Tuesday, July 27, 2010

ZOMBIE HOTNESS!

Well well, I did not know zombie nurses were so incredibly attractive!
The Photographer was Karin Locke as mentioned in a prior post. The model as the Zombie Nurse is Medina Avdic! And the helpless zombie victim is Samara von Rad (http://www.modelmayhem.com/1402345)! Samara was awesome and her acting skills were so impressive. I knew it was fake but the noises she was making were giving me the creeps and making me uneasy. She was fantastic. And of course Medina loved the whole dominatrix zombie nurse role! Karin and I had a lot of fun seeing our collective ideas come to life. She was so accomodating and was willing to hear any suggestions we had about maybe the posing or location of the shoot. She was a doll and I would love to work with her again anytime!!!





Until Later Glamazons!


Monday, July 26, 2010

Vampires and Assault on Trees

Hello Glamazons!

So I finally got some pictures back from a shoot I did quite a few weeks ago. The model is Jena Skye (http://www.modelmayhem.com/734518) and SnImages (http://www.modelmayhem.com/1653277). I was very excited to do my first graveyard photoshoot!


Dear Lord, we had so many snags in that shoot. The make-up moved, the model got frustrated, the photographer was worried, the vampire teeth were not usable, not to mention the mosquitos! OMFG! It's like I had a sign over my head that read "BUFFET". They were awful.


But luckily with the help of a few friends (Angella Dawn and Raven) and having a very upbeat photographer, we were able to get Jena back on a more happy route and we were able to come out of it with a more positive outlook on the whole thing. The pictures turned out marvelous! I am very happy! The best part was when the photographer wanted to take some pictures and it was so dark out, I just grabbed by little LED light from my purse, we took a couple of pictures and they were magic! Absolutely fan-freaking-tastic!


Then here comes the part with the tree assault. Every one but the photographer was in Angella's car. We were getting ready to head out. All of a sudden we heard a loud bang. It scared the S&%t out of all of us and we got out. We were thinking "Oh god, the photographer ran over a head stone! We are in so much crap!" then we realized that he had hit a tree. We were relieved that no one's resting place had been desecrated but the photographer had a bit of damage to the back of his truck. We all felt so bad for him. But if anything it was a lesson in doing research before the shoot.
I learned that I should know of all props that the model is going to be using, whether or not the photographer is comfortable matching skin tones in Photoshop, make sure stuff is organized. I think it was just a weird and off day for everyone and as great as the pictures turned out, I think we were all glad when it was over.

On the plus side, Angella did a wonderful job on the hair and Raven knew a lot of awesome places to shoot inside the graveyard.

I just hope we never have a repeat of that night... plus the children's graves just gave me the willies.
Until Later Glamazons!
Much love from Courtney of Glamazon Beauty!



Tuesday, July 20, 2010

More Swatchy goodness!

Hello Glamazons!

So I have decided it is time to swatch some tried tested and true eye shadows from Urban Decay. More specifically, 2 palettes that they have readily available on Sephora or ebay. The Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Palette and the Urban Decay Urban Ammo Palette. One is more hip and funky while the other is more edgy and dark.


So let's commence:
This is the packaging for the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow palette. I do apologize for the image being so dark, a flash would have made this much too bright. We get a nice velvet purple exterior with a metallic linky piece on the top which serves no purpose other than it looks nice?





The Colors:
Fishnet - A pinky purple with a blue duochrome shimmer.
Honey - A true gold shimmer
Ransom - A very bluish purple shimmer
Graffiti - A bright apple green shimmer
Zero - Black shimmer
Peace - A Sky blue shimmer
Shag - A peachy apricot brown shimmer
Scratch - A soft pink shimmer
Underground - A brown shimmer with hints of plum undertone.



Underneath are the swatches in the exact same order they are inside the palette. The hand on the left has no base or primer. The hand on the right has the Urban Decay Primer Potion. HUGE DIFFERENCE!















This is the packaging for the Urban Decay Urban
Ammo Palette. It is a matte black case with a pink/purple foil patter and a deep Velvet purple pattern over top. I think it is very pretty!
Like the other palette, it is made primarily of cardboard and has a magnet to hold it shut.



The Colors:
Smog - a midtone rusty brown shimmer
Mildew - a deep moss green shimmer
Oil Slick - A black shimmer with glitter
Last Call - A deep fuchsia shimmer
Chopper - A light copper shimmer
Maui Wowie - A light gold shimmer with glitter
Shattered - a light blue shimmer with light green duochrome
Polyester Bride - A white shimmer
Grifter - A pinky lilac shimmer with glitter
Sin - A peachy pink Shimmer

The swatches are in the exact same order as they come in the palette. As you can see, the hand on the left has no base or primer. The hand on the right has Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base. Once again HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!!


So,
Pros:
- Highly Pigmented
- Lasting wear
- very blendable and buildable
- fun colors

Cons:
- pricier
- No matte colors in the palettes so if you are older, beware and remember, shimmer sets in wrinkles and makes them look worse.
-The palette is okay for personal use but I do not like the fact that I cannot remove the shadows without butchering the palette
- The palette is cardboard
Would I recommend it? - I would, but more so for personal use. If you are a make-up artist beware, the palette takes up a fair bit of space.

A New Gym, Swatches, and the importance of a good base

Hello muffins!

Here goes blog entry number 3!!!


So, I am getting ready to leave the huge failure that is Spa-Lady and go to World Health. They are seeing about me being able to switch over since they have to same company that I have to make payments to. I hope so because I do not want to have to buy myself out of my spa-lady contract if they can just transfer me over.
The people there seem so nice and the facilities are sick! (which is buggin street slang for holy shit, they thought of everything!)

now for the swatches. It is a little complicated, so I took a window shot from the comp to try and make it easier to understand. (http://www.bubbasikes.com/supersavers.html)

So, here is where the link should take you as long as you scroll down and actually look for it. they have a 6 color palette and a 12 color palette. I have the 12.

SWATCHES!

So, please ignore the 4 out of place pans on the top of the picture. They are there to simply reduce the amount of wasted space in my kit.

Top Row Colors: Ice, Silver, Aztec Gold, Azalea, Cosmic Blue, Sunshine Yellow
Bottom Row Colors: Iced Gold, Tangerine, Chartreuse, Jade, Amethyst, and Cosmic Violet

These shadows are vibrant when used wet or over a good base.

These colors are manufactured by Ben Nye which usually means 2 things.

1) The product is affordable
2) The product is of theatrical quality

The picture on my right is the colors swatched on my hand in the exact same order they will come in the ordered palette. I did the iced gold again on the bottom just because the angle on the picture hid it.
Have you noticed the bottom halves of the swatches are more vibrant? I used Urban Decay Primer Potion as a base for the bottom halves so I could illustrate the importance and impact of a good base for you eyeshadow. I would have taken a picture of the bottle of UDPP if I still had it, unfortunately, I de-potted it into a more economical container.
This palette is well worth the money! It is highly pigmented, very versatile, and you get a boatload of product! This palette has lasted me over a year! 12 colors of good eyeshadow for $51.00? Too expensive? DO THE MATH! 51 divided by 12 is $4.25 per shadow. You can't even get cover girl (which sucks) that cheap! It is worth the investment if you are a color fiend!
Pros:
- Highly Pigmented
- Lasting wear
- very blendable and buildable
- fun colors
- SO AFFORDABLE!
- when you run out of a color, you can order a replacement from the same people!
Cons:
- Hard to afford at once
Would I recommend it? - HELL TO THE YEAH!
And a good base is essential not only for make-up in photography, but for daily wear as well. It extends the wear of the eyeshadow you put on, gives you better color pay off, it keeps make-up from creasing and provides a smooth surface for make-up to adhere.
Make-up Bases I Recommend:
-Urban Decay Primer Potion (VERY GOOD FOR OILY LIDS)
-Too Faced Shadow Insurance (Just as good as Urban decay, packaged better)
-Lemon -aid by Benefit (Just for creating an even base, after a while it will crease on oily lids)
Until next time My muffins!
Courtney of Glamazon Beauty

Monday, July 19, 2010

Swatches are Good, Losing weight, and zombies?



Well, even if I do not get my Sugarpill stuff today, I will swatch the cool stuff that I have to show you what I like to use. I have MAC, Ben Nye, Beauty from the Earth, Lime Crime, OCC, NYX, etc. I got a lot of stuff I guess I should show. I will provide links to all of it!



Also, I am trying to lose weight not only for my man, but most importantly for myself. I am working a very physical job and I am currently going to SpaLady... Yeah, I have had a membership for 3 months and I have gone 3 times. The locations are highly inconvenient, and I want to be able to go with my man since he wants to work out too. *rawr*



I am going to see if they will let me transfer my membership to World Health, that way it is close to where I work and I can have workout buddies.



Since I started shipping receiving, I have lost close to 15 lbs in 2 weeks. I eat, believe me, I am not saying no to food EVER! But I want to lose it faster but still in a healthy way, so if I go to the gym too, it will be awesome and I will be able to wear my dream dress.

Yes people this is the dress I am DYING TO WEAR! It's a gorgeous color, it's a gorgeous cut, and by god I will fit in it!



So I need motivation to keep on keeping on with everything.

Oh yes... zombies, well I worked with a photographer whose work I have admired for quite some time. Her name is Karin Locke and she is an Edmonton Based photographer who does amazing work!(www.modelmayhem.com/1041934).
The picture to the left is an example of her work.



I thoroughly enjoyed working with her and her group. The model of the day was Medina (http://www.modelmayhem.com/1558036) who was done up as a Zombie Nurse and she rocked it, it was so fun!!! Our victim who is not on Model Mayhem, as far as I know, was the best victim ever! We had a pig heart, fake blood, sick location, it was awesome!
I am so excited to get the photos back all done up and creepified!
Those are the shoots where I sit and think "I am so ridiculously happy with what I do".
Until Later Muffins!
Courtney of Glamazon Beauty

Monday, July 12, 2010

First Ever Blog and Exciting News

Well hello muffins!




So this is the first entry in my first ever blog page... I am over 20 and I have never used one before. God I am so out of touch with technology.




Anyhoopy, in the next few days I am expecting some products from sugarpill cosmetics. I have not ordered the loose pigments due to the fact that I was more in the market to find some exceptional matte shades instead of a loose color packed with glitter.




This is the lovely Amy aka Shrinkle that created the Sugarpill line. This picture is taken her website, it is not my image at all. I used to buy Kryolan from her every now and again on ebay (She still sell kryolan there!) and I was always incredibly happy with the product I received and she was so very sweet and understanding with my financial situation when I had made one of my orders. Everything ended up great and it left me with a very good opinion of this ambitous young woman.






As it stands I have ordered the following. All are pressed eyeshadows.



- Buttercupcake (Matte yellow)



- Poison Plum (Strong purple with a tiny bit of glitter)



- Dollipop (Matte Hot Pink/Fuschia)



- Love+ (Matte Red) I am DYING to test this one out!



- Afterparty (Matte Light Turqouise Blue)



I have heard really mixed reviews from Make-up artists that I consider to be at the top of their game, so I want to form my own opinion from my own experiences.





In other News, I also got a Air compressor unit (IWATA Ninja) so I can start airbrushing. I have been using OCC Airbrushing foundations, blushes, shimmers, and color correctors. So far I am absolutely in love. The Following is an example of work I have done with the airbrushing system. (Credits to me for the Make-up and to Renee Robyn Photography for the picture). The Model's name is Jodi and her skin is just flawless, I mean perfect! Her foundation was done in less than a minute. It was insanely easy to use, no blending required and the application was flawless! I also love OCC for the fact that their formulas have no silicone in them. They are all water based.

So with this, I shall probably post once I get my product in the mail. If you have any requests for looks, just let me know and I will see what i can do. So far my video camera is being difficult and saving stuff in .mov format instead of .avi format. So I try to get a program to help me convert it and it watermarks the entire video. ARGH! I must find someone technilogically enclined to help me.

Until later muffins!

Courtney of Glamazon Beauty