Hip-Hip Halloween!!!

Ahh! Halloween! Time to make some magic happen! I know that most adults always veer on the safe side when naming their favourite holiday but I am willing to make a bet that even if most claim Thanksgiving (or Christmas) as their pet holiday it is in fact Halloween that makes everybody's heart beat a little faster!

I mean really; unless you live in New Orleans, where it is perfectly acceptable to wear a Tiara of your choosing to the grocery store any ole day of the year;

When else can you channel your childish self without ridicule, dress up in whatever you want to wear and act in every way as foolishly as you could ever wish for? That's right: HALLOWEEN!






So in honor of the Most Ghoulish of days this post will be dedicated to a few tips about choosing your makeup artist and supplies for Halloween and featuring a cool client makeover I did over the weekend!

This is my client Marc, who was in town this pas weekend visiting from Dallas for a little Pre-Halloween parade raising money for Make-A-Wish Foundation (and to party, of course). He had had some trouble finding a makeup artist to turn him into the bloodthirsty werewolf he wanted to be so he reached out to the good folks at Grimm Brothers Halloween, , where he purchased his latex mask and they steered him my way. Marc contacted me about 2-3 weeks prior to his event and Magic transformation was about to happen!

Lesson #1 in your Halloween success:
Plan early; Plan well and trust the pro's!






On the day of Marcs event I met him at the hotel and we set to work. This is how the latex mask (or "appliance" as it is called in the pro-circles) looks when it arrives.

The first thing I did was to "Dry-fit" the mask. This allowed me to see where I needed to trim Marc's beard or the mask so it would fit perfectly.

After buzzing around a bit with Marc's clippers it was time to attach the mask so I started working with some liquid latex from the nose area initially and working my way out. My latex comes from Graftobian but you can use any brand, including DUO eye-lash glue if in a pinch. After gluing everything down I used thin strips of hotel issue tissue with some more latex to blend the edges.

Marc was also came armed with some pointy ears and werewolf nails, so we went ahead and attached those too!

Lesson #2 for Halloween Success:
Channel your inner Boy-Scout and be prepared with everything including things you may or may not need!



After that it was time to fire up the trusty air-brush gun and set to work hi-lighting, shading and generally making Marc a wolfy shade of tan... a few more dabs of liquid latex; a well placed tuft of hair or two and THIS is how it all turned out!

JUST KIDDING!!!


Here is the actual end result and just for comparison... Marc's BEFORE picture as well!

And there you have it, folks! Don't forget I'm available for all your beauty (and ugly) needs this Halloween, so give me a call at 504-905 1087; visit my web-page and schedule an appointment!

The perfect do for your I DO's

One of the major decisions of your big day is how to you look when floating down the aisle. This is no simple decision and let's just say that over the course of the years I've seen the good, great and um, not so great so here is a little insight into what's hot this wedding season and how to start your search for that perfect hair!

As with everything else this search starts with considering your dress: a Ye Olde Renaissance dress won't pair well with Grace Kelly classic hair no matter how much you might like it.

A good place to start browsing are obviously the oodles of wedding-hair websites, and even better idea is to browse the catalog pics that helped you choose your dress in the first place.

Word of warning, though; in my experience the bridal dress shoots are aimed at getting through as many gowns in a day as possible and tend to be high-lighting the gown rather than the bride so this may or may not yield your perfect do!

Here's an example of a beautifully paired duo on the left and one that didn't quite hit the mark on the right. This image and gowns are from Atelier Aimee.


Although weddings trends are not changing as drastically as those in fashion I've been clearly seeing influences from the rash of royal weddings in the past couple of years; Here are some of our favourites that have been making the brides swoon on this side of the Atlantic as well.

Of course it's hard to argue with the extra Je'-ne-sais-Quoi a priceless Trillion-carat tiara from the Royal treasure chamber will lend you, but Kate Middleton's effortless elegance has had my brides asking for some more casual styles lately.

This half-up, half-down bridal style tends to work well for younger brides with longer hair (Though we've been adding some serious "Day of Extensions" lately as well). In our opinion this looks best when accented with an accessory be it a brooch, tiara or some well placed flowers; more about those in a moment!

Though I was surprised to see that Monaco's princess Charlene actually went through with her wedding (It's generally not a good idea to be caught philandering days prior of the big event, FYI), her style, accented by another example of priceless Bling channels the classic elegance of Grace Kelly... How Apropos!

This Chignon is the perfect style choice for a confident, classic beauty and it can be customized to reflect the brides individual style; I've been turning out a lot of beautifully asymmetrical ones lately!







The third trend that has been showing up strongly is the (re)emergence of braids!

Romantic, carefree and evoking a sense of whimsy this imperfectly perfect fishtail would look lovely paired with many of this seasons bohemian-Chic dresses.

Braids can of course be incorporated into any hairstyle of your choice and celebs like Sienna Miller, Gwen Stefani and or course the goddess of the side-braid Lauren Conrad are making sure this trend will linger on for a while.




At the end of the day the options for your perfect hairstyle are endless and should be customized just for you. It will help your stylist if you do your homework and bring pictures of the different styles you like as well as the ones you don't. This will give me the opportunity to understand how I can make you look Picture Perfect and help you feel as radiant as you look.

I'll write about the essentials of accessories in my next post... stay tuned!