IMATS and my colour obsession

I cannot believe it is February already!  The days are flying by and I feel a bit like I’m running to keep up.  Due to recent developments in other areas of my life, I have managed to take my eye of the make-up ‘ball’ in the last few weeks and have missed out on things like contacting agencies to be put on the call lists to assist key make-up artists at London Fashion Week, which begins next week.  I can, however, report that I have now got (a much needed) part-time job with Benefit Cosmetics.  I have just started this week, so I will let you know how it’s going once I get a little more into it.

The highlight of my month so far was attending IMATS (International Make-up Artist Trade Show) last Saturday at Alexandra Palace.  For those that don’t know, IMATS is a huge exhibition held every year, with lots of International cosmetics companies selling products at discounted products and unveiling their newest goods. Industry professionals teach workshops, do live demonstrations and hold Q&A sessions.  Here are a few photos of some of the amazing make-up being demonstrated throughout the day:

It’s a fantastic opportunity to see and be inspired by other make-up artists work and, of course, to pick up a bargain.  And pick up a bargain I did! I ended up spending a small fortune on new bits and pieces for my kit.  At the top of my shopping list were some bright coloured, highly pigmented lip and eye colours, and face paints. I’ve been wanting to do a bright coloured, creative photoshoot for a while now, but the opportunity has not yet arisen.  But when it does, I will be prepared.  Here’s a photo of my bright coloured purchases:



Wolfe Face Art & FX Hydrocolors and Metallix Paints and OCC Lip Tars and Loose Colours



I couldn’t wait to try them out so earlier today I gave the products a try on my trusty make-up doll:

(excuse the heavy yellow lines under the eyes- it's much harder to blend powder on dolly than human skin)

I am blown away by how highly pigmented these products are.  Just a tiny amount of product was needed to achieve a really strong colour and I didn’t have to keep going over the same area again and again to achieve it.  Only a very small amount of water was required when using the Wolfe Hydrocolors and Metallix paints.

So now I have a completely full kit with everything I need for every eventuality and hopefully I won’t have to go make-up shopping again for a while.  But IMATS also served as a reminder of just how many make-up artist make-up artists are out there and that I really have to step up my game and take any opportunity that comes my way if I want to make it in this competitive industry.  So watch this space!

Hello Dolly!

I have always been a real girly-girl.  As a child I loved playing with my Barbie™ dolls. I would dress them up, do their hair and have them act out little scenarios such as “Barbie and Ken’s road trip in their white Cadillac”, “Barbie and Ken go mountaineering (up and down the stairs)” and “Barbie and Christie (Afro-Caribbean Barbie) fight over Ken”!

But my favourite ever Barbie toy was my Barbie Make-up and Styling Head.  This was a life-sized Barbie head and shoulders. You could style Barbie’s hair- I think it even came with rollers, but the best thing was that you could remove her make-up simply by running a sponge soaked in warm water on her eyes, cheeks and lips and then re-apply it by doing the same thing with cold water or an ice-cube.  It was awesome and I spent many a day pretending to be a make-up artist and hair stylist, never once thinking that I’d one day become exactly that!

So when I stumbled upon an Erasable Make-up Mannequin Kit online a couple of months ago, I knew I had to have one.  The kit includes five masks of different skin-tones which fit over a mannequin head, which you can clamp to a table.  The masks are made out of a patented facial texture material, so you can apply any type of make-up on to them and remove with the cleansing cream supplied.  They are fantastic for practising all types of make-up on.

So here are some of the looks I have practised on my mannequin.  Just for fun, I have named each of the masks after a supermodel with a similar skin-tone!

Christy sporting Lady Gaga's 'Judas' video look

Christy with winged-out eyes

Naomi's gone leopard