A shoot with Emelda.

This whole shoot came about because I liked Emelda's style. As a make-up artist I look at  my friends and colleagues sometimes and want to capture an aspect of someone's personality and bring it out with make-up. Kinda weird but that is essentially what we did with Emelda. She's bold. Kooki. Random and rather Fabulous. She's never modelled before but for a novice I think she nailed it.

Our photographer is a young gentleman called Nicholas Gray. He was recommended to me by a friend on twitter. He was interested and voila! We had a photoshoot. I really think he did well considering he only ever shoots in studio and I am so please at how it all came out!

I'm having a blast portfolio building. It's teaching me a lot. And it's generated some future prospects too. Praise God for he constantly supplies for my need!

Stay Blessed lovelies

xxx

The Make-up Artist Boutique Haul

Being a make-up artist in the North East UK comes with its difficulties. Getting a hold of common make-up artist brands can be tough. In fact, when I first started out, I bought most of my kit from America because I just could not find what I wanted over here or it was exceedingly expensive. But lo and behold, someone saw the need and two lovely ladies by the name of Emma and Kath opened up The Make-up Artist Boutique. They are based in Brighton but of course they deliver all over the UK and Europe which, for artists, like me is a God-send.

I honestly cannot remember how I caught wind of The make-up Artist Boutique. But I signed up because they offered products that no one else in the UK did. Namely, Yaby and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. Now I have a few regrets from IMATS. I really wish I had bit the bullet and picked up some Yaby and after the show I kicked myself about it. But then The Make-up Artist boutique opened up offering virtually everything from Yaby and I got a second chance. So! I took a little time deciding what to order and then they went on to announce that they would be stocking OCC liptars. Well I was sold at this point. I thought why not? I loved the look of Hoochie so I went ahead and pre-ordered.

Because I ordered way back when I had a bit of a wait but my order arrived today and I am one happy artist ladies and gents!

Yaby 40 pan palette

I know quite a few people are not keen on white palettes but I honestly do not mind them. I particularly like these.

Yaby Matte eyeshadows and OCC Hoochie Lip Tar

At Imats I had swatched the Pearl Paint eyeshadows that Yaby offers however I completely skimmed over the matte eyeshadows. I'm currently building up my matte eyeshadow kit and thought I should try a small selection first. I picked 6 colours.

 Left to right: Just Orange, Hibiscus, So Vein, Firewood, Blank, Perfect Wine and Hoochie on the bottom

Those matte shadows are some of the most pigmented shadows I have come across. Off the top of my head, they are comparable to Make-up Forever mattes and MAC Matte2 eyeshadows. They have all been swatched with a q-tip and they are still very strongly pigmented. I cannot wait to try these at my next shoot.

OCC Hoochie Liptar Swatch

OCC liptars need no introduction. They are stupidly pigmented. And here's the swatch to prove it. Hoochie is a scandalous colour. I might wear it to church this week and give one of the older ladies a coronary...lol! (Funny thing is I'm serious too!)

Overall I am happy with my mini haul. I am going to have fun building my Yaby Palette. I think I'm going to get all the matte eyeshadows first then move on to pearl paints and whatever else they have. If you're a MUA, don't sleep on this! Yaby is the business.

As for The Make-up Artist Boutique, they are great. My package dispatched yesterday and it arrived very well packaged this morning. Everything was individually bubble wrapped. No way anything was going to break or shatter. If you have any questions, Kath and Emma have a twitter account where you're most welcome to follow and chat to them. I know they have plans to expand the lines they currently carry and if there is anything you would like to suggest they stock, drop them a message. I'm sure they'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions you might have.

I'm off to play with my goodies :)

Stay Blessed lovelies xxx

IMATS 2010

Hi people!

I hope you are all well. Welcome to my new subscribers, I notice each and every one of you. Most honoured that you have chosen to join Dvoradivine.

So! Last weekend I took a long trip down to London to sort out a few things as well as attend the International Make-up Artist Trade show at Alexandra Palace. I was ill, so it wasn't the most comfortable of trips. And here I am a week later still ill. But whatever.

On Friday after I'd finished my other shenanigans, I headed to Westfield because I wanted to check out Inglot [the polish make-up brand that is cause a storm] for myself. Let me just say I had no intention of getting anything per say. I was just open to what they would have.

Well so much for self control. I walked away with an eyeshadow palette and a lip palette and the intention of going back one day soon to get some more!

Saturday morning I got up at the UNHOLY hour of 0500hrs to get ready for IMATS. I was on a train to central London at 0559hrs and I arrived at Alexandra palace at about 0735 or something like that. It was freezing and I lost the feeling in my toes long before they decided to open the doors. Speaking of which, I would like to complain because they specified on their site that doors would be open at 8am for people to collect their tickets. No such thing happened. the opened them long at 8.30 which was a bit annoying for those of us who got up at the break of dawn to get in early.

Eventually they opened up the door, by which time there were plenty of people waiting to get in. It took me the whole of 5mins to get my ticket but I've read stories of how some people waited 45mins to get theirs. Double dang. I would not have been pleased!

The rest ladies and gents was a flurry of activity. I got most of what I wanted to get. First stop was the Make-up Artist Magazine stand. I was not leaving with a subscription. I had intended on picking up some make-up books but they weren't discounted enough. I knew I could get them cheaper else where.

After that,  I headed over to the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Stand where I got 6 lip tars in Black (Tarred), yellow(Traffic) , red (NSFW), blue (RX), white (feathered) and clear (Clear).

I didn't bother with the other colours because I reckon I can use basic colour theory to mix up any colour I need. I've tried it out already and I've mixed up most of the colours you see those little tubes. Takes a bit of patience but it's doable.The review for these is coming up shortly.

I had intentions of going to a few talks that day but they filled up really quickly. I only managed two in the end. The first was Eve Pearl where she did a look for Women of Colour.

I think she was a bit rushed given the tight running of the schedule and the fact that she only had an hour to do the model's face. She did take the time to explain everything from setting up your work station to sanitation. She spoke very thoroughly on her products and how to produce an easy-go to look that will work for most women of colour.

I enjoyed the talk but I didn't feel like I learnt anything from this talk. It was a bit too simplistic for my liking. No offense to her. I knew most of what she spoke about in terms of techniques. I would have loved a more advanced class on the things you don't necessarily learn from places like You tube.

I did like they way she gave ideas on how you can make an extra income as a make-up artist. It was good to hear it from someone who had gone and done it and become a success. She pushed her products a lot and I'm sure they are very good. However I had my mind made up so I didn't buy anything.

There were several brush companies in attendance some of which included Royal and Langnickel which had a good stand. I wasn't feeling any of their brushes however. I was rather disappointed in them after I had seem the brushes on the website. Somehow they just didn't match up to what I had envisioned.

Crown Brush which was absolutely heaving! I managed to get a few lip and liner brushes after waiting like 30 mins. I tried the lip brushes and again I'm not a fan but I kind of expected this with Crown Brush so I don't have buyers remorse.

For me, the Brush company that stole my heart was Hakuhodo. I had had these brushes on my hit list for a VERY long time now. And after seeing them in person, they have no failed me. In fact I am more impressed with them now than I was before and I've decided to rebuild my brush belt with a good proportion of these. They are THAT good.

The Japanese are masters when it comes to making certain items. Their fude (make-up brush) quality is superb. It will be worth the investment when the time comes. (That is when I can get my hands on the credit card...lol!)

I bought two brushes from Hakuhodo and I had to hold myself from buying more. I had other things I needed to get so I'm gonna do a mega haul of some brushes when I've sold my left kidney.

The funny thing is that you guys think I'm joking :)

Yaby Cosmetics was in attendance. I had really wanted to get a few palettes from them but I could NOT justify the price for the size (£65/palette). The pigmentation is brilliant but those pans were too tiny for my liking. I might build my own palette one of these days but for now I'm happy to sit and watch others use it.

MUD cosmetics was in attendance as well. I went to a talk held by one of their lectures Yvonne which was good as well. I learnt a few interesting things during that talk such curling lashes with a spoon. Yep. You read right. It works too.

There was so much going on and if you are a reader of any of the larger UK Beauty Bloggers you would have seem plenty of pictures. Want some crystal clear ones? Try Lipglossiping. Her stuff is ah-mazing.

I know that some people read my blog. But never did I expect to actually meet one of my readers! Gobsmacked is not the word. If it wasn't forhe high melanin levels in my skin, I would have been blushing! Whilst I was at the Charles Fox stand a lady who was standing next to me recognized me and said she reads my blog. I was way beyond chuffed. I totally forgot myself and simply said thank you and she moved off! I didn't even ask her name! GUTTED! Pretty lady if you are still reading this, it was lovely to meet you. Next time I shall at least ask your name!

The second person I met was a lady called Stella. We literally walked into each other and this time I made an effort to talk to her. What a lovely girl. Oh and she's like tall. Like model type tall. Or maybe I'm just really short. She came over from France just for IMATS. And I thought I had travelled far! Hi Stella!!! Twas fab to meet you!!!She make writing this even more enjoyable!

And then just as I was starting to think I should go home, I happened to bump into a fellow MUA by the name of Kemi. Kemi Kings to be exact! We met on facebook. Yes. I know. But she is one of the most down to earth people I have ever come across. It was like seeing a old friend! Couldn't believe it. So we took some time to walk around bit. Exchanged some notes and helped each other out. She really sealed it for me! Her work is fabulous. If you're ever on facebook try and find her. She had a fan page under the name of Kemi the Make-up Artist. Wonderful stuff!

All in all, I had a fantastic time at IMATS. I know other people were somewhat disappointed by the even but I honestly did not mind. The venue didn't bother me, neither did the location. Certain things could have been better but I suspect at lot changed at the last minute. As a trade show for make-up artists, it served me well. It was excellent for Kit building. I'll know to bring more money next time because for me the deals were pretty awesome. Will I be going next year? Most definitely. I've already started my new list. I have a whole year to save for it too. That's the way to do it!

Finally! Onto the haul!

Make-up Artist MAG subscription*MUFE eyeshadow 10 palette*MAC 15 pan palette*MAC 6 pan Blush palette*Inglot 10 eyeshadow palette*Disposables*Kryolan Invisible Matt*Dermacolour Concealer wheel*OCC lip tars*MUFE HD powder*Kryolan under make-up base*Inglot lipstick palett* brushes*3 MAC lipsticks*mini collapsable bin*PP Pill cases for depotting lipsticks*Kryolan 10 eyeshadow palette.

I am happy with my purchases. It's going to serve me kit well and I can't wait to try out certain items. As soon as I am better I'll be posting a bit more.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

You stay blessed now! xxx