Here's to New Relationships!

Wednesday morning I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with the lovely Melody Yazdani of Melody Yazdani Photography and her sister Sarah to do a makeup and hair demonstration for potential upcoming photoshoots.  It's always a little nerve wracking, meeting with a new photographer to show them my work.  It's kind of like a second date.  We've met for coffee, liked each other, and now it's on to see if there's something here. haha.

Thankfully, it all went well, and she posted some of the photos that she took of her sister when all was said and done on Facebook.  I love the lighting of these, and the softness it gives.  Her sister looks fabulous, if I do say so myself, and the red dress looks amazing on her.  They both said they really liked my work, and I'm looking forward to shoots with her in the coming days.

Here's a quick breakdown of the look:

Skin- I airbrushed her porcelain skin, and gave her a tad bit of contouring with LORAC's Tantalizer bronzer and highlighter duo.  I had to make sure I went very sparingly with the contour shade.  Since she's so fair, I had to make sure I was giving her some definition without looking too orange.  I airbrushed a bit back over it to give it the effect of the contour shade peeking through rather than overwhelming the look.  Blush was a quick sweep of Smashbox Blush Rush in Passion very sheerly.

Eyes- I used a palette from Laura Mercier, with a soft shimmery nude all over the lid, matte medium brown in the crease- concentrating the color in a "v" on the outside corner slightly angled up to gift a lift to her slightly downturned eyes, and a shimmery bone color under the eyebrow.  Stila's eyeliner in Lionfish- an amazing shimmery chocolately brown- on the upper lashline and along the outer 2/3 of the bottom lashline.  Lashes and a good coat of Smashbox Full Exposure mascara, and the eyes were done!

Lips- I blended a cherry red lipstick with a soft pinkish nude for a natural looking flush to the lips.  Even though she was wearing a red dress, I didn't want the emphasis to be on her lipSTICK.  I wanted the emphasis to me on her beautiful full LIPS.

Hair- Before I started on her makeup, I set her hair in curls with a 1 1/4" curling iron, clipping the curls to her head to cool.  First I lightly misted some dry oil into the hair and a quick shot of brushable hairspray to give it some hold.  When I was finished, I let the hair down and finger combed the curls.  Her hair was very long, so the weight of it helped pull and soften the curls in the beautiful waves with some bend at the end.

Here are some of the photos of the end result.  What do you think?

Are you local to the Northern Virginia area?  You should really check out Melody's work!  www.MelodyYazdani.com  She offers beautiful contemporary portraits, and hopefully I'll see you sometime there!