Tagged: Makeup
Recent Work – Tigerlamb Hair Campaign 2013
A few months back I was hired to work with photographer Glen Krohn on a hair collection for Tigerlamb Hair Salons which are based here in New Farm and Teneriffe in Brisbane. It was a massive day with seven models and around about a dozen talented hairstylists creating some amazing imagery. These images will be popping up in hair magazines around the world in the coming months and I am looking forward to seeing them in print.
Again, with most of my work I like skin to be the focus – for this particular job I used paw paw ointment on the high planes of the face and body to get that super wet and burned in look and it photographed beautifully. The rest of the makeup involved soft colours on the eyes with white eyeliner, no mascara (to make the eyes look big and beautiful but not to take the focus away from the hair) and washed out brows (some of which were bleached on the day, others were just brushed up and left natural). Lips were smudged out and a mix of nudes and bright colours.
Photography © Glen Krohn
Hair by Tigerlamb
Styling by Ashleigh Kelly
Makeup by Gemma Elaine
Recent Work – Knots + Knits S13 Campaign – Light & Shade
About a month ago I was thrilled to be asked to do makeup for a campaign for accessory and fashion label knots + knits by megan todd shot by the amazing Sam Thies. Megan’s designs are absolutely gorgeous and the team for this project was nothing short of spectacular. Our gorgeous model Brooke (Chic Models + Dally’s Models) is a beautiful, leggy, porcelain skinned model who is simply perfect (this girl is going to be huge!). The makeup brief was to transform Brooke into an uber-bronzed, free spirited glamazon. The amazing Paula Kelly from Sublime Hairdressing gave Brooke super long, voluminous tresses with the assistance of tape extensions and wefts that blended perfectly with her natural hair. Super Stylist Sarah Birchley sourced an eclectic mix of both designer and vintage clothing and shoes that were both relaxed and cool at once.
Makeup wise we were going for bohemian bronze. The biggest part of my job on the day was the skin – not just the face, but all over! We were wary of Brooke getting a spray tan as the look we were going for was more of a chocolate bronze rather than a golden tan. Enter MAC Skinsheen Legspray in Dark. This product is an aerosol mousse that you buff into the skin (with either hands or a buffing brush) to get an instant bronze sheen to the skin that washes off with soap and water in the shower. It has a beautiful chocolate tone and can be layered to get more dramatic results and the finish is a delightful sheeny glow with a hint of pearl which photographs brilliantly. Makeup wise, Make Up For Ever HD Foundation was used in a mixture of shades #128 and #173 and old faithful Bloom Bronzing Powder and MAC Golden Bronze Loose Powder to define and sculpt the face and contour the eye sockets. Lips were a mixture of MAC Mocha Lipstick and Love Nectar Lipgloss and later on in the day we added a neon liner made up of a custom mix of MAC Chromacakes and Neo Orange Pigment.
Now just to buy one of these awesome bags! There are soooooo many amazing ones, it’s difficult to choose! For the full campaign see the Knots + Knits website.
Budget Beauty – Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner
I must admit I don’t buy from lower end cosmetics houses very often, except for waterproof mascara for my kit (I go through a tube every two weeks and can’t justify spending more than $25 on it). I was stocking up on said mascara recently and spied this new liquid liner at the Maybelline stand. It looked ok, said it was waterproof, looked like the tip was fine, and was about $13.00 so I thought I might as well give it a go.
Well I’m thrilled that I did, because this is the best liquid liner I’ve ever come across – it’s super black, super fine, super soft, super easy to use and is super value for money! Seriously, I’ve had so many clients ask me what it is and where they can get it – every single person is just astounded when I tell them it’s just a cheapie. It is so easy to work with and even after extensive abuse (I sanitize the tip in alcohol before I use it on a new person for hygiene purposes) it’s still going strong. If you’re a fan of liquid liner and are looking for an alternative to what you are currently using – go and pick one of these up. Love it!
Have a wonderful week everyone, and stay dry and warm if where you are is wet and cold like Brisbane is at the moment!
Gemma xxx
Recent Work – Ash to Gold – Future Fragments Lookbook
I know, I’m slack. This poor blog really doesn’t see much love these days as I’m so busy working. Which, of course I can’t complain about because I have the best job in the world, but I thought I’d sit here today and do some posting to try and get back into the swing of things.
I recently worked on a couple of projects for up and coming Brisbane label Ash to Gold. If you haven’t seen their stuff I urge you to check it out as it is amazing and the girls have received international media coverage following their MBFWA debut showing as part of the New Generation parade last week in Sydney. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to join the girls in Sydney due to prior commitments but they seriously knocked it out of the ballpark. The latest collection is entitled Future Fragments and I had a lot of fun on the lookbook shoot transforming the beautiful Fleur Templeton into an alien babe to model the line.
For makeup the girls were looking for an ethereal alien look so I gave Fleur a dewy skin (MAC Face & Body Foundation), did some heavy contouring (MAC Harmony Blush), extreme highlighting (MAC Emphasize Powder over the top of MAC Chromacake in White), and a nude lip (Revlon Colourstay Lipstick in Smooth Nude). We decided to add a pop of colour in the lash department so I coated Sherani #46 False Lashes with MAC Lash Mixing Medium with a custom green mix of MAC Chromacake and applied the same mix to Fleur’s top lashes also. Bottom lashes were left nude with MAC Fascinating Eye Kohl on the inner rim.
Photography: Fletcher & Black
Model: Fleur Templeton @ Chic Management
Hair: Chris Lawless @ Arc Creative
Makeup: Gemma Elaine @ Embellished Makeup
Styling: Samantha Ashton + Chantelle Cox
Nightcrawlers
I’ve been shooting a lot in the Valley at night with photographer friend Chris Fatseas and hair stylist Jesse Boag. These nights are a lot of creative fun, we all get together at my place before hand with our model and decide on a vision together. Sometimes we have an additional stylist and sometimes Jesse or Chris put the wardrobe together from their own styling supplies. Makeup wise it’s a big change from the usual sort of work a makeup artist does. This isn’t about making someone look beautiful, it’s about building a character. The girls in these images have stories and emotions and it’s all very raw.
My favourite part of the makeup has been the skin. It’s very stripped back, not a lot of product at all. MAC Strobe Cream, MAC Face & Body Foundation (the smallest amount, really. Applied with a damp Beauty Pod Sponge), and MAC invisible setting powder….. I’m a big believer in using as little foundation as possible for work like this, but the skin still has to be perfect so that Chris isn’t spending hours in photoshop correcting texture or tones – in most of these images, Chris doesn’t touch the face at all in terms of correction. Cheek colour hasn’t really been a focus so I’ve just been contouring with MAC Groundwork Paintpot – I love this product for contouring! Highlighting is usually done with either MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base or MAC Accentuate Powder. These products all look amazing in photographs, not like makeup at all, just natural light and shade on the face and when the light catches them – wow, I just love it.
Here’s a picture of the beautiful Katie on a shoot we did a while back, I hope you love it as much as I do.
You can check out more of Chris’ amazing work at http://www.chrisfatseas.com
Gemma xxx
Autumn Style Shoot
I love these pictures. A few months back I met up with some amazing creatives to take part in an Autumn style Bridal shoot and I am over the moon the results. Rustic and Raw, the styling made the most of earthy tones and truly embraced the feeling of the season.
Makeup wise for our beautiful model Casey, I stuck with the Autumnal theme using warm brown tones for the eye makeup (MAC Groundwork Paint Pot, Brule, Wedge & Mulled Cider eyeshadows, Teddy Eye Kohl & Blacktrack fluidline) and rose tints for the lips and cheeks (MAC Blushcreme in Posey and Lipstick in Lustering as a stain). For skin I kept it natural with my good old favourite, Make Up For Ever HD Foundation and added on a set of Ardell Claudia Lashes for that extra wow factor.
Photography – Photography by Shayla – Gown – Brides by the Bay – Make up – Embellished Make up – Hair – Anna Felton – Jewellery – Lisa Daniels Designs Stationary – Bespoke Letterpress & Imbue Weddings for all the hire, styling and flowers.
And Even More Makeup Storage – ZÜCA Case
I bought my Zuca four months ago after I smashed the telescopic handle of my suitcase and it became really difficult to open and close (GRRrrr), my girlfriend had one and I was pretty impressed at how smooth it rolled and was pretty lightweight when empty. I must say I love it. It holds A LOT which means it ends up being quite heavy, when packed to full capacity, but the clear insert bags mean I just choose what I want to take the day of my job and leave the others at home so it’s not too bad most days. I still carry my MAC Carry All soft case around with the stuff I use for every job for easy access, but for palettes, spare foundations and colour products, the Zuca holds it all.
Züca is becoming very prominently used in the makeup industry at the moment after being successful in the figure skating world for quite some time. You can buy all sorts of frames and inserts in different styles and colours meaning you can really tailor it to your needs and personal taste. I chose to go with the sport frame (in hot pink of course) and the black stealth insert as it’s the easiest for me to keep clean (I just wipe it down with makeup wipes from time to time). The artist range has a collection of small clear plastic topped utility pouches you can stack inside the case and still see what’s inside. You can fit five of the pouches inside although I usually just have three or four so that I can still fit in a box of tissues and my brush belt in on top of them.
Aside from the central cavity there is also a heap of pockets inside and out, and the amount of stuff I can fit in there amazes me. In the pictures you’ll see the four inserts I regularly use, one of them up close and also a bunch of stuff I keep in the side pockets all the time as my just in case products (straws, hairspray, comp cards, nail polishes, sunscreen, panadol, etc etc), all of this fits comfortably in my Zuca (as well as my brush belt and a box of tissues as I mentioned before).
Other cool things? The top is a seat so you can sit on it if you need to. The massive rollerblade style wheels light up which impresses everyone who sees it. The extra set of wheels means it climbs stairs – usually it’s easier to just carry it up due to the big handle on top – but technically they do work. Being the shape it is it doesn’t fall over if you leave it standing up which means no more broken products. The telescopic handle is sturdy and smooth.
The Zuca is not cheap, it probably cost me about three times as much as my previous suitcase, however I’m expecting it to last at least that much longer as it’s heaps stronger and more practical for my needs. For professional makeup artists on the move, they are really amazing. You can buy them from a few places, however I ordered mine from the ZÜCA website and it arrived within a couple of weeks.
Style Collective – The Inside Scoop on Wedding Makeup!
Just sharing with you all an article I wrote for online magazine and community Style Collective. This article is the first in a series of info pieces on Bridal Makeup, so check it out and stay tuned for more!
Style Collective – Wedding Make-up… How to achieve a flawless look on your wedding day.
Gemma xxx
Even More Storage – Make Up For Ever large palette & empty Flash Case
Since you’re all mad about my storage posts I thought I’d let you in on a few more of my favourites.
When I was in New York last year, I visited the Make Up For Ever store every chance I got. Their range is so amazing, I wish we had our own dedicated store here in Australia. My two favourite storage items from there are the large magnetized makeup palette and the empty colour case.
The large palette can fit 51 MAC eyeshadow pans inside and is quite deep so would also be ok for those who like to depot deeper items also. Being made of metal it’s strong and doesn’t have any plastic to chip or get cracked. No dividers means you can put anything you like in there and no space is wasted. Now we don’t have a Make Up For Ever store in Australia, however Media Makeup Academy in Adelaide does stock these for $25 – such a great price too!
The second item is an empty flash case that I use for my MAC Studio Finish Concealers. I can fit 12 different colours into one small case so I’m always ready to attack any hardcore scarring or blemishes. Unfortunately this item isn’t available anywhere but the Make Up For Ever stores, however if you do already have the 12 Color Case of the Flash colours, hold onto it when you’re finished or the product expires and you have an empty concealer palette!
Being the organizational freak I am, of course I’ve already planned my NEXT storage post, but you’ll just have to wait and see what it is!
Have fun!
Gemma xxx
Recent Work – Love Love Love
I just thought I’d share a pic from a shoot I did last week with my friend Geoff and model Veronica from Dally’s. We had a heap of fun on a Sunday afternoon playing in the studio and the results reflect that (I think!)
Makeup wise, it’s pretty simple – I’m still in love with the way the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation photographs, it’s truly beautiful. I also darkened Veronica’s brows a little (with MAC Stud brow pencil) to get a stronger look and I’m loving the way they look.
I’ve decided I’ll be sharing more of my work from now on, it makes me happy that I can share it with an audience and also I love to brag about the wonderful people I get to work with. I love my job and I think I’m so lucky to be able to do this for a living. I guess I’m just feeling the love today.
Gemma xxx
