I had an idea to work with beautiful model Stephanie Nicholson and photographer James Mui to create a series of images where one face is transformed into several different faces through makeup, lighting and facial expression. We had a great time adjusting the makeup, lighting and facial expressions ever so slightly between images to create something different for each photo making the viewer do a double-take to see if it’s the same person in each photo. This is what we produced:
I started…
After my friend told me she uses coconut oil as a moisturizer, I got a tub from Costco and started using it all over at night after my shower. The great thing about coconut oil is that it comes in a solid form so it doesn’t drip everywhere as you apply it. I normally slather it on and put my pjs on right after because I don’t have the patience to wait 10 minutes before it fully absorbs into my skin. It doesn’t get my pjs all icky though. Once it absorbs, it’s not greasy at all. It smells great and it’s perfect for dry winter skin.
Under the eyes??…
I recently ran out of eye cream and looked over and saw my jar of coconut oil sitting on my counter top and thought, why not? I took a very small amount and warmed it on my finger tips and applied it around my eye area, up to my temples. I waited until the next day to see if it would clog up any pores, but nope, it worked great!
As an eye makeup remover…
At the same time as running out of eye cream, I ran out of my shu cleansing oil – not a good day lol. I normally use the shu uemura Fresh (pink) cleansing oil for my eyes only to remove the eye makeup. So far, I haven’t found any other product that takes off my waterproof liner as well as the pink C/O does. I tight line my eyes, so the product becomes really hard to remove. I try to avoid any unnecessary rubbing of my eyes because I’m scared of wrinkles; The pink C/O works sooo well. I’ve tried the regular shu C/O, but it doesn’t remove as well as the pink.
Anyways, so because I ran out, I thought why not try coconut oil. So I did the same as with C/O and massaged the coconut oil onto my eyes without wetting my face or hands. Then, I used water and massaged my eye area and followed by washing my face following my regular routine. The eye makeup come off, not as clean as with the C/O, but it works and it’s all natural!
On the lips..
It works great as an all natural lip balm! I do this occasionally when my lips are super duper chapped.
All over the face?..
After applying all of my body, I tried patting the remainder of the coconut oil on my hands onto my face. This didn’t work so well for me because it clogged my pores :(. If you have acne prone skin, I wouldn’t suggest doing this.
Tips…
It’s great all-natural alternative to all those products that contain parabens. Of course some cosmetic products work much better, but going natural from time to time is always a good idea to give your body some time to detox. After all, skin is the largest organ of the human body.
this post is slightly late, but better late than never! nothing better than to end of 2013 with a fun beauty and fashion shoot with photographer mark darren and toronto fashion designer monica mei of aime luxury. with a request for gold makeup, i did a glittered in gold makeup look on swedish beauty megan mane.
monica’s pieces are so stylishly sophisticated with such lovely textures. i love how she mixes delicate silky fabricates with more structured ones – not an easy task!
her new collection inspired by turkish travel is so beautiful!
that’s it for now! happy 2014!
brides often ask me whether or not they should get lash extensions for their wedding day. in my opinion, falsies are a much better option for the wedding day and i would save the lash extensions for the honeymoon.
here’s why…
for the camera: lash extensions are great for a natural, day-to-day, makeup-free use, but for weddings, you need full and more dramatic lashes in order for your eyes to show up nicely in your wedding photos. it’s important to remember that for your wedding day, you need a good balance between looking naturally beautifully in person, as well as stunning on camera.
i have had brides who have gone to get the full set of mink lash extensions before their wedding day and later realize that they do not show up very well in their wedding photos. i do think that the extensions look great in person, but are lacking in photos.
for makeup: when brides have lash extensions, it puts limitations on what i can do for their makeup. for eyes to really pop, lashes need to be tight lined; this means that eye liner needs to be applied in between the lashes to really outline the eyes. it is also much more difficult to apply liner to the lash line without ruining the lash extensions. you should keep in mind that in order to remove waterproof liner, you must use an oil based makeup remover which would also loosen the glue used to adhere the lash extensions to your real lashes.
save them for the honeymoon!…
i myself had lash extensions done after my wedding just before heading off on my honeymoon to bora bora and hawaii. it was great because i didn’t need to pack any makeup with me since i had planned on being out in the sun and on the beach every day! they lasted just long enough (our honeymoon was 2.5 weeks). they are supposed to last 3-4 weeks, but it was hot weather and i was in the water so random lashes were falling off here and there.
lash extensions by stephanie trieu at trulyposh…
i couldn’t talk about lash extensions without showing some photos! i went to my good friend stephanie trieu who is a lash extension technician in markham. she is based at mccowan and steeles but also does mobile services. during my session, i interviewed her at the same time to find out more about lash extensions and so that i could write about pros and cons that i’d find.
contact: STEPHANIE TRIEU 416.275.1678 || trulyposhbyst@gmail.com
so here are my lashes before the session:
here they are after my session:
these are synthetic mink lashes. at first, stephanie had applied a full set to each eye (60 lashes) which gave a very natural look. i would recommend that to people who do not normally wear any makeup. but for myself, i’m used to putting several coats of mascara and tight lining my eyes, so i requested more lashes to give a fuller effect.
will lash extensions make my lashes fall off??…
that was my main concern and my question to stephanie. i’ve had bridesmaids tell me horror stories of all of their natural lashes falling off after repeated sessions of lash extensions.
single lash vs. clusters: stephanie explained to me that applying single lash to each individual lash ensures that the extensions fall off with your natural lash cycle. however, if you apply cluster lashes (which are lashes that are kind of like a fork… more than one lash being attached to one real lash) the weight of them could make your real lashes fall off more quickly. although it looks fantastic, ladies should keep in mind that it should not be done repeatedly. you need some time in between to give your lashes a “rest”.
are real mink lashes better than synthetic?…
real mink lashes are much more expensive than the synthetic ones. stephanie explained to me that they are softer, however for that reason they have less of a curl to them. i personally like a nice curl because my asian lashes are so straight that i need the synthetic ones to lift them. i have seen friends with the real mink extensions and i do admit that they look great because they seem more dense and full, but i have not yet tried them myself.
stephanie also explained to me that it depends on how many lashes you have naturally. you notice the gap in my lash line? it’s because naturally, i am missing some lashes there… it could be because i may have accidentally pulled some out when removing my falsies.. oops! so if you’ve got lots of lashes for extensions to be attached to, then you’ll get a fuller set of las extensions.
i do love how natural they look and how much time it saves me to get ready. i’ve recently been extremely busy and have no time to sit down and really apply makeup, so having the extensions are great!
to sum it up.. pros and cons!
pros:
cons:
would i get them again?
i would like to try them in clusters to see how they look. at this point in my life, i would get them again because i’m so busy!
final verdict, falsies or extensions?
i love my falsies so i’d never give them up! to create looks with makeup, i find that extensions could never replace falsies. falsies enhance the eyes far more than extensions could and are essential for creating different types of eyes with makeup. however, for those who don’t like wearing makeup, extensions are the way to go.
makeup for monolid eyes is a challenge for many asians. even more challenging is making the makeup natural, as opposed to drawing thick eyeliner across the lid in order for it to show up when eyes are open.
for aspiring actress amanda zhou’s headshots, we did a youthful look using matte brown eyeshadows to keep it very natural.
here is a shot of her eyes before makeup:
how to achieve natural makeup for monolid eyes:
and here are the photos taken by photographer denise grant in toronto:
and here are some fun shots taken after the shoot:
international artistic director for shu uemura, kakuyasu uchiide, designed a lovely pair of limited edition lashes for the christian louboutin exhibition at the toronto design exchange exclusively available in canada!
i used the rouge et noir lashes to create a femme fatale look captured by photographer mark darren mui and edited by the retoucher extraordinaire james mui. we wanted to create a sultry, moody photo composition to complement the seductive and enchanting lashes.
how to get the look:
face:
eyes:
brows:
cheeks:
lips:
lashes:
visit www.shuuemura.ca to find out more about the lashes!
the shu uemura spring collection designed in collaboration with japanese artist ob, features four princesses each with their own persona. the second makeup look that i did was based on the cherry blossom princess.
here’s a look behind-the-scenes at how i created the look using the pink spring palette on lovely model christine mccabe:
some retouching on set
FACE:
EYES:
LIPS:
HAIR:
soft princess curls hairstyle designed by Lip Lap of Initium Hair in Markham, Ontario.
and here’s the completed image:
hope you enjoyed the post! share with all of the makeup artists out there! have fun experimenting!
for spring 2013, shu uemura collaborates with young japanese artist ob to celebrate the rise in a new sensitivity in art. according to ob,
“… reality lies in the world of ambiguity. In between the innocent, beautiful dream world and the physical world. That is what [she] want[s] to express in [her] collection.” – ob
she created a universe where four princesses can be found: cherry blossom princess, moon princess, forest princess and ocean princess. for the collection, i had the opportunity to create four makeup looks using the new spring eyeshadows and lipsticks to reflect the four princesses.
this is how i created the ocean princess:
EYES: (blue palette) click here to read my review on the eyeshadow palettes
LIPS:
HAIR: designed by Lip Lam for Initium Hair
and here’s the final image:
for the makeup artists out there, have fun experimenting with this look!
review for the ob collection to come soon!
the spring 2013 shu uemura blossom dream collection features three beautiful matte, pastel eyeshadow palettes. i used the pink palette to create this soft, monochromatic pink look, paired with the rainbow feather s false lashes.
to create this look:
remember, the trick to wearing pink eyeshadow is to line the eyes softly with brown shadows or to add some brown shadow to the crease. this helps to avoid having eyes look irritated. have fun experimenting!
for the shu uemura 2013 spring collection, i created a colourful pastel look photographed my mark darren. this is a soft, airy and dreamy look featuring the intricate rainbow feather s lashes.
to create the look:
Face:
Eyes: blue palette (click here to see a review on the palette)
Cheeks:
Lips:
have fun experimenting!
patricia makeup artistry 
