to push yourself right out of the box.

Stay tuned for the next look and break down from this contest. Here’s a sneak peek!

Five Days of Inspiration (Starts with a Seed) Day Five

Day Five

I decided I was going to challenge myself to the Instagram contest #backstagewithpatmcgrath. I was terrified to take on this challenge. I admire all of Pat McGrath’s work, and the idea of recreating it (knowing that she would see it), made me shake in my boots. Once I got started I was a woman obsessed. The next series of images happened in one day, with one model. Her look was transformed 4 times to recreate 4 of Pat McGrath’s amazing makeup looks.

Pat’s work is on the left of each set and my work is one the right. I love that I had the opportunity to create these looks on the same model so you can see how a change of cosmetics can change a face.

I didn’t win the contest, but I won my own self challenge, and found inspiration… and look what happened. I pulled these from my instagram.
There were 15,000 entries and she took a brief moment to appreciate my work. OMGoodness, it was worth the time, energy, and the strength I had to muster to overcome my fears.

STAY INSPIRED!!!!!

Five Days of Inspiration (Starts with a Seed) Day Four

Day Four:  Inspired by Pat McGrath

Did you see my post, “Get Outside The Box”? That post was all about being inspired. I believe if we are rarely amazed by anything, we are rarely inspired by anything.

This is kind of a funny quote, but I love it. My husband says, “I’m fine with being the dumbest one in the bunch”. He says that, because it means he has the most potential for growth. It’s all too common for people to get comfortable and stay there. What I mean is, most will not venture out into things they may fail at. I believe failure can be a catalyst for success. When we continue to repeat the things we know we can succeed at, the rate of growth in minimal because we are not challenged. It’s good to venture out into uncharted territories, because the new task evokes courage, awareness, and fresh perspective. If the challenge is met with success… FANTASTIC, and if it is met with failure… even better yet. The cycle works like this: give yourself permission to stay challenged until the point of failure, then analyze what happened and what you would change, and then grow in your knowledge. Many times when we succeed at something we might not even be aware why, but when we fail we can usually pinpoint exactly what we should change.

Above photo is Pat McGrath’s work, and the next photo is my replica. Hair, makeup, and photography are mine.

These next images were created on the same day.

This look is Pat’s work created for Fall 2005 Ready-to-Wear John Galliano on Lily Donaldson.

This is my hair, makeup, and photographic recreation.

I was terrified to take on this challenge. I admire all of Pat’s work, and the idea of recreating it (knowing that she would see it), made me shake in my boots. Once I got started I was a woman obsessed. Tomorrow’s series of four images also happened in one day, for the same contest, created on one model.

Stay tuned and stay inspired!

Five Days of Inspiration (Starts with a Seed) Day Three

Day Three

I had the amazing opportunities to do cosmetics for TIGI (sponsor and product), Eric Gomez (hair), and Babak (Photography). The top two sets of images are inspiration boards.

This was the result.

Next is a second look shot on the same day. For this concept we were inspired by a piece of clothing by “Mother Of London.”

Below is a photo of the piece:

These were our creations with the piece:

Stay Inspired!

Five Days of Inspiration (Starts with a Seed) Day Two

Day Two:

The best way to be great at your craft is to keep growing your skill. I love to come up with an idea, and see what can come out of it.

Here is an inspiration image that sparked a shoot for publication.

I loved so much about this image that I connected with a couple of other creatives in my field to work on recreating something similar. This is what came out of our efforts.

Stay Inspired.