On Beauty Standards & Hamlet Inspired Self Portraits...

To sleep,
perchance to dream --

Sometimes, I have a hard time feeling like I need to be all these things - youthful, pretty, soft, small. While taking photos the other day, I was trying to project all of that: but after looking at the photos I wanted to cry. I began hyper focusing on the lines under my eyes, how tired I looked, how my body looked.

So I decided to hell with it - I put my hair up, smoked out my cried off eye makeup, and started taking portraits - only this time, instead of worrying about looking pretty, I decided to try to look annoyed, confident, bored, smug… Slowly, I realized I was trying to emulate a bit of a Shakespearean hero - think Romeo’s bravado or Hamlet’s weariness.

Looking at these photos, I definitely didn’t want to cry. I still saw the eye bags, all the flaws I hyper fixate on - but I also saw somebody who was confident not in spite of, but because of - and it made all the difference ♥️

Makeup Used:
For deeper shadows under the eye: grey eyeshadow
Too Faced Baby Love Blush
MAC Boldly Bare Lip Liner *
Sephora Always Red Liquid Lipstick (for the lip print)

Voilé

Happy New Year's Eve! Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. I hope your 2019 is filled with love, light, and happiness ♡ I wanted to say goodbye to 2018 with a conceptual shoot I'm actually really proud of! Sometimes I feel like there is a thin veil between myself and others — ever present and isolating. Having a hard time expressing myself, occasionally I'll feel like a ghost: always watching, never participating. I wanted to explore these emotions in a shoot, and immediately thought of using veils to literally and figuratively show feeling obscured. I also took inspiration from Victorian era† ghosts — think spirits shrouded by lace and dust — one of my favorite motifs to explore in media.

I shot these on a cold September evening with the very last rays of golden light to spotlight how the veils cast shadows on the face. Shooting these photos felt like a beautiful marriage of many of my favorite concepts and designers which that have been swirling around in my head for months: Meadham Kirchhoff, old favorite Victorian era ghost stories, and past shoots I've done with Hana Haley all served as inspiration.

This dreamy vintage Gunne Sax dress I found at House of Vintage was a perfect match for this shoot. The brand’s use of high necks, puff sleeves, and delicate frills were all borrowed motifs from Victorian fashion trends! The makeup was directly inspired by Rodarte's stunning Spring/Summer 2019 Ready-To-Wear Collection that featured Robin's Egg blue eyes, matte skin, and a deep true red matte lip *.

Here's to 2019!

† A time period heavily associated with ghosts.
* Due to the golden light, the tones of my makeup appear different then they did in person!

Face:
Photo Finish Primerizer - Smashbox *
Dream Cushion Foundation - Maybelline
Concealer - Urban Decay *
Ravishing Rose Blush - Revlon *
Quick Fix Powder Translucent - Pixi *
Ultra HD Loose Powder - Make Up For Ever *
Cherry All Nighter Setting Spray - Urban Decay *

Eyes:
Step One - Primers
24 Hour Shadow Primer - Smashbox *
Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk - NYX Cosmetics

Step Two - Shadows & Mascara
Tako - Sugarpill *
Home Sweet Home - Sugarpill *
Kim Chi - Sugarpill *
Monsieur Big Mascara - Lancome *

Lip:
Boldly Bare - MAC Lip Pencil *
Ruby Woo - MAC Lipstick

MAKEUP: Marie Antoinette

When Lancome asked me to do a makeup look inspired by a modern day Marie Antoinette I jumped at the chance! Growing up, I obsessed over Isabella Rossellini’s Lancome ads and I have been equally smitten with the latest face of Lancome, the incomparable Lupita Nyong’o! Here is the makeup look I created - another excellent last minute Halloween costume idea!

Products Used:
Hypnôse Drama Waterproof Mascara *
Auda[City] in Paris Palette *
L'Absolu Rouge Définition Lipstick in Le Carmin *
Sourcils Gel Eyebrow Gel-Cream in Blonde *
Sourcils Gel Dual End Eyebrow Brush *
Blush Subtil in Rose Paradis *

MAKEUP: Roy Lichtenstein's Crying Girl

THE WHITEPEPPER DRESS *

Decided to do makeup inspired by this youtuber's amazing version of the infamous "crying girl" illustration by Roy Lichtenstein! The perfect last minute Halloween costume - all you need is makeup and clothing that looks like it would belong in a comic book!

Here is a set by step guide to know I did it if you are curious:
To start, apply your concealer and foundation as usual. Use eyeshadow primer on your eyelids and extend to under your eyes. To create the stark lines, I used NYX Matte Black Eyeliner. I like NYX’s eyeliner for it’s small brush which enables you to do very precise work. Steady your elbow on a firm, flat surface, and start drawing a line down your nose. Outline your jawline, and two curved lines - one by your nostril and one between your eyebrows - to make it look like you are in constant distress!

Do a cateye and apply false lashes. Using a thin white eyeliner pencil, line your waterline and extend the line a bit to make your eyes appear cartoony and larger, finish by outlining it with more black eyeliner. Then, start blocking out “tears” under your eyes. I used NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk as a base/primer and to outline where I would be laying down the blue eyeshadow. After perfecting the shape of the tears with the white pencil, I carefully applied the blue shadow overtop the white. Again, outline the tears with your black eyeliner. Clean up around the tears with concealer (I used by favorite NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer) - to perfect any mistakes.

Next, I applied NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella - a dazzling, true red matte - and outlined the lips with the black eyeliner. For a finishing touch, adding a “highlight” to the lips with NYX’s white liquid liner.

Finally, I used the NYX’s Jumbo Pencil again in Milk to create the white dots on my face.

Do you have any fun plans for Halloween? I'd love to hear all about them!

Makeup: Crying Petals

LIP COLOR: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Buenos Aires EYE SHADOW BASE: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk EYESHADOW: Sugarpill's Tako *, Black Matte Eyeshadow (can't remember which!) EYELINER: NYX Liquid Black Eyeliner EYELASH GLUE: DUO Eyelash Adhesive

Just a little post sharing this self portrait I took a while ago inspired by one of my favorite ladies - Twiggy! I've been practicing a lot with cut creases - they are my favorite eyeshadow technique, and Twiggy was certainly the queen of the style in the 60s! I also glued fake flower petals on my cheeks using eyelash adhesive.

Since we moved, everything has been pretty hectic and I've felt a bit upside down. I'm hoping to get my feet firmly back on the ground soon so I can take more self portraits like these and catch up with everything! It's not a nice feeling... ♡❀

Self Portrait: As Jean Shrimpton by Bert Stern

In honor of Spring's arrival, I decided to recreate one of my all time favorite photos - Bert Stern's floral portrait of Jean Shrimpton has always stuck with me for it's sheer beauty.

I plan on doing more self portraits as some of my favorite 60s ladies! I really love taking self portraits - though I do sometimes wish I could just clone myself because it would be easier then running back and forth between the backdrop and the camera, flowers falling out of my hair as I go...!

Happy Spring!

The Inspiration: Jean Shrimpton photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1965