My Ballerina Beauty

Hey Rosebud,

Naturally the summer months have me in full blown bridal mode. With bridal consultations and weddings, I've been a busy little makeup artist bee lately. However, when the time permits I have been working really hard with an amazing team to update and add value to my artistry portfolio. It's hasn't been easy but when it's good it's great and this past Sunday was great! 

Teaming up with an outstanding group of creative minds, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Kateryna Derechyna, a professional ballet dancer with The Washington Ballet. I have worked with lots of dancers, but never have I worked with a professional ballerina before. I was beyond excited to be apart of this project. My first impression of Kateryna or rather Kat was a very beautiful and gracefully structured woman. After all of the formal hellos we got right to the fun stuff,MAKEUP & HAIR! lol. Kat is a rockstar and  her personality is vibrant, sassy, and carefree. Our hair and makeup sessions talks were to die for. We all had so many interest in common like makeup, music, and social life styles. It wasn't until Kat slipped on her ballet slippers and balanced perfectly still on the points of her toes, that I was reminded that "she's a real ballerina".

As a professional ballet dancer of course every move Kat made was amazing to see up close. I will say this, there is a lot of mental exercise that goes into ballet on top of the intense physical training. Kat was super impressive, she stayed focused and held her pose and balance for lengths of times I could never match (lol) all while making it all look very easy. She was all smiles and full of this "dancer's energy" that I've noticed in other dancers I've worked with.

But trust me hanging on set and behind the scenes with a professional ballerina and being one are two totally different things. As a team we collectively were inspired to show off our unprofessional dance moves to Kat. We all got a huge giggle out of our attempts at toe points, kicks, and twirls. The fun of dance filled the studio and the inspiring music kept our energy and creative juices flowing.

As a team we shot multiple looks on different set locations. But hands down I'm sure my favorite image of the day, which I haven't seen completed in post production, would have to be from the dark dimly lit alley we shot in. This set was everything for the particular concept we were shooting for that set. It had texture, depth, darkness, haze and a rocking ballerina balanced gracefully on her toes!

After a long 13 hour day of shooting some crazy great inspiring images, the entire team finished the shoot just as strong as we started. And a sense of accomplishment filled the studio! It was a true team effort and everyone involved gave their 150%. Hope you enjoyed this peek into my world as a makeup artist.

Model: Katyerna Derechyna
Hair Artist: Kyndra Turner
Makeup Artist: Ivory Perkins (self)
Fashion Stylist: Jennifer Elizabeth
Photographer: Naiffer Romero
BTS Photographer: Tom Turk

Project: Build Me A Vanity

Rosebuds,

Being a freelance makeup artist has me constantly packing and unpacking my makeup kit. At times it can be a tedious task finding space to store and keep the products I'm not using organized and stationed. With every gig I find myself buying more products and having little to no space to keep it all without building clutter. It has been an idea for a while now to invest in a vanity/storage system for myself. However, when I thought about what type of vanity I wanted and how it would function for my needs I would feel overwhelmed.

To give myself a starting point I took 2 whole days to sort, clean and trash the makeup that was taking up usable space. My makeup mayhem was crazy. But once it was all cleaned I was now ready to go out a buy a vanity. But where do I start? There are so many options when selecting/creating  a vanity/ makeup station.  I figured the best option was to just create and customize my space. But this decision had me once again was overwhelmed and looking for another starting point.

If you're not sure Google it! lol Seeing all the fancy and not so fancy setups that others had created, made me see things differently. I needed a blueprint to layout the details of what I wanted.

The Blueprint

1. What's my allowed budget? 

2. Measured space available 

3. What's the look & design?

4. Storage unit setup (designed with additions in mind)

After identifying my needs against my wants I was ready to start shopping. I went to Ikea to start. There I checked out the Malam dressing table but it wasn't (to me) worth the price tag or the raves it has been given online. It's nice but was not what my space needed. Well, what's next? I did a search on "writing table" and found that the size would be a nice cuddly fit for my new makeup space.

So where would I get a nice writing table from that didn't look like a vintage office desk? Walmart!!! I was in Walmart randomly buying extra stuff that I didn't need (that store has that power over me) and I came across the Home department, and BOOM there she was, the MainStay Writing Table for the pretty price of $39!
Now I was on a mission, I then found the framed mirror to match my vision for only $10!  Now I had recently came upon an AWESOME deal at my local Dollar Tree store. They had Clip on table lamps there for a $1 of course. My first instinct "girl get 4" so I did just that. Great thing I did too, because after sharing my amazing find with my other makeup artist buddies they were all sold out when we went back to get more. 

Putting this table together was a breeze and the final look of it is really nice. After lugging everything home and setting it all up I was very pleased with my creation. Who would have thought I was able to find everything in only 2 stores (Walmart & DollarTree) and only spend a total of $60 (factoring in taxes)?

Remember my blueprint? The #1 thing was to stay in my budget. I was willing to spend at least $200 on this project, and only dropped a cool $60. That has left me with a larger budget for storage systems, the real beast of this setup.  Currently I have a medium 3 draw cart that fits perfectly under the table next to my printer, which I plan on moving to put another 3 draw cart there. And a large 4 draw cart on the side of the table, this cart has an acrylic 4 stair stand on top that houses my airbrush makeups neatly.

I'm still in the market for more storage, but as a new setup in my home I'm content for the moment. The table's draw has nice space, but needs a draw organizer that is no taller than an 1/2inch high. This way the draw will close with ease. I do have plans on actually mounting my mirror and the 2 lights attached to it on the wall to give me more table space, there's like 3 inches of space available behind the mirror that I could be using. I need every inch lol :)

If it's Broke Fix it: How to repress your broken eyeshadows

I have had my share of broken eye shadows over the years. And every time one crashes and breaks I feel and small crack form in my makeup artist heart. It wasn't until about 4 years ago when I encountered a shattered blush palette that I ordered online, that I decide to save money and time on shipping the broken palette back and then waiting 2-3 weeks for a new (hopefully unbroken) palette. What was a makeup artist to do??? Research!!

I found a massive selection of YouTube videos on how to correct and fix my problem. But every person's method was different and worked for the moment. But in the end my palette would shatter again. So the next time around I decided to play scientist. I noticed that all the supplies were the same in the videos except the "mixing medium". Some where suggesting the use of oils, water, different percentages of alcohols and even nail polish remover (which I knew was not the right product to use).

The "mixing medium" that preformed the best of everything I tried was my 99% alcohol. So here's the only method I use and stand by when it comes to fixing any pressed powder product.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:  99% alcohol (90% or better if you can't get 99%), medicine dropper, Pressing ribbion /or cloth, Q-tip (cut in 1/2), and a coin (pressing tool) the size of the eyeshadow you're pressing. And of course you'll need a broken eyeshadow or blush, the main reason we're here.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wash your hands and rub a little bit of the alcohol on them to sanitize! On a clean & flat surface
lay out all of your supplies so that they are close by. Take a q-tip and cut it in half. Use the stick to completely crush your broken eyeshadow or blush in the pan it's broken in. Next, drop a few drops of 99% alcohol in the pan. Using the other 1/2 of the cut q-tip stir (slowly & neatly) the crushed pigment & alcohol together until you have a SMOOTH & CREAMY texture. Then, place the pressing ribbon or cloth over top of the eyeshadow or blush (you'll start to see the alcohol soak up into the ribbon (that's suppose to happen). Next take your pressing tool or coin and lay it over the shadow/ blush and press SLOWLY BUT FIRM. After a few moments of pressing remove the coin and the ribbon/cloth. TA DAAAAAA!!! A beautifully repressed eyeshadow or blush.