Round up of my fave looks from the 2011 Oscars!

Hello!

I was very excited to wake up this morning and see who was wearing what at the Oscars last night (I tried to stay up for it but couldn't quite manage it!!) but even more so to see what make-up looks they were sporting.

So this is a very indulgent posting but I thought I'd share with you a few of my fave looks, and what an array of amazing dresses there were with colours ranging from soft spring tones to darker red/purple, navy and black. I'll start with the ever beautiful Scarlett Johannson (my fave look and dress of all)...

What an amazing colour this dress was (good news as there seems to be a lot of it about at the moment)! The dark red/dark berry coloured Dolce and Gabbana dress was definitely up there as one of my faves and it was complimented with some stunning Dolce and Gabbana make-up, toning in beautifully with her dress and overall look. This look was all about the eyes, keeping the rest of the face neutral. Her make-up artist used copper and bronze hues from the D&G The Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Stromboli; Eyeliner was the Intense Eyeliner in Gold for a glittery look; Mascara - The Volumized Lashes Mascara in Black; Lips were a soft pink - The Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Candy. The Illuminator in Eva was used as a highlighter to give that gorgeous glow. She looked just stunning!

Another beautiful lady, Jennifer Lawrence, nominated for Best Actress for her role in Winter’s Bone, worked the hot Oscars trend of red and looked fab! Her make-up was just wow too - in particular her eyes. I don't know the full breakdown of which make-up items were used, but her MUA was from Avon and her eye make-up was created from the Avon Blushing Raisins Eyeshadow Quad. She wore an intense smokey eye, with lashings of mascara and black eyeliner. The rest of her face was kept neutral with bronze tones and a soft natural lip gloss.

Hailee Steinfeld's look is another of my absolute favourites! Adorable Hailee is only 14 and was nominated for best supporting actress for her role in True Grit. Her fresh look is just gorgeous for a girl of her age giving her a real Prom Queen look. Her headband looks fab with her up-do and amazing dress which helps to give her a young and graceful look. The inspiration for her high, chunky bun was for her to look one part Audrey Hepburn, one part ballerina! Inspired! Her make-up was very minimalist with a soft blush on the apples of her cheeks, a flicker of mascara and soft pink lips. A great look for any young ladies out there with a prom to go to ;o)

 

The beautiful Black Swan star Mila Kunis looked gorgeous in her Elie Saab gown on the red carpet. Inspiration for her make-up look came directly from her bold,yet feminine lilac gown. Rather than using the same eye make-up tones, contrasting coral and bronze tones complimented her look perfectly.  Kohl black eyeliner and waterproof mascara finished off her look. On her face, her Lancome make-up artist used Lancome Teint Miracle Lit-from-Within Foundation, Lancome Blush Subtil in Sheer Amourose, on her eyes - Lancome Color Design 5 Pan Palette in Coral Crush, Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow in Impress, Lancome Le Crayon Khôl EyeLiner in Black, Lancome Hypnôse Waterproof Custom Volume Mascara in Black. And finally, on her lips - Lancome Color Fever Gloss in Blazing Pink, Lancome La Laque Fever Lipshine in Lucent Nude. Phew - a whole lot of Lancome!

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A heavily pregnant Natalie Portman, Best Actress winner for her role in Black Swan, looked her usual radiant and stunning self. Her beautiful empire-waisted, off-the-shoulder violet Rodarte gown was the inspiration for her make-up look of lovely purple tones.

Her make-up was by Dior and her make up artist used the following products: On her skin - Dior Capture Totale One Essential, Diorskin Nude Natural Glow Foundation #020 and #030, Diorskin Nude Hydrating Concealer #002, DiorBlush in Peechy Keen #553; On her eyes - Dior 1-Colour Eyeshadow in #546 Gold Touch, Dior 2-Colour Eyeshadow in Purple Look #885, Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Extase Pinks #804, Diorshow Waterproof Mascara in Black, Diorshow Iconic Mascara in Navy Blue. And on her lips... Dior Addict Lipstick #623 Infamous Pink, Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss in Apricot Cloche #436. Wow a lot of Dior - it's true that the more natural the look the more products you need!

It was very bohemian in style, whilst keeping it soft, romantic and feminine...

Wowee, that's it for another year... or at least until the next high profile celeb event! I just love the Oscars and it's great to see so many different looks and to find out what different products they've used too. Obviously, like bridal make-up, make-up for an event like this has to have staying power so I'm always trying new products to give my brides the best possible look they can possibly have!

Hope you've enjoyed reading this and looking at the pretty ladies and frocks too!

Love
Emma x

Video highlights from the Mitton Hall Wedding Supper Club

Hello!

Lovely sunny (but cold!) day here in Manchester... could that be Spring on its way?

Just a short post for today to showcase the stunning video from the Mitton Hall Wedding Supper Club created by the fabulous Tom Harrington from Silk Wedding Videos. I don't need to say anymore as it tells its own story (see previous post for more details if you haven't already seen it)!


Check this out...

Wedding Supper Club - Mitton Hall Video from silk wedding videos on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
Love Emma xo

Mitton Hall Wedding Supper Club

Hello!

Wow what a fantastic weekend it's been, I'm only just getting over it! Not only was I lucky enough to be involved in the fantastic Charlotte Balbier designer weekend in my role as bridal stylist at The White Closet, but I was also involved as make-up artist at the Wedding Supper Club at the amazing wedding venue, Mitton Hall on Sunday evening. Well, what an evening it was, and it was great to be amongst such great company with the best suppliers in the business. The evening was hosted by Jason Thompson from Flower Design and Jonny Draper from Jonny Draper Photography.

Flower Design produced the most breathtaking floral displays as always. Check these out...

Wowee!

Mitton Hall provided the most amazing array of food

Howard Wing provided the evenings entertainment and sang his heart out, creating a fantastic atmosphere amongst the guests. They were even up on the chairs by the end of the evening!

Tom at Silk Wedding Videos filmed the full evenings events too - really looking forward to seeing it Tom!

The lovely Sheree from One and Only Bridal Couture brought two stunning gowns for our models to show off - the glamorous Eden by Jenny Packham and what can only be described as wow... the Flowerbomb by Ian Stuart. A big dress with serious attitude! I do appreciate a good wedding gown and these truly were up there with the best I have ever seen. Just stunning.

Now, on to the make-up! Our two gorgeous models for the evening were the lovely Olivia and Sarah, who were such fun to work with. I worked with Olivia on a shoot recently and was very excited to work with her again. I can't take the credit for their natural beauty of course but hopefully you'll like their make-up and agree that I simply made them a more polished version of their natural beautiful selves - my ultimate tip for any bride!

It was important for Sarah's look that I captured the 1920's glamour that her Jenny Packham dress oozes.  It's a beautiful, delicate, vintage dress so I needed to keep this in mind. I would always recommend that when a bride is deciding on her make-up look for the big day, they should consider their dress style and ensure that their make-up compliments it. I wanted to create a contemporary twist on a 20's look, so after giving her a smooth creamy foundation base,  I used a blend of soft peachy champagne and taupe eyeshadow tones which have a slight shimmer to really open up the eyes.  I lined her eyes with a gel liner to give them definition. Soft pink tones on the apple of her cheeks and golden bronze contouring under the cheekbones to give them definition. This was topped off with a slightly deepened pink lip colour with a glossy finish. A classic bridal look with a sexy twist.

The definite wow factor of Olivia's Ian Stuart gown meant that I had a lot to live up to! This dress has a vintage shabby chic feel to it but is very theatrical at the same time. For Olivia's look, the taupe colour of the dress led me to choose a shimmery champagne gold and deepened olive and taupe eyeshadow colours to create a smokey eye. Black gel eyeliner for definition and soft nude blusher with a hint of pink on the apples of her cheeks, contouring once again with a golden bronze. I then used a brighter coral lipstick with a touch of gloss to add a bit of drama.

Doesn't their hair look great too - we have Sheree to thank for stepping in to do this - just another of her many hidden talents!

Big thanks Olivia and Sarah - can't wait to work with you both again soon! Oh and I mustn't forget to mention the 2 gorgeous "grooms" Ben (from Rowley's Catering) and Daniel. They looked fab and looked after our lovely brides very well indeed.
 
Sheree and I after our work was done (and we'd got down from dancing on our chairs)!

Last but not least, wedding photographer (and my lovely husband) Jonny Draper took some amazing photos during the evening. Thanks Jonny for all the pics you took of the models that I've included here - they're ace!  He even did a little sing-song with Howard... not what he would usually do at a wedding but if you asked him nicely I'm sure he might ;o)

Well, I'm all excited again just re-living it - can't wait for the next one!
xo

Occasion make-over for the lovely Lisa!

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to do the make-up for the beautiful Lisa Johnson who was off out for a family birthday meal. Lisa wanted a natural look but a slightly heavier eye colour than she would usually wear. As she has green eyes, I suggested warm green/gold tones to enhance her eye colour. I used MAC eyeshadows in Sumptuous Olive and Woodwinked (which has a lovely touch of a sheen to it too).

For her foundation base I used Estee Lauder Double Wear Light which gives a great coverage but still maintains a natural, flawless look.  To add a little colour to her cheeks I used MAC blusher in Blushbaby and MAC bronzer in Golden to contour her cheekbones. MAC Cremesheen lipstick in Ravishing, topped with Plushglass in Ample Pink completed the look. Where the eye make-up is heavier, it always advisable to stick to a more neutral lip colour like this.

I had a great time doing Lisa's make-up - she really was a pleasure to work with. Hope you had a great night out Lisa! xo

Video recap of The Great Hall At Mains and Twelve shoot

So in my very first post, I showed you a variety of images by Jonny Draper of the shoot at The Great Hall At Mains and Twelve restaurant. Now, I would also like to share with you this amazing video masterpiece which the super talented Tom Harrington at Silk Wedding Videos created (oh and you'll see me in action too!)

Check this out...

Bridal Photoshoot at Twelve Restaurant and The Great Hall at Mains. from silk wedding videos on Vimeo.

Love
Emma x

Family shoot in the Rossendale countryside

Well, what a great time I had on a lovely family shoot in Bacup, Lancashire with Liz, Dave, Jack and Amber Mae. The shoot was to celebrate the recent arrival of baby Amber Mae into the family and the location was on a walk near their Bacup home on a beautiful Sunday morning.

A lady always likes to look her best... so Liz had asked me to come along to do a natural, low-key make-up for the shoot. And what an honour it was - I had a great time and really felt like part of the family. It was a shame when it was all over!

For Liz's make-up I used Bobbi Brown skin foundation and creamy concealer, Clinique loose powder in Translucent Invisible and a little MAC Matte Bronze. On her eyes I used Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Bone with a little MAC Satin Taupe along the lashline and in the socket for definition, finishing off with Diorshow Iconic black mascara. For a nice rosy colour on the cheeks I used Bobbi Brown in Tawny. On her lips I used Bobbi Brown Pot rouge in Cabo Coral with a little Dior Addict ultra gloss in 257 for a bit of understated glamour.

Liz was such a pleasure to work with and she has such a wonderful, happy family - it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with them all! Can't wait to do it again sometime ;o)

xx

My first blog post!

Wow! My very first blog post - how exciting! I've been dying to share my work for a while now but it's a been a hectic few months to say the least. I couldn't wait any longer... so here it is. Enjoy!

Back in October 2010 I had the opportunity to do the make-up for a one-off amazing bridal fashion shoot on the Fylde Coast at two fantastic venues, The Great Hall at Mains in Little Singleton, and Twelve Restaurant in Thornton.

Organised by outstanding wedding photographer Jonny Draper (who is coincidentally my lovely husband!), the idea for the shoot was for a group of talented photographers to capture photography of some amazing venues, floristry and dresses in collaboration with some of the best suppliers in the industry. This included Jane and Jason from the stunning Flower Design, Nikki from the beautiful vintage inspired bridal boutique The White Closet in West Didsbury, and Tom the super talented videographer from Silk Wedding Videos. Last but not least, Olivia, Emily and Amy were our beautiful and very patient models on the day!

What I loved about doing the make-up on this shoot was that I was able to create a different look for each model and adapt it for each dress that they were wearing. All gowns were provided by Nikki at The White Closet including designs from Charlotte Balbier, Claire Pettibone and David Fielden. Here are just some of Jonny Draper's fantastic shots capturing the day.

Olivia is wearing Charlotte Balbier's "Marilyn", a gorgeous vintage dress which is so very SATC Carrie that a stronger make-up look worked really well. I created strong smokey eyes and finished off the look with a hot pink MAC lipstick in Impassioned.

This look also worked well for Olivia wearing the adorable "Morgan" by Charlotte Balbier.

Emily's glamorous art deco gown by David Fielden is dubbed the "Wallis Simpson". She also wore a fabulous Flo and Percy hair accessory which was a perfect addition to the dress. With the make-up, I really wanted to encapsulate this era and give a really sophisticated and glamorous look using a smokey eye balanced with a nude Dior Addict lip gloss in 257.

Amy's David Fielden dress was more contemporary in style so I gave her a fresh look with soft neutral eyeshadow tones and used MAC lipglass in Pink Poodle to complement the pink in her beautiful bouquet.

Another stunningly spectacular gown provided by The White Closet was this David Fielden mint green gown complete with glamorous jacket. Soft pink lips in Lancome's Lychee juicy tube and a natural smokey eye completed this look.

Can I just say how amazing these flowers are?! I've never seen floristry quite like it - Jane from Flower Design really pushes the flower boundaries and never disappoints. She did my wedding flowers 3 years ago too and my friends still comment on them now! Here's some pics Jane also took of me in action and of my work on the day...

More shots coming soon from this shoot from the other talented photographers who took part in the shoot, plus an amazing video courtesy of Tom at Silk Wedding Videos! Not to mention more make-up looks I've created and lots of marvellous make-up tips!

Until next time...

Emma x