Sara & Conrad in San Francisco...or Paris? {Summer 2012, photographed by Matt Edge}

Photography: Matt Edge

Makeup, Hair + Men's grooming: Elizabeth Chang (me!)

Styling: Matt + Allison

Models: Conrad @ Stars, Sara @ Scout

Last summer I posted the teaser for the "Behind the Scenes" from this shoot and discussed some of the Fall Trends on the runway.  Even though the photos were up on my portfolio (wink wink...I have updated my bridal website's slideshow + commercial print portfolio) but I post more images on the blog! Enough babbling!! 

We were going for a Parisian vibe, but it was shot in the beautiful windy San Francisco! 

I am so pleased with this set! All of the photos were shot on film photography - the colors and richness!      To my knowledge, most film photographers do not spend a lot of time in photo shop, so I try to make the subjects look as perfect as possible for every frame. I love the film look and I am thrilled with how the hair/makeup/grooming turned out too! Woohoo!  ^.~ The middle to last part of 2012 I had a lot of men's grooming jobs, either working on CEOs or for print work on male models ages 20-40.  I am quiet enjoying it more than before!  While men 'take less time' or could be thought of as 'easier' compared to woman, I have to say it's definitely a balance making it look like they are not wearing any makeup at all, and their hair natural but 'well groomed.' It's actually a lot of fun styling men's hair - it kind of feels like 'molding clay' or something into a mini sculpture, but it's actually hair! Fun! 

Matt posted the photos on his blogs - I selected a few different ones to highlight because I'm trying to showcase my makeup/hair work but I really love how he put it together! The wonderful thing is Matt moved from LA to the SF area, and so we'll be working together again! Very excited to work with Matt again!  Previously I had to go to LA to work with Matt, or wait for him to come up to the SF area en route to work a wedding in Napa/Sonoma! 

P.S - Matt shoots beautiful weddings as well as fashion/commercial/lifestyle work {Matt Edge Wedding Photography} so if you are a bride-to-be for 2013/2014, please check his work out! 

 

Alex | Lifestyle {photography by Sasha Gulish}

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Photography: Sasha Gulish
Styling: Peggi Jeung
Model: Alex @ Stars Model Management

On a warm sunny day...All I wanna do is lay on the grass and lounge around.  Meet Alex - she has a really beautiful smile and a sweet personality! Her southern accent is adorable! ;)  Immediately upon starting her makeup, I was like: "Doesn't she look like Alexis Bledel?!" After the first few looks, I knew the plan was to do a picnic theme, so then...I kept pushing for the red lips - knowing how gorgeous it looks on Alexis and how it will pop from the lush green colors of the grass.  Unfortunately I had to leave the shoot early to make another appointment.  Sasha thought maybe they would switch into a more neutral lip for the picnic, so I handed them a wipe and a empty jar with a tiny bit of lipstick. 

When I got the photos back, I was ecstatic to find that they decided to keep the red lips towards the end and I loved the results. There were many other favorites from this shoot, but I selected 5 of my favorites! Out of the five, my favorite is the first one above! It's such a happy photo...and I love the polka dots against the grassy fields! One of my photography friends pointed out that I seem to be fond of back-lit images - YES it's true!! I like it when the subject looks like they are glowing! ^.~

Peanut, the cute dog featured, belongs to Peggi. As I was doing Alex's hair, Peanut was pacing around the apartment {a very cute studio apartment that Alex was renting out for the duration of her stay in SF} - and Peggi said: "Peanut! Come back! You are in the hair spray zone!"  lol...and Peanut obediently marched back to the safety of the other side of the studio. that was my favorite quote of the day.

I hope everyone is having a good day/good week so far!

From runway makeup & hair (A/W 2012) into wearable looks! {+Behind the Scenes with Matt Edge Photography!}

Hello ya'all! Time for an annual makeup & hair trend report.  It's been nearly a year since my last trend report! yikes!!  I try to be more diligent but honestly...I'm kind of a Fall/Winter gal to begin with (Born in September!) so naturally I enjoy the looks that extend from summer to the fall the most.  Enough babbling and onward with the post!

It was such a pleasure to work again with L.A. based fashion photographer Matt Edge and his beautiful and talented sidekick, Allison Edge! The shoot was styled by Allison with our minimal input (my Tory Burch sunglasses made an appearance!) I snapped all of these behind the scene images with my iPhone and then used photoshop curves to portray the colors I want! I've been really into Instagram but in the end, the photoshop curves give you more flexibility and fun (albeit more time consuming)

Meet Sara J. from Scout SF and Conrad from Stars SF! It was so cool when Matt & I agreed on our top choice of models! I always feel invigorated and inspired to work with professionals that share a passion for the art, and then we work together towards executing the vision!

Similar to last year, I've gone through some of the shows, and decided to pick-up and hone into a few of the looks I've selected to shape the type of look that I'm going for...The huge difference is...I put the looks together and presented it, with the help of my wonderful summer intern, Anna! The ones I've selected will be featured after the Behind the Scenes photos! Scroll down! :) 

I selected one to two elements per look to feature:

Look 1 had the pin-curl classic waves that frames the face. The makeup is similar to the Dior/Ralph Lauren look - I incorporated the flirty but still natural looking false lashes! 

Look 2 really focused on the messy french twist.  I thought about doing the side swept thing in the front, but decided in the end to sweep it back for a more natural volume! I wish I got a photo of the back, but for now you can see it below from a side view. I loved the Vespa scene!!!! Conrad commutes around the city in his Vespa, and it was a perfect (and unexpected) prop for the scene! They looked super cute together! 








Look 3, I emphasize the wing liner slightly, but I mostly wanted to focus on the red lips.  I was inspired to leave it half down - so ended up with this look! My goal was to make Sarah elegant and polished!

We'll see how the photos turn out in a few weeks! :) Scroll down to see the Fall looks summarized.


Makeup

• Clean semi-matte skin, full brows, lightly contoured eye shadow, a dust of peachy/pinky cheeks and a tiny bit of contouring for the cheeks, clean winged liner and naturally pinky-nude lip color {as seen in Ralph Lauren & Christian Dior - although I love that Dior added the false lashes, emphasizing the cat-eye shape} Lanvin & Anna Sui had a thicker and more dramatic winged liner, while it may be appropriate for parties, it may be harder to sport on the daily basis!
• Bright Pop of lipstick - orange-red - even though it is also a great color for spring and summer with brighter colors, when paired with classic colors like black/gold/brown/nudes {Featured here in Dennis Basso, but also seen in Zac Posen and Marc by Marc Jacobs}  A brighter lipstick like a soft fuschia, goes really well with darker colors like black/gray and blues and purples, making it a beautiful and versatile color for fall wardrobes.

Hair

• I am attracted to the classic shape of the pin-curl featured in Dior S/S Couture and Dennis Basso in Fall Ready-to-wear and how it frames the face.   Tuck it in for a faux bob, or let it down for a side pony.
• Speaking of ponytails, my favorite is the Anna Sui one with a retro flair that is perfectly sleek. The volume in the ponytail for Ralph Lauren is placed low - you can make it sleek, or wear it textured and messy. The 'key' feature of the pony is that it's a low pony by the occipital bone (above the nape).
• Lastly, I noted the french twists - my favorite would be the messy ones featured in Tory Burch. I was also very drawn to the different placements - in Donna Karen, the french twist is pushed all the way to one side, giving a dramatic asymmetry! But, comparatively I'm more drawn to the ones featured in Valentino - it looks very subtle and elegant in the front, but very dramatic from the side.  

*PHEW* that was a lot of photos to post! Hope you enjoyed it! ;) ;) You can find all the images on my Pinterest as well! ;) Follow me on Pinterest! ;D Until next time!

P.S. I will give brownie points to those that recognize a familiar face in the images above runway looks! The big clue is, she is from Stars Model Management in SF! ;) 

New Lifestyle! ;)

New Lifestyle work! I'm going to keep it brief because I need to go to sleep & wake up early!  This week is unusually crazy and I enjoyed every minute of it! :) I'm lucky that I love my job! This is my 3rd time working with Kris Jung @ Stars (Pure coincidence!) but I'm always happy to see her! She is so adorable! I had fun doing the messy bun look & putting the rollers in her hair! It was really lovely to meet Alyssa & Donyale! I loved loved these photos~!

Putting lotion on the model's exposed skin is one of the most important lessons I learnt when I showed my portfolio to veteran artists to ask for their critique. After putting a great lotion, skin is shinny & luminous, and also saves photographer retouching time.  It is so worth the effort!  Little did I know when I was a newbie, anything showing is apparently my responsibility (skin, nails...etc).

This is the first shoot I did with this AMAZING team - I can't wait to work with them again!!! Or share the other photos we did with you in the near future! I'm very proud of these! ;) Happy Monday!

Photography: Sasha Gulish Photography
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Styling: Natalie
Models: Kris, Alyssa & Donyale from Stars Model Management

 

Underwater Photo shoot & Top Model Attributes!!

Photography: Chad Riley (Chad Riley Photography) @ Look Artist
Makeup : Elizabeth Chang (Elizabeth Chang | Makeup & Hair)
Styling : Katie Quinn (Q the Stylist)
Model: Allie D. @ Look Models
Photography Assistant: Antonio Fernando

You may vaguely remember the Underwater Photoshoot Behind the Scenes blog nearly a year ago! It was a long wait for these images, but I'm really excited to share them with you!

As mentioned in previous post, it was my first under water shoot and also the first time I needed this degree of waterproofing (completely different from the typical sweating, humidity or longevity of makeup wear for bridal).  From the sneak peaks I was very worried that the makeup wouldn't show up, but alas, I was just nervous over nothing.  Allie and I were joking that it's called "Makeup Forever" because it stays on FOREVER. For this shoot, I had specifically purchased a few items from MUFE that I didn't own at the time, and that combined with the tricks Liz Yu from Yaby Cosmetics showed me, the makeup actually showed up under water!! woohoo!!!  The star makeup brands for this shoot that saved the day are: Yaby Cosmetics, Makeup Forever, and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics! Also very funny, was that after the first look, I adjusted her blush way stronger after receiving feedback from Chad so that it will show up under water and I showed Allie the mirror and we were like omg Clown! lol! But yeah, we did 3 makeup looks that day to go along with her outfits, and it was quiet an experience, doing the makeup changes while the model is still under the water!

For the green dress, I actually tried to apply false lashes to see what will happen- it's not the glue that's not waterproof, it's the force of the water when the model goes up and down for air - it makes the lashes flop and go crazy, like a clam shell!

Allie blew us away with her underwater posing skills.  Katie and I were just gawking in amazement at how graceful and gorgeous she looked ABOVE water! We could only imagine what was going on under the water! :P

I know this is only my 3rd year working as a makeup artist (2 yrs and 3 months in!) but out of all the agency models I've personally had the pleasure to work with, there's only a handful (I can count with one hand!) of Fashion models who really just blew me away! Ahh please don't misinterpret~~! No offense to the other wonderful models I've worked with, but Fashion to me is a very specific category, attributes and skill set - some models belong in more than 1 category (ie: Fashion/Runway & Commercial, Fashion & Beauty, Fashion & Swimwear etc etc etc endless combinations) and of course you can also be a TOP Beauty model or Top Commercial model.  What I am trying to express is,  Fashion models are very rare to come by, which is why when they become the top models, they get paid the most money.  I really got to understand this after watching Allie under the water.  Before, I just didn't have what you call first hand experience.  I never thought modeling was easy, but just in case anyone thought modeling was EASY as long as you are a certain height, weight, beautiful girl, you can be a model - that is sooo not true...!

Qualities of a Top Fashion Model (according to liz...from my experience...lol)
- Intelligent, educated, articulate & cogent
- TALL + extremely fit & physically healthy
- Beautiful body & limbs (you can be super tall, but not have proportional limbs or odd legs)
- Understand your body
- Unique facial features & strong bone structure
- GREAT skin, GREAT Hair
- Versatile/Chameleons
- Independent & Adventurous
- Super professional (shows up on time, completely prepared for the shoot, positive attitude)

Some of these you can learn & acquire with experience, but others you are born with. You need the perfect combination!

Allie - you are amazing!

Green dress look features OCC Lip Tar in Pageant!!

Picnic! [Kids Photography]

Models: Casey & Kai @ JE Model Management SF

Makeup & Photography & Prop Styling: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)

Photography Assistant: Erik Leung
Hair: Erika Taniguchi

Wardrobe Styling: Andrea Schultz Igreja

Yayyyy! This photo shoot finally happened! We had to reschedule twice due to the rain during spring time, and finally finally it came together!  While it's not my first time working with kids, it is my first time coming up with my own ideas, finding the locations, getting the props, shooting the photos, and putting together a team! I've done those tasks before, but not all at once. While there's still room for improvement (like always!! ^^), I am very happy with the results! We were blowing bubbles towards the end, and everyone was having fun!

I want to thank Shannon @ JE for being patient with us with the rescheduling..! And of course, my team members Andrea, Erika & Erik.  Casey & Kai are adorable, and are such troopers!  May-June 2011 has definitely been the craziest ... I need to organize my computer, and keep up with my blogging! I'm also super excited to share more photos from weddings/bridal clients when the photos come back! For now please enjoy super cuties Kai & Casey! :)

Behind the Scenes [Beauty shoot - Jordan Part I video]

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang 
Photography: Novi Angelomio
Model: Jordan @ Scout SF

Woohooo!!! A reel!!! This one I recorded myself with my little CanonS95 and used CS5 After Effects for the first time~~~ It was really intimidating opening that program, so I had to watch a few youtube tutorials and ask Erika for her advice!  Anyhow...the indoor lighting during the shoot was very warm, so I applied a cooling filter to color adjust the video!  Again it's my first time fiddling around with that stuff, so nothing fancy, not effects or anything. 

We did a clean look before this, and I wanted to keep the look very 'classic.'  Jordan's face looks a bit like Rachel McAdams/Kristen Bell/Rachel Evan Woods combined in some of the angles, but she is stunning!  A lot of my work features really clean makeup, and I find that perhaps people might think that's the only look I know how to do...so I really wanted to do the classic smokey eye look and add some variety - I also want to do different colors smokey eyes later, but I  wanted to start off with the "classic" one!  I'm looking forward to see the images! :) 

Because Jordan's skin was a little dry that day, the foundation had a bit of trouble adhering in the nose area...which is why I decided to pull out my airbrush. Now if I didn't tell you that, could you have known and noticed the difference? :)  Like I say..the airbrush is just another brush, another tool in my tool box (Albeit a slightly more expensive one).

The whole shoot had a bit more of a New York vibe to me than the Bay Area...but I feel like it's good to change it up, keep it loose and interesting! 

Outtakes & Behind the scenes

My hands are perfecting Rachel's hair! ;) I'm happy only my hands were in the shot! 

natural WIND in the hair  - not from a fan!~ 

Model: Rachel @ Ford SF

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)

Photography & Styling: Audre Van Broers Photography

Some outtake shots courtesy of Audre! ;) It was windy!!!! 

*New* Makeup & Hair work!

Model: Rachel @ Ford SF

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)

Photography & Styling: Audre Van Broers Photography

This is my first time working with Audre, and I was really looking forward to the shoot.  She is really awesome at styling and photography! Audre is one of the few photographers I know that does both fashion and wedding photography. I really loved the synergy throughout the whole shoot, and we completed the shoot very efficiently.  I really enjoyed trying out the strong eyebrow look - I thought it would look good with some of the outfits. The changes in the 2.5 makeup looks were subtle, and we did 4 slightly different hair looks.  Can you tell that I had loads of fun?? :)

Sometimes I put a lot of pressure on myself because there are goals I want to achieve, or the client has very specific requirements, and I am racing with the clock - in those situations it's just like any other type of job out there - work.  I'd say  it happens about 50/50, but the other times, I can't believe how quickly time went by because work is very enjoyable! And I tend to prefer blogging about those times, too~! :)  I love making people look & feel beautiful, whatever the occasion. When the client is happy, I get all giddy too! While I worked really hard last weekend, I was super happy through it all, and I need to remember that feeling and let it help me get through challenges I might face in the future...!

Anyways...! I am running out of my comp card (the 4x6 post cards we give out in our industry, mostly artists and photographers) and I think I am going to put one of these on my new comp card! I am excited to have new images on there! :) I think I might make one for my makeup/hair, and one for my photography now - before they were combined just for the ease of passing out one card, but I think because of how separate my target clients are for the 2 categories, it really makes sense to make 2!

Ok ok, enough of me babbling! I hope you enjoy the photos and that everyone had a great memorial weekend!