Hello everyone! My weekend has started off to be a wonderful, relaxing time spent with family and, of course, my loving husband. We just celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary yesterday (June 21st) and I can't believe it's already been this long that we have loved and supported each other through every up and down, which have been plentiful yet bearable since I get to share the laughter and tears with my best friend.

In lieu of traditional anniversary presents, we thought it would be an incredible experience to have wedding photos taken while we visited Korea since Koreans really know how to compose breathtaking couples pictures. It's a big deal there so I knew it would be the best souvenir we could take home with us.

Click below to see additional shots from the photoshoot!

Hey everyone! As you may have picked up from reading my blog, I really love to share my love for makeup and beauty. This can only mean that one of my favorite things to do is express, express, express myself in multiple facets! I'm so blessed to have some amazingly talented friends to have fun together with, so I wanted to share some of those moments with you. ^.^

A couple of months ago my good friend Kassia, who happens to be an incredible photographer, invited me to come along to her photographer friend Kelley's house to have a just-for-fun shoot. I brought some of my kit and the two talented women brought their weapons of choice (camera, a balloon, jewelry, etc.)

Here's some behind the scenes video that Kassia caught of me applying makeup on Kelley and some of Kelley's gorgeous shots:


And I did my own makeup of course too! It was a pinky-brown look with extra-long winged liner, one of my favorite "natural but popping" looks. The weather was just ridiculously nice and Kelley lives out in the country with acres of land so they caught an incredible sunset that gave everything this heavenly warmth.

Here are a few shots that Kassia took of me.


And some that Kelley took. Can you see a difference in their styles? I think it's fascinating! Love it! :)


And one of the incomparably beautiful Kelley. She's actually currently offering a special deal on mini-shoots for $250/30 minutes of shooting and 15 edited images on a cd for you to print. Contact kelley@kelley-photo.com for more details. :)


For kicks, they also took some old school polaroids. I just adore how authentic these look. Somehow they seem more like you are actually catching reality off guard. Its innate imperfections make it that much more beautiful.


I know it was SO many photos but with these two amazing, friendly, professional photographer friends, everything was just a blast and I am constantly reminiscing about the experience. ^.^ Nothing like good memories caught on film to brighten your day. Thank you so much Kassia and Kelley! You two shine like bright beacons in a world where everyone with a camera thinks they are a master photographer. You don't take pictures, you create art and I will always be in awe of your talent and inner beauty as well.

Hope you could feel transported along with me to our vision of sunshine, giant balloons, yellow grass, brown boots, and smiles. :)

Blegh, been feeling the worst of this whole sickness these last couple of days. Migraines, fevers, chills, coughing... Maybe I'm sick with more than 1 thing since I'm actually on antibiotics now! I don't know but I've been incredibly fatigued which I think always happens to me when I start taking antibiotics. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

I was trying to "sweat out" the fever this morning, which I think did help me feel better. I hate the feeling of sweating but it did seem to break the fever. Hubby didn't grow up with that method, so I wonder if it's just an Asian thing. :P

Anyway, thought I would quickly post some photos up from that photoshoot I was talking about when I did the camera comparison post.

The photog was the same guy who took my Vintage Planes shoot so he called me up to just do something random and fun. I put together this outfit on a whim. It reminds me of school uniforms with a dark twist and I think it contrasted nicely with the beautiful fall leaves.


Outfit:
grey tank top - Abercrombie, white beaded skirt - Abercrombie kids, cotton blazer - BB Dakota, skinny tie - Penguin, garter belt - DKNY, stockings - ebay, boots - Alice + Olivia for Payless

Oh, and I wanted to mention. Thank you so much for all of your support while I've been sick in comments and on twitter! I can feel the love and care and I really appreciate it. <3

I'm gonna take another nap now. I am resting guys, I promise!

As promised, here are some of the photos from the photoshoot I had with my amazingly talented photographer friend, Kassia. She is the same photographer who took my wedding pictures and I absolutely adore her as a person too. ^^ We decided to just hang out for a day and get some interesting makeup headshots so I only wore one simple outfit: plain black tube top and floral skirt, and I also had my leather jacket.

After feeling like blogger seriously pixellates my photos, I have decided to upload my pics from this post to photobucket to do her photography justice. I profusely apologize for watermarking all over her work, and in respect to her, please do not take or use any of these photos without her and my permission. ;)

We started off with basic beauty shots. Very natural makeup, no jewelry, no fixing hair. For this look I used MAC Studio Sculpt foundation in NC30 and model 21 lashes in style #21 (my FAV boxed lashes! so natural!).



Without changing too much, we developed a totally new look by adding Kassia's red L'Oreal lipstick. I also lined my waterline with a nude pink to brighten the eyes.





Then we decided to totally amp up the look with a Japanese girly-punk concept. Since we originally were just intending to do headshots, it was completely spontaneous but I think it came together well! This is probably one of my favorite photoshoot series' that I've ever done. I added a hot pink clip-in hair extension and curled my hair (see Japanese Hair Curling Tutorial). For the eyes, I used my Ben Nye Grande Lumiere Palette for a rainbow-look and added extra black eyeliner especially to the inner corners of the eyes for a cat-eye effect. Lips were NYX Round lipstick in Power, my favorite nude-lavender lippy.










Kassia, thank you so much for your grace and talent while you work! I had so much fun getting lunch and bubble tea, then shooting with you. What a great day! I can't wait until next time. :D

xoxo

Like I promised, here are some photos from when I did the vintage red-lipped makeup. We had the opportunity to go to this really interesting airplane museum and got some fabulous shots by the fantastic scenery.

Thank you so much Anthony for a wonderful shooting experience! You are a massively talented photographer. :)

Anthony has experience in film and it shows in his work. Doesn't his work look like it's from a movie? There's a story-telling quality to his photos that I think is really beautiful. I hope you guys enjoy seeing these photos as much as I had fun getting them taken!



A collage the photographer put together.



One of the vintage airplanes.


Old waiting-area seats.


Pearl Harbor, anyone?


I would make one fancy flight attendant.



Hope everyone has a fun Memorial Day weekend!

XOXO

Just wanted to share some of the photos from a shoot I did with the "Dolly-Eyed" look. We had this crazy innocent-but-a-little-off concept. A little moody, a little Japanese horror film style. Hair, makeup, and styling was all me. :)




Thank you Drew for an awesome shoot and incredible photos! You were so great to work with. I need to work with more ladies like you!

Before I get into everything can I just say the weather continues to be ridiculous? It was 85F yesterday. There was snow on the ground the day before. Today was in the 70s and there is supposed to be a sleety mess by tomorrow again. God, what makest thou so bored? D:

Aaaaaaaanyway, onto the post!

One fall-back look that I still always always go to is a neutral coppery-brown eye. I know I've promoted this a billion times but it is still my all-time favorite eye shadow set: Revlon Colorstay 12-Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Copper Spice.


As many times as I have attempted to dupe the fabulously perfect copper color (third down) from a higher-end brand, I cannot, and frankly I'm not sure I should considering this one works so well. The pigmentation and wear is fantastic. The colors are just perfect. I can't help it, but I'm always disappointed when I try new browns (or coppers, tins, reds, etc) because they just never live up to this one!

Here's the lowdown for the look. Copper spice (pretty much all 4 colors used) for the eyeshadow, shisem falsies, a bit of white shadow for tear ducts. Just clean and simple.

A close-up...



By the way, that fabulous zipper-flower pin was a DIY from one of my besties, Hannah. I pretty much flipped out when I got it in the mail. How amazing is that?!