Welcome to Skyla Arts!

Skyla Arts by Elizabeth Chang is serving the Bay Area and strives to provide makeup and photography that satisfies the client 100%!

For initial consultation and appointments, please email liz@skyla-arts.com or call 323-346-7599 between the hours of 9:00am-5:00pm.

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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Thumbnails from Photoshoot with Yifei Gu



These are the amazing thumbnails from the shoot with photographer Gu Yifei, Stylist Michelle Tan, and beautiful models, Radilina and Marita. Yifei is still busy editing or working on something, but not to worry, I will post the larger sized photos as soon as I get them! I thought Marita made a beautiful intriguing princess, and Radilina was a very elegant and stern Queen. I loved the lighting for Radilina's photos! I can't wait to see the full version and see how it looks while printed large size! I am lemming a close-up for Radilina's makeup, but these shots are gorgeous~~ :) Until then! Happy New Year!!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Spring 2010 Makeup Trends & Makeup Look FOTD



I've been digging around, checking out magazines and looking at the Spring 2010 makeup releases from the major cosmetic companies - This is just what I summarize/think/discovered/my personal opinions; I'm also not saying that you should pay attention to these colors only! This is just fun! ^^"

Some major points that I organized:
  • Colorful pastel eyeshadow colors - multicolored, transparent, and matte or shimmery; not glittery! Pinks/grassy limes/yellows/earthy oranges/smokey purple & plums/any light earthy tones, (light brown, peach, gold)
  • Thicker foundation with matte finish - not the sheer, dewy look. A light bronze glow is nice, but go easy; It's not summer yet!
  • Pink rosy cheeks
  • Matte bold lips - including reds & bright oranges. And! Nude/ pink shimmery gloss
Top Left Photo:
What I did was start off with a yellow/lime eyeshadow with orange on the outer corners of the lid. I used a cream bronze/brown liner, but you could also use a dark metallic green liner to substitute. On my bottom waterline, I made my own bright green liner with MUFE Flash Color Case using green, yellow, white, and a bit of gold. I used some false lashes just to add some volume to my lashes, not length. For foundation, I went for maximum coverage (my favorite kind!) with liquid/cream foundation+concealer+powder foundation. Light contouring, a faint rose blush & highlights on cheekbones/bridge of nose/chin using iridescent white highlighter. For lips, I used a soft nude/pink shade without lipliner, and just topped it with nude/pink gloss. It would be a great daytime look! Although...

Top Right Photo:
Transformation #1! Real simple: I added purples to the outer V area. It would be easier to gently remove some orange to get the maximum amount of purple to show through, but since I was going for 'transparent' and 'multicolored' I just layered it on top. I personally like how it mixes with the orange. Now you have an evening look! Or if you're me who thinks purple is for any hours of the day, you can wear it during the day for special events. I don't find it overly smokey.

Bottom Left Photo:
Transformation #2 - I changed the lip color to a matte dark red (by mixing a matte brown and bright red lipstick) I do think the darker purple eyeshadow can be worn together, but if we are just following spring 2010, then I would say leave out the purple eyeshadow and keep with lighter eye colors. ^^ But I just wanted to keep transforming...lol~

Bottom Right Photo:
Transformation #3 - Glossy red lips. I also saw this look in magazines - and I personally prefer this over the matte because I don't take as much care of my lips so the matte lip is less flattering. But when topped with a clear gloss, it conceals those flaws.

Below is the full face photos of just the first and second eyeshadow transformations. Sorry for the lighting differences! It's hard to just maintain the same camera light settings for me, since I always just mess with it to see if I could get different stuff. I didn't list all the products used because I think Spring 2010 can be achieved without the brand new Spring 2010 collections! But feel free to ask me about specific products! Alright, I hope you enjoyed reading little ole me's view on Spring 2010! :) Hope everyone's having a great holiday season (in order to prepare for a great spring season!)! :)


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Seasons Greetings!



Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year everyone! Stay warm, safe, and fabulous! :)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Marita's Before & After + Behind the scenes


Last Friday I had the pleasure to work with the talented photographer Gu Yifei, Stylist Michelle Tan, and beautiful models, Radilina and Marita. Yifei wanted to recreate the oil painting look - above is the before & after of Marita. I was in charge of the makeup for the two ladies and the other artist, Janet took care of the two male models. There was King, Queen, Prince & Princess! Michelle did most of the work with their hair and I assisted by curling and teasing the hair. At first we thought Yifei wanted big hair for both models, but it turns out for Marita, Yifei wanted more "princess curls." We tried our best to undo the teasing, and I think Michelle really saved the day (or the hair!) :) Because parking in SF was pretty stressful for me, once I sat down I got started with Radilina right away and forgot to take her before & after photo! Silly me! Below is a snapshot after she was done with her portion of the shoot. The redness on her nose is due to nose-blowing; so many people were sick on set! Flu/Cold season is really here! I was really proud of Radilina's makeup; my little Canon Powershot doesn't do it justice; I didn't bring my regular camera because I had too many things to carry! I can't wait to see the final photos! I'd like to thank Yifei & Radilina for letting me try out this look I've been wanting to try! I will post the photos when they come out! Until then...!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Featured Photo & Wedding Gallery on Wedplan.net!

For today, Dec 4th, the photo of Kat*'s before & after photo will be the "featured photo" on the front page of WedPlan! Hurray! :) You may click below for the direct link:


It is also featured on Wedplan's facebook page:



I'm very happy to be featured, even if it is just for one day! :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Tony Yang x Skyla Arts x Xixi Yang


It's Tony Yang and Xixi Yang again! :) Don't be confused, they are not related~! ^^ You can view Xixi's before and after here to refresh your memory. The size for the vertical images are slightly smaller than my normal web size so I had to resize it a bit for the visuals of my blog...so again apologies for the fuzziness!! For the rest of my "favs" from the set, check them out in my Makeup for Photoshoots gallery! :) Enjoy!


Friday, November 13, 2009

Pet Photography


I've never had a pet until June of 2009, and my friends are probably tired of me sending them photos of Skyla, the naughty kitten. So I've been practicing my pet photography skill on this bad girl! It requires timing, patience, and fast shutters! I took the one above just 20 minutes ago~! That photo requires no post-processing. I was playing fetch with her - the stuffy, Leeloo, is the only thing Skyla would fetch these days, because it suits her mouth shape perfectly and it's fun to bounce around! I just thought she looked too cute hugging Leeloo possessively! Below is Skyla posing with a souvenir we bought in Korea - a hanbok for animals! I tried using some flash since it was night time, although it's hard to get one with the eyes open since the flash makes her blink and wink her eyes! I used a bit of photo shop (for the first time...) on Skyla, to bring her out from the messy background! You gotta forgive my mess! We are moving!! :) I think Skyla is such a great model! Now, would anyone please just hire me to photograph their pet??

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Jeah & Jay's Engagement Photoshoot


You might remember Jeah from here and here. She is the bride whom I was working on for her engagement photo shoot during the fire! But as the photographers from dK Weddings mentioned during the wedding, you couldn't tell that Jeah and I were running for our lives just an hour before the shoot took place! The images posted here are a courtesy from dK Weddings! I know this wasn't their intention, but they showcased my work on pretty Jeah very well! :) Jay and Jeah also do a lot of photography, so I bet they were very selective of their photographer - and the results came out great! Enjoy the images, and you can see a few more at theMakeup for Photoshoots gallery! :) Enjoy!



Monday, November 9, 2009

Behind the Scenes video



I've been occupied with apartment hunting, but here is a quick update. I appear very briefly (lol) in Xixi Yang's behind the scenes video. I'm not doing anything exciting, just straightening her hair - this was after the makeup was done. Here is the post for her before and after! I'll post the photos once I receive them from the photographer, Tony Yang.

I am very excited about our new apartment! I'll have a better studio space and everything! Yay! I hope everybody had a good weekend and a great week ahead! :)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Relocation Announcement

My husband and I are relocating to Northern California in December; therefore, starting December 2009, I’ll be serving the area from San Francisco to San Jose. I should have written an announcement as soon as I found out, but I was still taking last minute weddings and non-wedding clients and decided to wait until I know for sure the exact date of moving.

We are really excited for our move, the move that I’ve been waiting for! I have always wanted to live up there – and now it is finally coming true! It is a little intimidating to start fresh, but I’ll work really hard and hopefully I’ll be getting clients! :) *fingers crossed!*


I will be a little sad to be away from my sister and my NEW nephew, Jacob! He is Chinese & Jewish, and absolutely adorable! Very advanced too, from his fine motor skills – Day 1 and he was grabbing onto his pacifiers and his ears! (although I can’t imagine why I would hold on to my ears but…) very adorable indeed!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Tony Yang x Skyla Arts x TingYi


About 1 month ago my admired photographer Tony Yang visited LA and I was lucky to be able to be involved in his projects that involved Xixi as well! Tony browsed through my portfolio and blog and asked me about TingYi and asked me if she might be interested to work with him as well. I was excited that I was able to match up model & photographer. :) This is when I discovered TingYi's post was accidentally deleted! It's so odd...! I must be more careful...anyways! Here is her before and after


When I looked at her before & after photo, at first I was worried since I chose a darker eyebrow shade considering the lighting. In the before & after it looks too dark, but in the photo results, it looked like what it needed to be. I just received the medium size photos recently and with TingYi's permission, I shared these! The size is slightly smaller than my normal image posting size so I had to resize it...sorry it's a little fuzzy!! For the rest of my "favs" from the set, check them out in my Makeup for Photoshoots gallery! :) Enjoy!



Thursday, October 29, 2009

Ting Yi's Before & After and Photoshoot gallery [Re-Post]




I don't know how it happened, but I somehow accidentally deleted the 2 posts that had TingYi's photos and I'm freaking out! I need to re-post this and combine it into one post! I apologize if you have seen it already. TingYi had a beach photoshoot with photographer 291 and asked me to do her makeup and hair for the photoshoot. Below is what TingYi said:

Thank you for your time this morning, you did an amazing job! The photos turned out great! I'll send some over if you want/need them for your website when I get them.
Photographer commented on the nice eye shadow colors today, so we picked the right one after all ;) Thanks again.
-Ting Yi
I started with a deeper purple, but TingYi thought a lighter lilac would be more suitable so I changed the eye shadow colors - and it turned out to be the right choice! Here are some of the results! For more photos, check them out in my Makeup for Photoshoots gallery! :) Enjoy!




Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Jeah's Wedding!

Before and After
I just got back from doing makeup for Jeah's wedding! I did her step mother and mother-in-law, but towards the end I was running out of time and didn't get to take the third before and after! They were running 1 hour late behind on schedule, and it was kind of hectic!! I can't believe I'm posting the before and after immediately! I am so efficient today! :) Jeah told me that the makeup I did for her engagement photo shoot lasted all day & night and that everyone loved it! That made me really happy! She said she'll send me the photos of her engagement photo shoot and also her wedding and I'll post it when it's ready! I apologize for the slight lighting difference in the two~ I shifted positions and of course, the sunlight changes with the time. Below is the before and after of her mother-in-law!

Before and After
I wanted to do a lot more with the mother-in-law but she was in a rush to get out her seat and go to the wedding venue. I tried my best with the limited time given to me. I hope everything went well! I had a pleasure working with Jeah! :) Peace!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Kristy's Before & After (Office Look!)

Before and After

I've been gone for two weeks! Did you miss me? j/k! I didn't 'work' during my vacation except this! :) Technically, Kristy is also one of my best friends, but it doesn't mean I cannot force her to sleepover so she can pay me to create a great office look for her! (I'm such a great friend, aren't I! hehe) She says:
"It was such a great pleasure to work with Liz. Not only was she friendly, kind, and fun, she was also skillful and talented! Even though I have mild acne scars, she was able to make my skin flawless. I felt so pretty after being made up. I received many compliments from my coworkers!I truly enjoyed working with her. I highly recommend Skyla Arts for you want to look and feel beautiful."

-Kristy
Anyways, I think Kristy is my biggest supporter (other than my husband, of course!) and regularly checks here to see my latest work. I've actually never applied makeup on her face before even though we've been friends for over a decade (Wow..now I feel old!) and she was laughing at first! and I had to ask if something felt uncomfortable - but it turned out to be my face, [you know, the concentrated-artist-face] and not my work! So it's all good. Before I posted this, I showed her the before and after photo just in case she wanted me to pick a different photo - and she asked if I used photoshop! I'm like: "NO!!.... do you want me to? But it defeats the purpose of the before & after photo!" So no! I did not use photo shop for the acne scars; believe me, it's my super concealing skills acquired from concealing my own acne scars!

:) Have a great weekend!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Jeah's Before & After, and crazy happenings!

Before and After

Yesterday afternoon, I worked with lovely Jeah for her bridal makeup trial, and above is the result! We were just chatting while I was taking care of her eyelashes, and we heard a lot of yelling and shouting outside! At first I thought it was just people arguing, or they are playing a game outside, but as I was touching up her eye makeup after the false eyelashes, I saw SMOKE across the street and then I ran to my kitchen window to view outside, and a car that was parked in the garage one street across my building had caught on fire! I dialed 911, but they had already called the fire fighters...but the fire got to the car's gas tank and sort of exploded; not your Hollywood car explosion, but just pieces of metal falling apart and flames. It got really scary when the heavy smoke was coming - thankfully Jeah stayed really calm and told me to grab my important documents - after I did so, I grabbed two small towels and wetted them; we ran towards the stairs and ran into our apartment manager, who suggested that we stayed indoors due to the smoke. She offered us to stay at her place upstairs, but we'd have to go through the open corridor and face the smoke, so we DARTED into her apartment! After staying there 10 minutes, she was planning to leave but I haven't finished her face & lips! By then the firefighters had put out most of the flames, so we DARTED downstairs and back into my place to finish her look. I think it was the scariest hour of my life! The wet towels really helped us maneuver through the corridors, and we were OK! It doesn't seem like anyone got hurt either since we didn't see any ambulances going by...

The moral of the story is...Please, DON'T FIX YOUR CARS IN YOUR GARAGE! ...It's dangerous! as the oils and chemicals can ignite easily..and this is what resulted...(view directly from my kitchen)



Jeah said, "Well at least this is very memorable!" Oh - what a day! But please don't be scared to come over...!!! My building is still safe!!!!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Marissa's Before and After

Before and After

This morning I worked on Marissa's makeup and hair for a beauty shoot with photographer Stan Tran. Again, to reduce my load, I didn't carry my "camera" with me - but my little Canon Powershot S80 for the before & after photo so it's not as detailed. I thought we would do a makeup change, but instead they preferred the very natural looking makeup and light eyeshadow. The look they requested was inspired by Drew Berrymore's CoverGirl ads. I did end up changing her hair, but didn't manage to snap a photo. But below you can get a glimpse of it - I snuck a "behind the scenes" shot with my iPhone below!


Her skin was a little dry, so we were talking about moisturizers and then! She was really excited when I told her there's The Face Shop here in Koreatown, LA! She just returned from living in Korea, and loved the Korean products. :) Can't wait to see her photos!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Blog Awards!














Special thanks to Lilly G. for nominating me for my very first blog awards!! =D

To honor these awards, I will:
1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award.
2. Copy the awards and placed them onto my blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated me for these awards.
4. Identify 7 things that people might find interesting for the Beautiful Blogger & Kreativ Blogger awards and 6 things that people might find interesting for the Gorgeous Blogger award
5. Nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers
6. Posted links to the 7 blogs I have nominated.
7. Left a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

The 7 Kreativ Bloggers/Beautiful Bloggers/Gorgeous Bloggers I nominate are here:
Milk & Cookiie
My Makeup Reviews
Give Good Face
Tony Yang Photography
A Beautiful Sentiment
Smitten Kitchen

So to satisfy point #4, I need to list 13 things people might find interesting about me...that's hard and I don't know if these are interesting, but here it goes:

1. At the age of 5, I won my first set of watercolor paints at an event while living in San Jose, Costa Rica. We went out to the park, and had 3 hours to complete the drawing. I drew a woman with a colorful dress - I think I brought the park scenery into her dress.
2. I can reproduce the Color Wheel with paint, and my eyes.
3. My parents grew up in Taiwan, but I was "made in" The Domincan Republic, but was born in San Francisco, CA. I grew up across 3 continents, and about 6 countries. I don't identify strongly with ethnicity and nationality; if you ask me where I'm from, I say I'm from Planet Earth. And I'm not trying to be funny here.
4. My husband (who is Korean), shares the same transnational identity like me. Between the 2 of us we speak 5 different languages! Hurrah! We're going to dominate the world! Muahahaha! (just kidding..)
5. I started piano lessons right before I turned 4, and harp lessons age 6. I played at the Sinfónica Nacional Infantil of Costa Rica, but experienced racial/ethnic/national discrimination with the rehearsal harp teacher. After the brief passion for 3 years, I was LAZY, and would practice piano scales while sleeping on the seat with my upper body laying horizontally on the piano seat. I stopped music completely at age 15, mainly because my preferred medium of expression is visual arts.
6. I "had" a perfect pitch, but of course it deteriorates if you don't use it all the time.
7. I like to sniff my stuffed animal called Daisy - she is a while seal, from the Japanese plushies company, Mother Garden. Her character is actually called Sirotan, but to me she is Daisy. I usually spray cologne or perfume, she she smells really nice! In the past, my classmate jokingly asked me if I put coke powder on their faces. -_-||...! She and Carobear (Korilakuma) are siblings, and are our babies! :) [FYI=this is why my personal blog is called Chronicles of a Mad-Daisy Sniffer!]
8. In this industry, a lot of people will treat you like an idiot...but actually, I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Occidental College, received departmental distinction for my research thesis, and belong to the elite-est honor society (the first society to use three Greek letters to identify themselves. All fraternities/sororities copied them! hmph!)
9. I'm doing what I'm doing because I'm passionate about using beauty techniques to help people. In the near future, I plan to start my own branch of the creative therapies.
10. I will attend a Masters in Counseling Psychology program Fall of 2010, and one of my life goals is to open a Creative Arts Therapy Center.
11. Skyla is the name of my first pet ever - she is a kitten I adopted from the Pasadena Humane Society, and the vet thinks she is a Bengal Cat mix. She certainly is moody and feisty...I wish she would cuddle with me more..
12. In my household, we own all gaming systems because the husband works in the video game industry, and I love video games too(Clearly, that is where all our money goes, and not the bank!) I can probably whip your @$$ in Halo3/Killzone2~ challenge me/our clan if you dare!
13. I REALLY need to find a good Yoga studio soon...I used to exercise regularly, because it used to be convenient. I hate running, so~ well~ I just have to establish a new routine for myself! :)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Xixi's Before & After




Yesterday I did Xixi's makeup (and hair) for her shoot with my admired photographer, Tony Yang! I just straightened her hair a bit (nothing fancy!) ^^ She had a smiling 'before' photo but unfortunately it was a little blurry! Sorry! I didn't mean for it to me smiling in one and not smiling in the other~! She left me a note:
Hey Liz!

You rock!!! The photos turned out great!!! I'd love to work with you in the future!...Have a good day!! :)

Your Fan,
Xixi Yang

I hope Xixi picks me again for her next shoot~ ^___^v Stay tuned for her photos from the awesome shoot when she gets them~ :) For now, you'll have to enjoy a photo I took of her slightly arched eyebrow! haha this was for the after pic but I didn't want you to think I did her eyebrows uneven!


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mandy Matzke x Skyla Arts x Michelle feat. Jocelin


Remember Jocelin? I worked on her makeup, hair by Michelle and photography Mandy. I finally received the lovely photos yesterday! Hehe! I am a purple monster after all! =P For the rest of my "favs" from the set, check them out in my Makeup for Photoshoots gallery! :) Enjoy!


Friday, September 18, 2009

Princess Skyla

I also would love to photograph pet and their owners - (especially photographing my pet - Skyla - yes I did name my business after her!) I adopted her from the Pasadena Humane Society, and a vet that I took her to told me that she is most likely a Bengal Cat mix from the markings on her belly. The only thing is she's not a HUGE fan of water like some other Bengal Cats, diving into the shower. These days, she doesn't like to cuddle much anymore :( - but I still love her lots! She really grew a lot~!


Enjoy some photos of my kitten Skyla and her high fashion poses =P





Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dramatic Purple Eyeshadow Look





Taking a break from website making...as it proves to be way too frustrating (and tear-inducing), I decided to try something new. I made a photo tutorial! yay! I'm still video challenged, but I hope you enjoy the tutorial! Feel free to ask me questions!

Primer, Foundation, Powder
MUFE HD Primer #5 (the Blue one)
MUFE HD #120
MUFE #3, #4 Camouflage Cream Palette

Loose Powder
Shu Uemura Face Powder Matte (colorless)

Brow
Kanebo Kate designing eyebrow N

Eyeshadow/Primer
Two Faced Shadow Insurance
MAC - Digit
MAC Stars'N'Rockets
Yaby World of Pearl Paints palette
dark purple (pp047)
Light Purple (pp017)
Black (pp082)


Eyeliner
MUFE Aquaeyes 0L (Black)

Mascara
Lash expander FramePlus Majolica Majorca

Blush
MAC Blush Peaches

Lips
Matte Nude lip color -MAC Matte Honey-Love
Clinique Superbalm Tinted Lip treatment 03 Mango Tint

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Behind the Scenes (?)


I am here to disclose my humble studio space for makeup. This space in my humble apartment is supposed to be the "dining room" but we never eat there anyway so I converted it into a makeup station! It looks kind of crowded, because there's a lot of stuff in the background but I assure you as a client, you can sit back and relax on the black chair~ =) While it looks like there's 3 different lights going on, the combination works for me, and I also have great natural lighting in the living room to double-check foundation color. Plus, since it's my place, I sanitize the table and clean it - but I cannot say the same for on-location tables where sometimes I need to lay my stuff on! I always come back and freak out and clean the bottoms of my stuff. You can see my small travel case and the plastic containers that I use to carry and organize my stuff! Makeup artists usually have their own unique way of organizing that works for them - and this has been working for me so far - but I might need to get a suitcase or something to help me. So anyway, here it is! ^__^

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Jocelin's Before & After

Before and After

This morning I worked on Jocelin's makeup for a photo shoot with photographer, Mandy. I was really happy Mandy picked purple for the eyeshadow color because I'm a purple monster! Hairstylist Michelle did an amazing job braiding/styling her hair! I didn't carry my "camera" with me - but my little Canon Powershot S80 for the before & after photo so it looks a little different! She also changed seats to get her hair done~ ^__^||

I took the after photo when Michelle was still in the process of styling her hair~ The final result looked similar to the photo below~ I can't wait to see the photos from this shoot soon! Until then - stay tuned!

Michelle working