Luxury products for events

I was recently asked about my favorite luxury products by my dear friend Nadine and I thought I would do a post about my most coveted and upscale products. For a shoot, for example, I really am not looking for a moisturizer that will combat the signs of aging but one that will provide me with good moisturizing qualities. That is why taking care of your skin outside from the set is so important. Some product I list I do use for prepping the skin for events and celebrities but the majority of them are just for personal indulgence.
Thread with caution, some of the products come with a hefty price tag.

Shu Uemura Ultime8 Sublime Cleansing Oil

I am a huge fan of all the cleansing oils from Shu Uemura but this last one is, like its name, sublime.
It contains 8 botanical oils for 8 skincare benefits and contrary to what people may think it, it doesn´t leave your skin greasy.

Rodial Dragons Blood Hyaloric Moisturizer

The first in a series of Rodial products that are phenomenal. This day moisturizer will rehydrate your skin and plump it up while protecting your skin.

Rodial Glamtox SPF15

My second Rodial product. Every single time I use this moisturizer people ask me what I have done to my skin and how I get it to look so good. It won`t happen overnight but after a few weeks this little jewel will have your skin looking oh so fine.

RéVive Moisturizing Renewal Cream Suprême Ultra Retexturizing Hydrator

Not only does it provide lasting hydration, it also gives you the most healthy looking skin imaginable. Considering it is a little bit heavier and more anti-aging I would apply this one at night.

Rodial Glam Balm

Last Rodial product on this list. Flying doesn´t only dehydrate your skin, you will also lose your tan. That´s why it´s perfect for flying. It will create a protective hydrating barrier around your skin. Added benefit: you don´t lose your tan on the way home.It is also great if you have very dry areas that need a moisture boost.

Dr Sebagh Serum Repair

Applying this serum feels like you aren´t applying anything at all but nothing could be further from the truth. It boosts the hydration level in your skin, gets rid of fine lines and makes puffy eyes disappear like snow on a sunny day. This is amazing to use as an eye serum at events or all over if your skin needs a boost.

SK II Facial Treatment Mask

If you need anything on this list, forget every product on this list and just get this one. It is 8 hours of sleep when you have partied for 3 days and have just come home and need to go to work. It just leaves your skin looking amazing. For events this is my favorite product to prep the skin with.

A Woman A Man

Working with friends is always the best. At this months CYL Moda Intima shoot I just got to do that. My good friend model Lindsey Opso was booked for this shoot. The whole concept of the shoot was paying homage to Helmut Newton.
I ended up working with the male model Alexander Pire for the campaign for Punto Blanco a couple of weeks later. Unfortunately I won´t be able to post anything from that shoot until the campaign runs which will be next winter but until then have a look at this series.

 

Judit Mascó

I was a little bit nervous about doing Judit her makeup. I was told prior to the event that she was a perfectionist and it would be next to impossible to leave her happy. I have made a note to self that I am not gonna listen to anything negative from hearsay again. Nothing could´ve been further from the truth. Not only was she extremely polite, classy and cool. She was the most nicest person ever.

Judit gave me a lot of freedom with her makeup. She basically told me to keep her skin looking natural and we both decided on making her eyes stand out.

Below you can see a picture of the final result, gorgeous radiant skin, with a softly defined eye.

 

Judit her skin was already flawless to begin with so I decided to make the most of it and really make it as radiant, healthy and glowy as possible. I started off again with prepping her skin with the caudalie enzymatic peel mask (if you have the SK-II facial treatment mask apply this instead. I didn´t have any left so I used the caudalie one) followed by a radiance primer.

After some lipbalm and eye prep I started on her skin. I had to mix 2 shades of Becca luminous skin colour to get just the right shade which I applied to the center of the face and blended outwards. Becca stick foundation was used to conceal areas that needed a little bit more coverage.
Shimmering skin perfector in pearl to highlight the cheekbones was applied on top of the cheeks and carefully blended into the foundation.
On the apples of her cheeks Becca turkish rose créme blush was used to give her a healthy flush, again blending it into the foundation and highlighter.

For the eyes I started off with a very light dusting of a mix of Becca satin and venise eyeshadow all over the lid up to the crease. Next I applied a brownish purple eyeliner between her lashes and under the eyes.
A metallic copper cream eyeshadow was used to define the crease and outer corner of the lid.
To really define the eyes I used a shimmering black cream eyeshadow as a liner blended well and I finished off with applying Becca shimmering skin perfector in pearl in the inner corners of the eyes.

 

I light dusting of loose powder in the center of the face, some bronzer on the cheeks and side of the neck and a little bit of a soft pink lipbalm finished off the look.

Malena Costa

I got booked on a celebrity event a few days ago and I had the opportunity to do the makeup on Spanish models Malena Costa and Judit Mascó.
The event was the opening of a new japenese brazilian fusion restaurant Ikibana en Barcelona.
I will give you guys a small break down of what I did to both models.

On the picture below you can see the final result of the makeup on Malena. She asked for something very natural with a little bit of a gold highlight on the inner corners of her eyes.

As usual I started out with prepping her skin. I really wanted her skin to radiate. Because I was planning on using a primer I decided not to apply any type of moisturizer. This meant that after cleaning and applying the caudalie enzymatic peel face mask, which will gently exfoliate the skin and promote luminosity. I applied a radiance foundation primer.

I used Becca Luminous skin colour all over the face and Becca stick foundation to gently even out the skin. Before applying concealer I highlighted cheekbones with Becca shimmering skin perfector in pearl, making sure that all the edges where blended very well. Unfortunately I ran out of Becca beach tint so I used a mix of Becca Créme blush in dahlia and amaryllis on the apple of the cheeks blending it into the foundation and highlighter so that everything flowed into each other.

To keep the eyes looking as fresh and natural as possible I used a brown eye pencil to line the top lashes and blended it onto the lid. Becca Bronze gold créme eye colour was washed just above the crease. Because this is a cream based product it will give the eyes definition but mimics the same texture as the skin. Keep the creme eyeshadow above the crease of the eye. If you apply it to low onto the lid it will crease and not last as long as it should.
A very fine line of black liner was applied to the upper lash line and blended with a black eyeshadow. A soft dusting of a shimmering cool chocolate brown eyeshadow just around the lower lash line defined the eyes without overpowering it. And to finish of the eyes a soft shimmering golden eyeshadow was applied on the inner corners of the eyes.

I finished off with a light dusting of loose powder and a little bit of bronzer applied on the highpoints of the face.

Bloggers vs Designers by Absolut Mode Society

A couple of months ago I did a job for Absolut Mode Society that featured some of Barcelona´s designers being interviewed by differant bloggers. Although it was a lot of work, it was a lot fun to see and work with them. 

I will leave you with a selection of pictures and a link to Absolut mode society page where you can check out the interviews and more pictures shot during that day.

http://www.absolutmodesociety.com/

 Claudia Albons and Montse Liarte

 Pol Valero and El Colmillo de Morsa

 Aida Domenech and Martin Lamothe

Angie of Angie y Lucúos and Krizia Robustella

Lucúos of Angie y Lucúos and Karlota Laspalas

CYL magazine

I shot an editorial for CYL magazine recently where I took the model (gorgeous Roxane Glineur) from pale to a bronzy shade. I thought it might be a good idea to explain how I achieved this look.

I started out by prepping her skin with the caudalie facemasks and then applied St. Tropez wash off tan all over her face and body. This made her a little bit more bronze. The wash off tan allows you to go a lot of shades darker without it looking weird or orange. 

I then applied a mix of BECCA luminous skin colour in toast and shimmering skin perfector in opal all over her face, neck and ears and concealed any imperfections with BECCA stick foundation. I then blended some more shimmering skin perfector in pearl on the highpoints of her cheeks and the cupid´s bow, making sure to blend all the edges well. Becca créme blush in Dahlia made her look she just came from a holiday.

I should warn you if you try to recreate this look to be very careful with all the shimmering products. The idea is to look dewy, fresh and sunkissed not like a shiny discoball. I then applied 2 differant shades of matte bronzer o the face and neck. The lighter shade where the sun would naturally hit and the darker one to add some shading. Always making sure that everything is well blended. 

On the eyes I applied one side of BECCA line and define pencil in cabrera and the softly defined the lid with BECCA jewel dust in nyx.

A black eyepencil, mascara and a mango flavoured lipbalm finished off the look.

I am leaving you with a couple of shots from the editorial.

How to succesfully fake a tan

Ever since I shot in Ibiza I have been doing so much fake tanning on shoots. Something rather weird considering the fact that we are in summer and we usually shoot winter this time of year but I am more than happy to comply with this tanning craze.
Needless to say I have been trying out all types of fake tan.
Selftanners really aren't my cup of tea. Somehow the good ones do very little for me, they usually dont make me glowy and the bad ones make me look like Bugs Bunny's favorite food. But Rodial self tanner does give me a healthy look. Unfortunately for shoots selftanner is not all that handy. The model needs to be naked for a couple of hours and she can't come in contact with anything cause it will stain clothes and leave her blotchy. Also the fact that she needs to have been scrubbed and hidrated prior to applying can cause trouble.
So the solution to this problem is just to wash off tan. The main problem I had with wash off tan was finding one that actually worked. I love the Kanebo bronzing gel but it is a little too transparent if you want to get that "I just spend a weekend in Saint Tropez" look. The product I liked by far so far has been St Tropez wash off tanner.

It comes in a silver tube and you have a lotion for face and one for the body. I apply it with latex gloves and it leaves you looking like a bronze goddess. The best part after it, once set you can easily apply another layer and it is smudge proof. No more tan stains on your clothes (stylist love me better nowadays). It looks and smells a little weird but it leaves you looking oh so fine. JLo here we come!!!