Sunitha & Alok ~ Engagement Ceremony

A big congratulations to Sunitha & Alok who had their engagement ceremony on April 7th, 2012. I had the pleasure of doing Sunitha’s makeup as well as her sister and mother that morning at their home. When Sunitha shared the pictures with me, I couldn’t wait to share them with you! David Burke did such an amazing job capturing all of the beautiful, colorful details.  I’m really looking forward to doing the makeup in August for their wedding ceremony and also working with David again!  I want to mention that the hair was done by Monica Kitta…I’ve worked with her several times and she always does an amazing job.  Sunitha couldn’t have looked more gorgeous…

 

so beautiful <3

See you in August Sunitha ~ can’t wait

Congratulations Carla & Mike

Congratulations to Carla & Mike who were married on April 28th of this year!  I had a lot of fun doing makeup for Carla and a few of  her bridesmaids at the Holiday Inn that afternoon.  The two tied the knot at the very beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral in Oakland, a church I use to walk to quite a bit when I worked nearby…it is such a beautiful venue! A big thank you to Randi Voss Photography for sharing a few images  of the day with me and be sure to check out the rest of her work at www.randivossphotography.com.

Love this one…

Best wishes Carla & Mike ~ thank you for having me be a part of your day!

Spring Favorites

Even though Pittsburgh just had a little snow yesterday, Spring is back in the air today and I wanted to share a few of my new favorites with you!  If you end up trying any of these products, please come back and comment ~ I’d love to hear what you thought. 

I wish I could acquire a taste for plain water, I have tried. Flavored water keeps me hydrated and this new flavor from SOBO Lifewater has me obsessed.  Pacific Coconut…it tastes like a Pina Colada and I drink it in about 10 seconds flat.  I try to only have one per day since there are some calories and sugar involved, but if you love coconut, you will LOVE this flavor, trust me! 

I have been hearing about DRY SHAMPOO for over a year now and finally decided to try it for myself.  I really don’t know why I took so long because this product has changed my life! Having really long hair, I try not to over-wash it since that tends to dry it out.  However, I feel like it gets oily in between washes.  This product is genius!  There are a lot of brands out there, I have only tried a couple and by far my favorite is the BIG SEXY HAIR brand, Volumizing Dry Shampoo. It’s an added bonus that it actually adds body and volume as well. Try it!

I recently discovered Fluhme Cosmetics watching Pittsburgh Today Live and I’m so glad that I did.  I now have quite an extensive collection in my makeup kit and at my studio and my clients are loving it as well.  I have been using the Mineral Sheer Tint in Natural Glow religiously since I got it.  I love the glow it gives me and the coverage is just enough.  It also does the job of protecting my skin with an SPF of 20.  The Natural shade is just perfect for summer and it also comes in a slightly lighter shade, Cameo as well.  Click here for more info or to purchase.

Lastly, now that we are approaching ‘shorts’ weather soon…I am trying to get those legs back in shape and looking a little less pale.  This self tanner is great, and is in an easy to use spray can.  I love the color it gives me, and it never looks too orange or fake.  I will be honest, it can be a little challenging to blend in and took me a little practice.  I suggest spraying it on your body first (after you’ve exfoliated and lightly moisturized) then immediately blending the sprayed area out with a soft cloth.  I always go back over those rough areas too (knees, elbows, ankles) with a little more moisturizer to make sure its all blended very well.  Check it out here ~  www.bodydrench.com

As always thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon hopefully with some new products for you to try!

Congratulations Judy & Nick!

Congratulations to Judy & Nick who were married on March 3rd, 2012 at the beautiful Carnegie Museum in Oakland.  I love this venue for awedding and was excited to work with my wedding buddies… Brooke Rockwell Hair Salon and Caitlin Thomas Photography!  Judy was such a sweet bride and I had a great time doing her makeup as well as makeup for her maid of honor and mom.  For more on Brooke visit www.brookerockwell.com and Caitlin Thomas at www.caitlintphotography.com.

I want to go back in time and do a “first look” at my wedding, I love this idea!

And there was a second dress…surprise!!

 

Bridal Class @TEMPTUPRO

Hello! I just got back from New York taking my 3rd airbrushing class at Temptu in Manhattan.  It truly inspires me every time I go there and it’s so exciting to start using what I’ve learned on my own clients.  The class was taught by Dani Fonseca – you have to check out her website at www.TheBodyofArt.com.  She is an amazing Artist and you’ll see what I mean when you look at her site! I also met some really great people in the class and it’s always fun to learn from other talented Makeup Artists in the industry as well.  I couldn’t of had a better time so here are few pics of the class that I thought I’d share!  My favorite part of the class was the portion on tattoo covering.  I’ve been wanting to see this done ‘hands-on’ for a while!  If you’re a Makeup Artist looking for some great airbrushing classes, I highly recommend Temptu…they have Intro classes, Advanced and now Bridal ~ they are a great investment and so fun to attend.  Learn more at www.temptupro.com

Tattoo covering at its best…the BEFORE pic, focusing on the lower portion of the tat ~

 And the AFTER!

Audrey Love

Quote of the day ::

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”  ~ Audrey Hepburn

Ambush Pittsburgh ~ February

Monday was our 3rd Ambush Pittsburgh ~ where we surprise an unsuspecting person at work who was nominated for a free makeover!  It is such a great experience and I find myself looking forward to each and every makeover we do.  Here are some photos but be sure to visit the entire post at www.ambushpittsburgh.com! And even better…if you know someone who would be perfect for our next makeover, write us and send a photo to ambushpittsburgh@gmail.com  You never know, we may pick them next month and they’ll have you to thank!

Photos by Kathy Wolfe Photography

The surprise! And a great one for a Monday morning at the office

Not only did she get her hair and makeup done, she also got to keep her dress, coat, shoes and bag ~ all given to us from ModCloth!

The Makeover Team with Becky ~ Me, Brooke Rockwell & Kathy Wolfe

Inspiration Board

I love the idea behind making an inspiration board…it’s such a simple way to gather your creative ideas and thoughts all into one place.  Lately along with forever looking through magazines for new makeup looks and having my daily favorite makeup blogs, I’ve been loving Polyvore.  If you haven’t checked it out, it’s www.polyvore.com.  I have a traditional makeup inspiration board that I’ve made from magazine clippings, along with other things I’ve collected, but Polyvore is an easy way to make one online…and it’s very fun, not to mention addicting!

They also have some great home-made boards on Etsy (www.etsy.com) if you just search Inspiration Boards. I love this site since it supports people who are selling items they’ve worked hard to create!

Wedding Wire Award ~ 2012

I was so excited to hear that Pittsburgh Makeup received the Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award for the 4th year in a row!  This award is important to me, because it means that my company is in the top 5% of wedding professionals in the country.  Wedding Wire is a great resource for all brides who are looking for not just a Makeup Artist, but any other type of wedding vendor they may need.  All of the reviews on the site are done by previous brides who take time to review their own vendors after the wedding.  This is where I would go if I was getting married…15 years ago this resource wasn’t around yet!  Take a look at the website if you haven’t before, www.weddingwire.com.  Pittsburgh Makeup can be found under Health & Beauty.  Thanks again to Wedding Wire for this great award .

Date Night

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I hope you have a date night planned with your special someone!  I’m typically pretty au-natural with my makeup on a daily basis, but occassionally I like to do a smokey eye if I’m headed out to the paint the town… haha, not really ~ more like dinner and a movie.  Here are a few products to get you going in the right direction on perfecting a gorgeous date night look!

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Collection (online exclusive $80) www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com

Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer (can be found on sale at Walmart $9) www.walmart.com

Chanel Orchid Rose Powder Blush (Saks $43)  www.saksfifthavenue.com

Revlon ColorBurst Lipsticks (my personal favorite…Soft Nude) sold at most drugstores

Maybelline Falsies Mascara – sold at most drugstores

Ardell False Strip Lashes (my personal favorite are called “Babies” and can be found at Sally’s Beauty Supply). www.sallybeauty.com

Happy Valentine’s Day <3