Creative director and makeup artist, I suppose.

          My sheer pushiness of wanting to do styled shoots has led me to a role of creative director for 2  group shoots. Who knows if it was all those years ago, under the covers with my Vogue magazine or watching Field of Dreams, but you know, I have been "building it" and they have been coming.

         The most recent shoot involved 3 photographers (HB Photography- Heather Beaver, Shelley Kilgore Photography, and Jessica Miller Photography), 2 hair stylists (Beth Seitz of Cut Color Style Salon and also host of the shoot, and Jennifer King of Salon Lofts), a fashion blogger/model (Katya of Thechemodan blog, who is a fabulous Ohio via Russia girl that will shop her closet, accessible mall stores, and thrift stores, then alter the clothing into something completely new), 2 makeup artists (me and Kerry Smith from Full Face Artistry), last but not least was the local jewelry designer Kate Stevens from Red Giraffe Designs. She lent us a bevvy of beautiful and handcrafted jewelry for us to showcase with all 6 of the outfits. We wanted to keep the headcount controlled this time and chose to only shoot 3 models: Katya the blogger, Rose Waters-Burch-Blanket-Michael-Jackson (hahaha) who is my awesome intern (she also helped us style the shoot!), and Tia P (who is a friend of Shelley Kilgore, photographer). Katya, Rose and I put together 6 outfits to represent "Fall 2013": Vivid color mixed with midi length leather skirt and Casino inspired 60's look for Tia, hard/soft look of lace with oversized blazer and boyfriend jean/street style look on Rose, mismatched colorful prints in a leisure suit (you can only see this in a couple pics because it was HOT for a leisure suit!) and textured bright jacket paired with black/white for Katya. Once the pics were shot, some of the outfits became a t-shirt and a face, but ultimately- how many magazines shoot the celebs in a gown and you only see their shoulders?!

The most interesting thing was getting to see how each look was represented differently by each photographer. We had each photog shoot each look. It helps show their point of view and in simplest terms Heather (HB Photography) is editorial, Shelley is a lifestyle photographer (she did my new headshots that I love!), and Jessica is a photojournalistic style. But within those POV's I think each of them brought something worthwhile and unique.

Katya's best shots (in my opinion):
credit HB Photography for first photo- ready for her closeup :) Loving this shot and how strong it showcases the brows and jewelry.

 Credit to Jessica Miller Photography for the next 2 pictures. The top pic really shows off the Leisure Suit and outfit Katya made, the 2nd one shows off Kerry's beautiful eye makeup, those earrings, and Katya's stunning eyes.

Credit to Shelley Kilgore Photography for the next 2 photos. I'm loving her complexion in the top pic (again and those brows and eyes!!) and the ridiculously awesome outfit showcased in the 2nd pic.

The next 3 are Tia's best shots. The first 2 are credited to Jessica Miller Photography. I love how she looks all forlorn/serious in the first one. It reminds me of Lana Del Rey. The 2nd one caught her in a smile and shows off the cute earrings.

 Shelley Kilgore gets credit for the next pic of Tia. This shot is my favorite as it shows her makeup, the jewelry, and outfit all really well.

Rose has the MOST perfect skin I've ever seen, so while I'd love to take credit for it...or give it to the photographers- she is simply baby's butt smooth and even. The first 2 pics are from Jessica Miller Photography and have a little girl lost vibe. And that ivy backdrop in the first one is so stunning against the red in her jacket and makeup. Kerry Smith gets credit for the awesome white makeup in the 2nd look!!

This pic is my favorite pic of the makeup I did on Rose, courtesy of Shelley Kilgore Photography. FLAWLESS! And Jennifer King did something totally different with Rose's hair than I had envisioned on the 2nd look and it's so perfect for that innocent girly look we went for. Kerry, Jennifer and Shelley's pic together on the 2nd look is one of my favorites from the shoot.

 And the last look was from Heather. Rose was totally uncomfortable in the studio setting and while she looks beautiful, there is an obvious discomfort that comes through. Cool to see the difference each photographer captured from these models though, isn't it??!!

THANK YOU so much to the awesomely talented collaborators/artists!! Katya and Rose in particular put a lot of effort into this shoot with me and I cannot thank Beth enough for the use of her salon and beautiful job on hair, of course. Big thanks to all 3 photographers: Shelley, Jessica and Heather, Kerry for being a great co-makeup artist, Jennifer King for knocking it outta the park, Kate for all of her lovely pieces of jewelry and curating the looks on set (who does that?!), Tia for jumping into the outfits and making like a model, and all of you for taking the time to read this.
Until next time....

What a difference lighting makes...

A June bride just sent me pictures from her photographer and from her iphone. Keep in mind, these are on the same day. Some are inside and some are outside, true. Also, some are pro and some are phone pics, of course. I just love to see the variety of lighting and how it affects the makeup- not better or worse, actually. It's just different: Her face looks shades lighter outside and inside it looks like a medium beige. Barefoot Studio did a lovely job capturing the June Garden intimate wedding vibe.

You can't even tell she has on makeup outside, yet she looks flawless and inside you can see her eye makeup detail. And silly face.
And just for kicks, with blotting sheets: Gotta love someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously.

Editorial credit

This Spring I had the pleasure of doing a shoot with Muscle and Fitness magazine, who chose to do several of their stories for the magazine's July/Aug issue in Columbus, Ohio. Nationally distributed magazines tend to shoot several months ahead of time, so I was thrilled to finally get my hands on a copy today! My credit for makeup was SO small that I had to flip through several times before finding it in the binding on a couple different spots.
Here are some of the other pictures from the shoot:

And there are 2 other photo stories to come, (I guess) as they weren't in this issue. To be continued...;)

New service- Schedule now for July.

State of Face Makeup Artistry will begin to stock high-end foundations, concealers and foundation brushes. There has been an on-going need for me to bring my clients to the store to purchase new foundations and so many people do not know where to start.

Start at the State of Face studio and go no further! Come to my downtown in-home studio for an appointment. It will be just 20 minutes where I color match your foundation and concealer, show you how to apply it and provide you with a full-sized high end foundation, concealer and foundation brush. The full service will cost just $75. Return foundation clients will just pay $45 for the same products and I will match you again, in case your color changes. This will save you loads of money on products that just don't match, don't last, don't work or you simply don't like. Plus, you'll learn a couple good tips for application and look great every day.

We will also begin to stock waterproof eyeliner, some basic shadow palettes, bb cream, sponges, makeup remover, cleanser and some basic skincare.

Book now at stateofface@gmail.com for weekday or evening appointments now. Starting July 1st.

20 signs you are a beauty junkie

I saw one of these posts for "wellness junkie" and thought...hmmmm, it may be time for a beauty one to be done. Feel free to leave other signs in your comments! Also, share this with people you think it may apply to :) We need to support each other.
Without further ado:

20 signs you're a beauty junkie:

1. You have temptalia.com on your computer favorites
2. You keep foundations even when they're the wrong color, because you have one that would combine with it to make the perfect color.
3. You can't believe that Shu Uemura's lash curler isn't sold in the US anymore.
4. Make friends with people who live overseas (or want to) just to try out their product lines.
5. Know what “holo” “NC” “dupe” “217” and “psi” stands for and have opinions about all of them.
6. Are either a mac devotee/exclusive or are adamant that they lost their way when Lauder bought them out (15 years ago!).
7. Wish you could use a concealer just because you like the coverage and formula and not have to account for flashback. 
8. Have either jumped on the beauty blender bandwagon, the duo fiber brush application technique (stippling) or like to buff on your foundation with a Real Techniques brush. And sometimes, when you're in a rush, you feel like you can channel Lisa Eldridge and just put it on with your fingers and make it look perfect.
9. Don't understand people who have only one blush, one lipstick, one foundation. And "use up" a product before getting another.
10. Understand the difference between glitter, shimmer, satin, frost, shine, matte, and an overspray.
11. Look up to a brow guru.
12. Can justify the purchase of a $34 cream eyeshadow because it doubles as a shadow base, which is a completely different product. But you also know that elf makes a dupe for $3 and it often goes on sale for $1.50.
13. Get really excited when a company is launching colors that look like “you”, which really means that you already own 100 just like it.
14. Try editorial looks on yourself just for fun. Instead of going out.
15. “Can you do my makeup?” A question you have heard from every single one of your friends at one time or another. Even the ones who said “I'm not really into makeup” when you first met them.
16. Refresh Hautelook.com at 11am EST/8 PST when brands you like are going to be on it.
17. Will sometimes fall asleep watching QVC or HSN because they had some good brands on....it lulled you to sleep so sweetly.
18. Have a running list of things you want to pick up beauty-wise at all times, in case you happen to go to Sephora, Ulta, or a drugstore.
19. Belong to several beauty subscription services. Keep trying new ones.
20. A “no makeup” look still has filled-in eyebrows.   

bb, cc, dd...and so on.

By now you've probably heard about bb creams. Otherwise known as beauty balm or blemish balm, they give medium coverage generally, moisturize, prime/smooth, and protect from the sun. Some of the them have healing ingredients, anti-ager ingredients and more. To piggyback on that craze, some companies are now creating "cc creams", otherwise known as color correcting creams. These clearly gimmicky creams have very sheer coverage and are intended to even out the skin only a bit while working on lightening spots and such. Now there are also dd creams, dd concealers and more. I guess dd stands for deliberate duplicate. Har har, "they" say it stands for dynamic do-all (via Julep, a mostly nail brand that has launched this product).

I'm open to trying it all, but who can keep up? I have tried a handful of bb creams and here is my take thus far:
1. Lioele Triple the Solution: This is truly a balm. It is quite heavy and gives full coverage, however, it's only one color- SUPER pale. If you're super pale and want a lot of coverage, go for it. I have had good luck mixing a TINY bit with a darker foundation. It gives great sun protections, covers ALL evils and evens out the skin nicely. Find it here at http://www.amazon.com/Lioele-Triple-Solution-Cream-SPF30/dp/B00356UHT0
2. Skin 79: I thought that I got a bad pump on mine until I tried for the 40th time and something came out. This was an ebay purchase and I have suspicions that it was a knockoff brand. Very light coverage, not very balmy. I may try it again in summer to see if I like it better...but as of now not recommending it.
3. Stila bb cream: This is more of a face cream meets a tinted moisturizer. Its about the same coverage as a sheer tinted moisturizer, but it's creamier. But my skin felt great with it on. It has similar ingredients to most primers, so this would work for combo or normal to dry skins. I've started using it in my kit to prime drier skins for airbrushing as it gives such a flawless canvas. It's pretty light coverage, but perfect for someone who is low maintenance by itself. And the color seems to match everyone I've used it on so far. To be fair though, I have not used it on a dark skintone. Find it at the State of Face Studio now!! I liked it so much that I started to stock it!
4. Rimmel light bb cream: This feels just like a sunscreen and smells like it too. The coverage is medium and the weight is a bit heavy, but for summertime I am liking it a lot. The color selection is decent (4 shades) and it feels like it helps my makeup stay on as well. But for those who don't want or need fuller coverage, you could definitely wear this solo. And at about $7, what's to stop you?
5. Dr.Lewinn by Kinerase bb cream: It has a very primer-like feel, yet not too slippery or heavy. Gives more coverage than a tinted moisturizer and is more balmy in texture too. It feels similar to the Stila BB Cream. The color is supposed to be universal, but seems like it would be best for light, medium and possibly tan skin. If you are ivory or dark, you may be out of the range. In that case, try the lightest or darkest shades from the Rimmel bb cream. I really like this one and carry it in my kit too!
6. Olay cc cream- I find it to be more like a moisturizer that is a bit gel-like. The coverage is super sheer, so it's only enough for me to run errands. It may lighten up spots, there is nothing noticeable happening with them.
7. L'oreal magic skin beautifier- This comes in 4 shades and is definitely more of a light tinted moisturizer than a beauty balm. There's no balmy texture. It's actually a lotion with beads of color suspended in it. I actually like it for combo skin as a light moisturizer to prep it for makeup. So...you guessed it: I carry this in my kit too :)

And if I try a DD cream, I will post something about it too.

This summer try something that will make your life easier. Whether it's a bb cream, lash extensions, or cutting all your hair off- you'll feel free of the extra steps and enjoy your time at the pool, patio, beach, or air-conditioned home.
I cut my hair off this week and I absolutely LOVE it. I do feel a little bit like Justin Beiber since there's a deep part and bangs are swinging in the eyes. :)
Happy Summer, my favorite season....

No jinx

It seemed like every time I got really excited about a booking in the past, I would post a facebook announcement of said booking and then it would cancel. It's the nature of work as a makeup artist that a lot of film, tv, commercial, industry work gets postponed, cancelled or otherwise changed. After learning my lesson, I hinted in my last post about some up and coming projects, but didn't want to jinx it :) Now that it is after the fact, I can post that I was hired to do the cover of a national fitness magazine (first national cover!). Look for Muscle and Fitness Hers June/July issue soon on newsstands. I haven't seen the end product yet myself. I also shot 2 workout stories and a "Real Housewives of Columbus" story with 4 local fitness models. They are an affiliate of Shape magazine. All of them were very gracious, humble and kind to work with and I would gladly shoot with any of them again.
The other job I didn't want to jinx was shooting my first national television program/reality show for HGTV. It's called "Raise a Roof: OSU vs Michigan". I did the host Anitra Mecadon's makeup and hair (eek!) for the entire show while she supervised/coached a team of  local volunteers as they redid a playroom/family room for a single Mom and her kids. That is supposed to air sometime in June. I just show up and try to make people look good :)
And lastly, I have been doing a ton of work for photographers lately too. I have had the pleasure of shooting with Shelley Kilgore several times now. She is an up and coming local photographer who loves working with raw backgrounds, and manipulating the lighting. I love the way you can see the detail of the makeup on her pictures. Plus, I have had still been shooting a lot of senior portraits for Elizabeth Sethi photography. I love how she shoots outside in natural lighting, works with a fashion stylist for every shoot- (so the girls don't look cheesy!). And also- I continue to collaborate and get hired on as the artist/stylist for many other photographers. Here are some recent pics:

Jessica Miller Photography

Jessica Miller Photography

Jessica Miller Photography

Shelley Kilgore Photography

Shelley Kilgore Photography

Gwen Capistran DeAngulo photo

Elizabath Sethi Photography

Elizabeth Sethi Photography

Picture the Love Photography (Kim Rottmayer)

Shelley Kilgore Photography

Elizabeth Sethi Photography

Winter weddings, upcoming projects

Hello blog followers, future clients, friends, etc!
This winter and spring I've seen a shift towards booking non-traditional days. I have my first-ever Wednesday wedding this March (3/13/13, anniversary of day they met too), lots of Fridays and Sundays (like a LOT), and more winter weddings than ever. In December I had 4 weddings, January there were 3, and February has brought 2. Also non-wedding work for me has been all over the place: many boudoir sessions/marathons, a TON of trials for future brides, lessons for people who want some new ideas or have no idea :), makeup for a news appearance, makeup (and light hair) for a black tie event, and some really fun things coming up soon.
Sometimes when we get a niche in an industry, it can render us doing similar things a lot. And I LOVE that niche and I really love doing sweet and saucy wedding looks. I also want to stay fresh as an artist, to inspire coming trends and be inspired by changes in fashion and launches in products. To keep on top of this, we have to push ourselves WAY out of our comfort zone. So I decided to put together a group photo shoot with a couple photographers, a fashion stylist, a couple hair stylists and a few makeup artists to push us all out of our comfort zone (we are all wedding specialists, except for the fashion stylist). I am so excited to get some new pictures that will hopefully look like they are more runway inspired than aisle inspired. Stay tuned for that.
In other upcoming projects, I will be shooting my first national magazine spread and cover this coming week for Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine. You never know what every day brings when you get hired for this type of job and that's what keeps it exciting...a little bit scary and will always keep me on my toes. The one thing you leave out of your kit that day will absolutely be the one thing you need the most. And of course you end up using about 6 products out of your several kits that you bring...such an adventure. Those pics will come in a few months.
Also this winter I have had the pleasure of getting to be close friends with 2 fellow artists in town (and another artist I have already been close with- in case she's reading this!). It's awesome to relate on such a specific level to really wonderful women- and let's just say that we happen to be a tongue-in-cheek lot, as many artists tend to be. On that note, my friend and colleague Kelli Ramey (hello!) has gotten me involved recently in Dress for Success. We will begin to do weekly classes with the consumers soon. Kelli did an AMAZING job collecting a TON of products for them and today we spent a couple hours organizing (for those who have worked with me, you know my penchant for a label maker) the bags and bags of donations. Giving back and making people feel wonderful about themselves and also the way they look (of course) is what inspires me to keep doing this.
This isn't makeup related at all, but the other charity I have been an active member of for 4 years is Harmony Project: www.harmonyproject.com. We raise money for the community, give our time to help improve it, and sing to inspire others to do the same (and it's fun music too, not traditional choir music AT ALL). We will be performing at the Southern Theatre in mid-May. I would love for you to come and see/hear what we do. I promise you will not be disappointed! Tickets always sell out though, so buy them as soon as they go on sale.
And now, I leave you with a couple pics of the beautiful winter brides I had the pleasure of doing makeup on:

Pinterest, facebook, and theknot (oh my!)

I know this blog has been lacking in content in the last year or so. With the popularity of pinterest, the ease of facebook and now the unlimited photo uploads of theknot (and weddingwire), I have so many sights to keep up with. I'd love it if you would follow me on these pages and get the latest.

My pinterest handle is joyheartshearts. (Joy Macke)

The facebook page is State of Face Makeup Artistry or : http://www.facebook.com/pages/State-of-Face-Makeup-Artistry/118917978154624?fref=ts

And I'm listed on weddingchannel.com and theknot.com under beauty and weddingwire.com under makeup and hair.

I still plan to blog....just not as frequently as before. See you on all the other sights!