Published on TwentyTen Magazine: Issue 8, 12 page spread!

Photography: Pam Sta Cruz
Styling & Design: Phuong My
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Model: Lauren Fletcher & Christin Mills

Woohoo! Published in Dutch-based fashion magazine TwentyTen! To see the full size magazine web version, click here!  It was published July 2011 (yeah I didn't find out until now!) but I'm still psyched! It's a 12 page spread with my name on it! *jumps up and down*  On the day of the shoot last year, the hair stylist that was supposed to come could not make it.  And...so I had a Tim Gunn "make it work" moment where I used the 1 hair spray, 1 brush, and a few bobby pins that were "backups" in my makeup kit and whip it out!  I am really proud of my work in this set, and also proud to be a part of an amazing and inspiring team! 

Today started off a little rough, but seeing this makes me feel all better! ^o^ And my hubby and I went to celebrate by eating Korean BBQ!!! Weeeeee!!! ;D

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! 

*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! 

Behind the Scenes [Beauty & Hair Editorial Story]

Model: Morgan @ Stars SF

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)

Photography: Rummy Makmur
Wardrobe Stylist: Andrea Schultz Igreja
Makeup & Hair Assistant: Erika Taniguchi

Is it me, or is it getting HOT in here? :P  Rummy approached me about submitting to an editorial and I thought...we need a stylist! Fortunately, Andrea whom I've worked with previously came to the rescue! The focus of the editorial is hair accessories, and the theme is the model needs to look hot/bothered/frustrated. & of course sweaty! This photo shoot took place at my humble abode, and I had to REALLY clean my kitchen hard core - it was my own idea to best utilize the cool colors of my kitchen to contrast the neon colors for the wardrobe and makeup.  I have to say...my kitchen never looked so good...and it would never look so good again without gorgeous Morgan sitting on it!  I loved Morgan's look and her energy.  She goes for it, and has a positive aura around her and a pleasure to work with! 

The challenge is to make Morgan look sweaty - but it was actually a cool evening. Not only did we crank up the heat, my special formula to create the "sweaty look" worked fairly well I must say! woohoo!  Since it was an evening shoot, we were running short on time towards the end of the evening - The first look in the photo above (top left), was for my book - I had purchased some hair accessories for bridal and was eager to put it up in a photo, and special thanks to Rummy & Morgan for allowing me to put my vision into reality.  With editorials, sometimes you really have to look at the concept, and the wardrobe, and decide on the spot what you wanted to do for the makeup & hair.  Because of the bright colors, I decided to play with my OCC lip tars that I had purchased from The Makeup Show in LA, and went for a gorgeous orange shade. Morgan had long and voluminous hair, which is exciting to work with, but I decided on the spiral curls which was time consuming. We changed from up-do, to bohemian-chic curls, to sexy teased mane, to side pony, to side fish-tail braid.  We really rocked it, team! :) *high five* Special shout out to Erika, my talented assistant for this shoot! Because I don't have curtains installed, I wondered if my neighbors could peer in, and I wondered what they would think: "Wow there's a GORGEOUS girl sitting on her counter top...not the usual Asian lady cooking in the kitchen today" lol.....! This story will be out in June! Stay tuned for more of beautiful Morgan! 

Top Model Spotlight: Marcus Schenkenberg

Iconic image! My fav!

I was working on my airbrush post...but I got bored of it half way, and..it's been a bit crazy recently, so today I decided to blog about Marcus Schenkenberg instead! ^o^ The first male model to grace the cover of Harper Bazaar - these classic images of him are definitely my inspiration!

How I got to remembering the greatness of Marcus....(lol) If you ever read my reviews on Yelp.com about businesses I patron, one of my stress-relievers is mindless comic reading (mindless=image and fiction appreciation! not deep thoughts and thinking!), and my husband has been encouraging me because he wants me to stop working after dinner time and kind of "draw my boundaries" - one of the difficulties of being freelancers is to stop working! (or start working when you really don't want to! hehe)  So...the only place that I can rent comic books is closing down FOREVER, and there are no other stores in the bay area that lends you photos.  SO...I still had $25 dollar store credit and I can purchase comic books, and the series I wanted to purchase, my husband talked me out of it!! I'm like!?!?!? But either way, thinking about that Taiwanese comic artist, he based his male characters after models~ and in his recent work "獨領風騷" which is incidentally about modeling, there are some poses that were clearly inspired by Marcus Schenkenberg's photos! Especially the one above! 

Calvin Klein Campaign!!

I saw Marcus by accident on TV in my tween years in the 90s.  Yes yes...giggle giggle~ Dream Boat for a young teen.  Most of the fashion information I paid attention to was from Japan at that time...mostly makeup - but with Marcus, I was just really intrigued by the IDEA of a male super model! It was so revolutionary to me, and sooo fascinating! He's been a model since 1989 and he is still doing it in 2011! He is currently represented by Ford Models in NYC.  That's a 22 year career! Granted, the height of his career was in the 90s, but, it's a fact that he really set the stage for future male super models, and I think...taken some of the most beautiful photos, ever! :)

Marcus more recently~~~

I highly recommend reading this article written in 2003 "Marcus Schenkenberg: Fearless"! You will also see a lot of other classic Marcus photos there, too! In particular, as a 12 year old, I was also particularly in awe that he can rock ANY look - including heels and stockings, whatever makeup they put on him, whatever wardrobe, he just works it!  At times I just need to remind myself that whatever resources I'm given, if I'm part of a team, and maybe my idea wasn't taken into consideration, sometimes you just have to go for it!

Some youtube clips I found - the 2nd one has some of the best photos! The Versace ones? I think? They are BW with a woman..unfortunately I cannot find the images on line! But anyways, check it out!!! :D

Men's fashion story Sneak Peak!

Photography: Laura Tillinghast (Laura Tillinghast Photography)
Grooming: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
Wardrobe Styling: Katie Quinn (Q the Stylist)
Model: Gabriele @ City Model Management

Super new sneak peak!! After months in the making, it's finally here! Can you tell I'm excited?! lol...I am  thrilled to expand my men's fashion portfolio.  At first it was tough to decide on a model with so many great options, but after taking a vote, we decided with Gabriele but before/during/after the shoot, it was a consensus that we definitely selected the perfect model for our concept~! *HIGH FIVE TEAM!!* Everything came together beautifully - I especially love the orange zipper detail! Katie said the designer made the jacket just for the shoot!  Super neat zipper! Lol that is a lot of exclamation marks! Sorry but I'm excited! :) :) Have a great long weekend everyone!!!

"The Ultimate Tailgate" - Tommy Hilfiger/Macy's/Third Eye Blind Event @ Union Squre, San Francisco

I mentioned this a few blog posts ago in October that I was one of the lead makeup/hair artists for a Tommy Hilfiger/Macy's fashion event held in Union Square! Today I am finally going to blog about it! You can also click here to read a brief article about this event on the SF Gate (San Francisco Chronicles) website!  I was referred to Ford Artists by Lisa Strutz, who is represented by Ford Artist - and that's how I became involved in this event as a lead artist! I was very excited, even though I knew little about what I was getting into because all I was told was that it was a fashion show in SF for Tommy Hilfiger and a 'real fashion show' is something not yet on my repertoire of experiences because you need contacts and a lot of the times, agency representation (which I am actively working on! ^o^).  Not knowing how many models and what type of hair/makeup to do upon arrival to the area designated for hair and makeup at Macy's, I was there early (due to the morning commute from the South Bay to San Francisco! traffic is a horror so I always have to beat the traffic and go earlier!) and talked to the stylists and they informed me that we were going to reproduce "The Hilfigers" - the Fall/Winter 2010 campaign ads and I cheered in side because it was not anything crazy, and in the style that I personally like! (Lifestyle, light makeup, sophisticated!) So here's the fun part - below I posted the ad itself, and then match the outfits to the appropriate model! :D The only one that's missing, Allie from Look Model's corresponding "Hilfiger" is Jacquelyn and her outfit is not pictured in this particular ad! You can also find the ad and introduction on the Tommy Hilfiger "Meet the Hilfigers" website!

Our work in Union Square, with Tommy Hilfiger in the middle.
Photo credit: Sandra Garcia for Drew Altizer 

Lead Artists: Janet Mariscal, Me!, Lisa Strutz @ Ford Artists, and Raul Anthony @ Ford Artists
It was a huge pleasure working with these talented and amazing people!

Photo credit: Janet Mariscal

I started off the day with Alana's @ Look Models makeup and hair, and then it turns out that each lead artist had a perspective assistant!  That kind of stressed me out at first because it surprised me (since I didn't know what to expect!), but 15 minutes, I saw two of the assistants just walking around, and I grabbed Kat, who was an amazing assistant, and the rest of the 90 min of work went mostly smooth sailing! :D After, I proceeded with Garret @ Look's hair, Sam @ Ford's makeup/hair, Ji Son @ Look makeup, and helped finish Alexis @ Look! Weee super fun and productive!!! It was actually a warm day in San Francisco, so I felt bad for Sam with the big big red/black scarf!

Line up! Sam on far right and Alana next to him.
Photo credit: Janet Mariscal

Meet & Greet @ Macy's - Tommy Hilfiger & Third Eye Blind!
Photo credit: Kat

The models had to walk around in their outfits and pass out flyers for the event in Union Square while Tommy Hilfiger and Third Eye Blind had a meet and greet at Macy's!  One funny thing that happened was at first we didn't know who the red carpet and security guards were for, and so Janet went over and asked one of the body guards, wondering who he is protecting...Janet asked: "So whose coming???" and he responded with: "Um...the customers?"  puahahaha we were laughing so hard!  Then Janet told me to quickly go to Union Square to see the models 'on set' (so this is the Fashion Show part! hehe) at Union Square, with the vintage cars, the Tailgate props (including a rugby/football, sodas! and benches)!  It was super super cool! :D

Sam @ Ford, Allie @ Look (Allie's Makeup/Hair by Janet)
Photo credit: Janet Mariscal

Recognize Allie from the underwater photo shoot? :) She looks SUPER Hilfiger in her outfit! So nice to see her again!

Touching up Alana's lipstick in Union Square!
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Ji son @ look (Makeup by Me, Hair by Erika Taniguchi!)
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Aliie getting her boots adjusted by stylist! Ryan @ Look to the left! You might recognize him on my website! :) Blog post coming soon!
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Ji son and Allie @ Look in character, 'lifestyle' mode! :)
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

AWESOME Panoramic View!
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Ji son and Allie @ Look in character, 'lifestyle' mode! :)
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi 

"Lifestyle!"
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Another great panoramic view! :D
Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

Photo Credit: Erika Taniguchi

And then, very soon Mr. Hilfiger came on set after the signing ended, and made his rounds through all the cars with the entourage (body guards and media) yeayy it was very cool! :D

Photo Credit: Janet Mariscal

Photo Credit: Janet Mariscal

I didn't say for the Third Eye Blind concert because I had other obligations, but I heard it was a great event! :) There are seats designated for people who spent money at Macy's to get VIP seating, but if you were just hanging out in Union Square, you could still enjoy the concert! I wish I could have stayed! THIRD EYE BLIND! WEEE!

This became a bit of a long post, but I must end by thanking  Ford Artists by Lisa Strutz for the referral, Erika Taniguchi (who was one of the hair assistants and styled Ji Son's hair) as well as artist Janet Mariscal and my assistant Kat, for these wonderful photos to capture the entire event!!!  Erika is a very talented graphic designer, and she inspired me to purchase a better point/shoot/purse-sized digital camera so that in the future when I'm on set, I won't have to take STUPID IPHONE photos!!! It was also a huge pleasure to work along side Lisa, Janet, and Raul Anthony! :) YAY!  More fun posts to come so stay posted! :D