The Journey

Magic & Glamour

It’s been three months of doing my own photography. With this latest shoot, my model Rose, plays a 70’s BIBA Girl.

The strain of the double duty of doing both the makeup, and the photography hadn’t really fully dawned on me. But it broke a personal barrier of being afraid to fail. Sometimes, if you want to learn to swim, you just gotta jump in. And jump, I did!

Why did I start doing my own photography for the blog? The last three years have been focused on finding the products that translate for the camera, and on understanding how lighting affects the makeup.

Working with Cesar was amazing. He is both great at lighting and I love the way he sees women. I couldn’t have gotten this far without our partnership.

But beauty is in the eye of beholder, and when you want to do extreme makeup, you need to find someone who will understand what you are trying to create. I couldn’t find another photographer that saw things quite exactly the way I did. Who liked the same faces I did.

If you’re curious about the BIBA look I have a in-depth video

I have to confess, I tried to coax some of the photographers I worked with, and I learned that it always ends up ruining a creative relationship. You have to respect the vision of the people you work with. If their vision doesn’t match up, then you have to find someone who does.

So I decided to take ownership of my makeup visions! I didn’t know if the pictures would be good, or what ideas would come out. I wanted to create what I saw in my head and do my own makeup experiments without having to please other people. I wanted to give myself the possibility of messing up.

Was it worth it to have headaches after each shoot, because I was getting my photography brain out of the mothballs? It was a challenge I hadn’t foreseen. Working the lens and working the model, demanded a lot of energy. I could only produce 2 looks. And adding all of the intricacies of photography as an added layer of the puzzle to figure out. But once I started, I couldn’t go back, it was just tooo fun having this freedom. Yes, it was worth it. For me.

I now see what comes naturally to me. I put the colours I want to put, and cast the models I feel inspired by. I can follow my vision. These Vogue inspired women started to appear, very glamorous and sophisticated. 

When I saw Rose’s polaroids, I just had that Biba vibe from the seventies. I saw the turban right away. I saw the seventies makeup. Rose was loving every bit of it—even the turban! Goes to show that glamour and creating characters will always be fun in front of the camera.

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Model, Rose at Dulcedo

Pastel Look:
Sephora Collection grey and purple single matte shadows.
M.A.C. Single eyeshadow in Sour Lemon
Inglot single shadow in turquoise FS Matte 372.
PUPA Milano green shadow in 602 (limited edition).
M.A.C. Paintpot in Painterly as shadow base.
Halloween glitter from the dollar store.
ASA lashes

Smoky Look
Over the pastel look I blended:
Chanel Le Stylo Yeux Waterproof in Petrole.
 Sephora Collection grey matte shadow to blend out the pencil.

Both dresses are vintage.