Summertime and the livin's...busy!!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining!!! I think that I can confidently say that for my first official summer taking on weddings, it has gone really well! I have been busy every single weekend of July, and I'm still not quite finished. I am kind of glad that August is a bit slower for me though, it is a lot to work part-time and do weddings every weekend.

There is so much I would like to be doing with makeup, but to find the time is tough lately. My favorite photographer to work with (Michelle Cervo) is moving away in September, so I won't get to see her as often!!! :( But, she will be making trips to continue doing shoots for her clientele in the B.C. area, so I will definitely be keeping in touch with her as often as possible. It's her first official wedding season doing photography as well, and WOW is she AMAZING!!! You would think she's been doing it for years! I am so proud of her and feel so lucky to be able to work along side someone as talented as she. Check out her stuff: http://www.michellecervophotography.com/

My best friend is getting married next summer so it is going to be an eventful year in 2011. I will not be able to take any clients from August 13-21 of next year. I am very excited though, I've already had a few people asking about next summer! And with all the consultations and weddings I've done this year I have learned a lot. Definitely worked out a lot of kinks in order to make things run super smooth for my clients as well as myself!

Consultations are very important for me to do with my wedding clients, even if I know them already. This is an opportunity for me to meet and get to know my bride, see what her personality is like and find out what her expectations are. I can also get all of the information that I need to be fully prepared for her special occasion. I have been taking deposits during these consultations, but as of now I will be taking $25 for each person in the party that will be having makeup applied. This way, not only will the date be fully secured for my client, but I will also have a firm commitment of exactly the number of girls I will be doing. This is important because I have had a few times when people change their minds at the last minute - either for a couple of extra faces getting makeup done, or a couple of people canceling. This can pose a problem for timing, as I need to know how many faces I'm doing in order to not be rushed. I usually plan for an adequate amount of time so that I can make my clients look and feel their very best!

I have been very lucky...out of all the weddings I have done, I've only had a couple of nightmare ones! HAHA but we will not go there! I have worked with amazing people, beautiful brides and wedding parties, and I've been able to be a part of such a memorable and special experience. I really love what I do!!!

Now all I need to do is invest in a larger makeup kit and a fold-up high makeup chair!

JI Mineral Foundations

So, as I have mentioned several times throughout my blogs - I use a lot of Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup and I highly recommend it. Not all mineral makeup is the same. Jane Iredale has been around for over 15 years now and is carried in more than 45 countries around the world (only at spas and dermatologist offices).

The reason I believe in mineral makeup so much is because it is virtually the best makeup there is in so many ways! It's good for every skin type, every age, it wears really well through the day, there is nothing harmful in it, it has countless benefits, and it goes a long way. To be honest, I have only really worked with Jane Iredale so yes, I am a little biased. But from my understanding and experience with clients switching to it, it really is better quality than some of the other mineral brands that are out there.

Jane has 3 types of foundations - well you can make that 4 if you count the tinted moisturizer. She has the Liquid Minerals, the Purepressed Base, and the Amazing Base. I'm a huge fan of the Purepressed Base because I find its easiest to match your shade, it's best for all skin types from oily, dry, to sensitive skin, it's quick and easy to use, and easy to travel with. Even though it's a powder, you get full coverage with this base; it works as a foundation, powder, concealer and SPF 20 all in one! There are no talc or fillers in this makeup so it will not look "powdery" or "cakey" on the skin, in fact - it sits on top of your skin's surface and allows your skin to breathe through it. If you have dry skin, as long as you prep the skin properly with moisturizer and are exfoliating weekly, it will not show up dry. For oily skin, this makeup will actually help to keep your skin more matte. For acneic skin or skin prone to breakouts or sensitivity reactions, the zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are very soothing and double as a physical sunscreen. The SPF 20 physical sunscreen begins working to block out the sun's harmful rays immediately as you apply it and it happens to be extremely water resistant as well! This makeup has been tested to last IN water for up to 80 minutes!!! I can personally vouch for this product as I have worn it to Mexico twice now and through swimming and sweating, I didn't get tanned or burned on my face whatsoever! And we all know sunscreen is the NUMBER 1 anti-aging product. The Purepressed base comes in a nice gold refillable compact, so you can pop it in your purse in case you need to touch-up throughout the day. It's unlikely that you would need to though, unless you have excessively oily skin...and even then there's the Absence Primer for that.

The Amazing Base is basically the loose form of everything I just mentioned about the pressed except that it has more of a "dewy" finish...so it's not as suitable for a more oily skin type as it will go shiny quickly. It has just as much coverage though and is great for dry or more mature skin types.

The Liquid Minerals are basically a liquid foundation but they look very unique. They come in a clear bottle and it looks like a bunch of balls suspended in a clear gel - which is exactly what it is. This foundation is more of a gel base which has aloe and lavender which are very soothing. The little balls are what contain the pigment and when you pump it, it all mixes together. This is a fantastic foundation for more mature skin types and/or people who have extremely dry skin and are not interested in using a powder. This formulation also contains Co-enzyme Q10 which you might have heard of and is a powerful anti-aging ingredient. A lot of people are interested in this product because it looks so neat, but it's not necessarily for everyone. I find it requires a little bit of a different application method - massaging it into the skin the deliver those good ingredients, the coverage is a bit more sheer than the Purepressed and Amazing Bases, and it doesn't contain any SPF. Layer it under your Purepressed Base though and you have an immaculately flawless finish!

The difference between mineral makeup (this mineral line anyway) and other foundations and powders is that because there are absolutely NO fillers in it, the product is pretty much pure pigment. So you need less, and you get more coverage out of it. It also will not go into your pores and clog them or cause acne or sensitive reactions. There are no harmful preservatives or ingredients and because the powder minerals are inert (they don't support bacteria growth), they do not go rancid. A lot of new mineral lines that are coming out are using the word "mineral" very loosely. Many of them, especially the inexpensive drugstore brands, are only partially mineral and still contain a lot of crap. Jane Iredale is 100% mineral and has been manufactured in such a way to be eco-friendly and completely safe for anyone to use. Your skin is an investment and I really believe that using good quality mineral makeup will save you in the long run!

c2

Back on YouTube!

I am once again borrowing my mother's camera to make more YouTube makeup tutorials and videos! I am very excited...this week my creative juices have been flowing, although I haven't made an actual tutorial yet, I did make a couple of videos just talking about tips and advice. I have plenty of ideas bouncing around in my brain at the moment so you can expect to see some new things coming very soon!

My goal is to one day have quite a high number of followers. I want to try to do some more unique looks. I love doing the more creative stuff and I find as I watch other makeup tutorials on YouTube that are directed more at beauty makeup, a lot of it tends to look the same to me. I'm not sure if anyone feels that same...but there's only so many ways I want to show you all how to do a smoky eye before that gets really boring.

I don't know if anyone even reads this blog, but if you do, thank-you for taking an interest! I want lots of feedback...if you have questions about anything at all, please let me know and I will answer them as best I can! Thank-you for supporting me...whoever you may be!

c2

Growing Up

Lately I've been wanting to improve in all aspects of my life: my relationships, my attitude toward work, my business, my health, my personality toward strangers...the list goes on. In fact, the list could go on forever and really, there is no possible way that I could perfect everything. Sometimes I feel stressed because my "to do" list always seems overwhelming and impossible to complete. I started reading this book recently that my best friend lent me. It's called, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff" by Richard Carlson. It really brought back into perspective what is important in my life and made me realise simple ways to stay positive and enjoy life - because we only have one life and we're living it right now! We have to make the best of it. (So thank-you for that, Kim!!!)

So this blog isn't really too makeup-related. Although, makeup is a large part of my life; it's my career! So I guess it ties in. I have been working fairly steadily at expanding my portfolio and improving my website etc. And I plan to keep working hard at it - but I'm trying to also balance other things in my life in order to enjoy the simple things. It can be difficult at times to have the time for everyone and everything. I have a husband first and foremost, and many pets to take care of. I have a couple best friends that I'm quite close with, as well as new friends I'm building relationships with. I have my business priorities that I'm constantly replying to emails and requests, so I have to stay on top of that. My work is separate and luckily I only work 4 days a week! I have my family; all my parents who each need separate visits and siblings that have busy schedules as well. No wonder life can be overwhelming!!! To me, these are all the most important things that need attention in my life...and I'm still learning how to do it all.

As we become adults, we get all of these responsibilities and life changes so much. I feel like this is the year that I'm really, truly changing into an adult. I've been thinking about how things will never be the same. Sometimes I feel scared. Sometimes I don't like it. But, I'm learning to accept it - slowly but surely. Almost all of my friends are at different places in their lives right now, so sometimes it's hard to relate to anybody. I know that this will pass someday, and things will become easier again. All I can do is keep chugging through and remember that it is all small stuff in the whole scheme of things and not to get too overwhelmed. There are a lot of people in our lives that we love, but sometimes we can't please everyone. As long as you are genuinely trying your best (which for a while there, I wasn't), then that's all you can do! So for these transitional stages in life, just keep your focus on what matters most to you...and work on that.

c2

Establishing a Business

I think I have been very fortunate so far with my makeup career. I never really planned to be a makeup artist when I was younger, in fact I didn't know what I was going to do for my career. I always knew that I wanted to do something with art, I just didn't know what. Then one day, my sister came to me and showed me an ad in the newspaper for a makeup artistry program at a school downtown. I had been going to college for communications and at that point knew it wasn't something I wanted to continue. So I looked into this course and everything fell into place from there.

After I graduated, actually just before, I had landed a job at Merle Norman. Needless to say, it wasn't the best 9 months of my life. I quickly realized that I had potential to do something better and I wanted to be happy. I applied to Spa Utopia just in the nick of time and was hired in December of 2006. I think that doing a lot of volunteer makeup jobs (fashion shows, theatre makeup for local schools, photo shoots etc.) helped a lot with my experience and looked really good on my resume. I have been happily employed at Spa Utopia for the past 3 and a half years now and I still love it.

So why am I doing freelance? Mostly because it works for me and I have some big dreams I want to pursue. I am lucky to have 3 days off a week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And Fridays and Saturdays tend to be a little busier when it comes to weddings and demand for makeup for special events. So that works out really well for me. I live about 40 minutes away from my work, so majority of my freelance clients are in my area and always looking specifically for someone to come into their home to do makeup for them. This is something that my workplace doesn't really offer. I am loyal to my workplace though, and I never tell guests of Spa Utopia that I offer this service because I do not want to take their business. If the spa asks me to do this for them, through them, I am willing to. All of my personal clients are unable or not willing to travel to the spa for makeup.

Another reason I am doing this is because I enjoy it - of course! And why do we work? To make money. Unfortunately working 4 days a week doesn't pay all of the bills, and with the recession, my husband has been laid off for the past while. If I hadn't been taking clients, life would have been a lot harder. I have been very fortunate to have had enough bookings to get by and even save a little bit. It's really exciting.

I have no plan to leave Spa Utopia for a long, long, long time. I really do love it there and my work situation is perfect for me. It is such a wonderful place to be. But my ultimate dream one day would be to live off doing photo shoots year round, and weddings from spring to fall. I am not too sure when I will get there and I know I have a long way to go. It's going to take a lot of hard work building my portfolio, getting my name out there, meeting and networking with lots of people, and spending a lot of time on the paperwork side of things. I want my name to be well-known. Oh, what a life it would be to be flown all over the world for my talents!!! Yes, I am dreaming big, baby! So far, things have come fairly easily to me and I know it may not always be that way. So I am going to always do my very best.

c2

Long Overdue

So it has been quite some time since I last posted. I'm not going to write much tonight because it is 2:03 in the morning and I'm exhausted. I'm excited to announce that I have created a new website; one that I feel is much simpler and much more accessible to my clients. My last website was pretty cool, but it was all flash and much more complicated to edit. I like the layout of this one, and I think if I get enough good feedback, I'll finally purchase a domain name!

www.c2makeup.weebly.com

I officially registered my business as c2 Makeup a few months ago. Things are going very well. I have been pretty busy with everything. I have been doing more photo shoots just like I had hoped! I have quite a few weddings booked for this summer and I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't been doing any more tutorials on YouTube unfortunately because I had to give my mom her camera back. I would like to do more, but it does take up a lot of time as well.

I am feeling very positive and excited for what's to come. I will keep you updated.

c2

Back on Track...

So I haven't posted anything on YouTube for quite some time now...mainly because my mom needed her camera back over Christmas and yeah, I don't have one obviously hehe. I'm at her house now as I write this, and I'm stealing it back! I have been noticing that people have been subscribing to my channel everyday so I figured I better get back into it and make some new videos!!!

I have been keeping busy in the meantime. I just did my first photoshoot of 2010 yesterday and it was fantastic! It was a boudoir shoot that I organized for my portfolio and everything came together really smoothly. I have seen a few of the photos so far and I'm more than pleased with them! I can't wait to see the rest. I'll post a couple. The models are gorgeous and I'm glad to say that I have super hot friends who really know how to work the camera! Thanks girls :)

I have another shoot coming up in a couple of weeks more for bridal looks. It's always good to add as many of those into your portfolio that you can. As I'm hoping to do more wedding shows in the near future, I definitely want to have as much visual material as possible. Doing these shoots doesn't feel like work to me at all, and even though its for free it's so much fun collaborating with other talented hairstylists and photographers to create these works of art through people. I would love to be able to do this for a living...doing photography work I've realised is something I feel really passionate about.

So I've been surrounded by lots of positive energy, not only from my workplace, my husband, my aquaintances, but especially from my friends! I have so much support behind me, it's really given me so much hope and drive to go for my goals. Right now I'm just going to really focus on everything step-by-step: creating a phenomenal portfolio, building my wedding clientele, and establishing my name...and with a lot of consistent hard work and determination, I think things will eventually fall into line. Even if they don't right away, I'm going to keep on trying until they do. This is what I want to do and I'm going to do it!

I feel so lucky to have a career I enjoy and love come so naturally to me...I know it's really difficult for some people to find their passion; to find something that they're good at and make it into a dream job. But I do believe everyone has a talent in some form or another and there's always a way that you can use it to your advantage and find fulfillment. Sometimes it takes more time than others...but never give up! You will find your calling.

c2

By the way, I got my new business cards and they look freakin' awesome!!!