Emily and Ryan {V. Sattui Winery Wedding, St. Helena} - Published on JetFete!

Congratulations to Ryan & Emily! Today their gorgeous 'destination' wedding was featured on Jetfete! They are such a sweet couple! Carolyn & I had a blast on the morning of, meeting the bridal party and getting them ready. What a group of strong, beautiful, athletic woman! It was kind of inspirational, to see them up in the morning, PERFECTLY ready/prepared for their makeup & hair appointment early in the morning - previous to that already worked out/showered/blow dried their hair, coming into the room with positive energies! :) Carolyn & I really appreciated that! After I had packed up and walked to my car, ready to go, I turned to Carolyn and said: "We are so lucky to have wonderful clients like Emily!!!" Emily was so sweet to also write a blog with a personal message to all her wedding vendors - I was truly touched by it!

The beautiful images are shot by Annie Gerber who is based in Arizona! It was a funny moment, when the bridal party thought Carolyn was the photographer because they kind of look alike! (beautiful tall and blonde!) Annie had a quiet, joyful and graceful presence in the room while taking photos of the bridal party getting ready!

Emily is currently in the process of opening up her own bakery in SF! I am looking forward to visiting her new bakery when it opens! ;) I cannot wait! Congratulations again to the beautiful couple!! I hope you enjoy viewing the photos - thanks to Annie for providing them for us!! {Love working with Annie! Please come back to the Bay Area again soon!!!!!!}


Makeup & Hair: Skyla Arts {Liz & Carolyn}

Photography: Annie Gerber

Wedding Coordinator: Events by Darlene
Florist: Fleurs de France
Wedding Venue: V. Sattui Winery
Caterer: Alex 's Catering
Cake Designer: Baker & Banker Bakery
Musicians: Dan Goldfus Trio
Videography: Justine Fone Productions
DJ: AMS
Transportation: St. Helena Wine Tours
Getting Ready Venue: Harvest Inn

Diana - Beach Photoshoot!

Summer is here indeed!!

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Photography: Sasha Gulish
Styling: Ali
Model: Diana @ Stars Model Management

As usual, I am posting out of chronological order! I figured the last post was wedding related, I shall mix it up with some fun in the sun! 

It wasn't actually that sunny that day out in Marin, but you wouldn't have known because Diana from Stars Model Management brought it with her! 

There were some other great ones, but these are the few that I loved for the blog/website! ;) Actually.....I had SUCH a hard time deciding what photos to use.  Even now as I'm looking at the photos that Sasha (the photographer) chose, the ones that Stars (Diana's agency) chose, and then look at the ones I chose, I'm like..Should I have picked a DIFFERENT one? Oh oh ...! I cannot go through this again! lol. Diana dances a lot in school, and it certainly shows! She moves so well in front of the camera, and just bangs out the poses - click after click it's a good shot.  I guess this has to be a good dilemma to have!!!!  Maybe next month I can post the other beach shoot I did...Actually, expect to see some great "fun in the sun" blogs (or you could take a peak at them on my website...? )

One of the challenges I had to face was doing the hair without the hot tools.  To create the stringy texture, I wanted the stickiness and stay-power, so I went with Aquage Working Spray in order to manipulate the hair without heat & work with her natural texture!

Always a pleasure to work with Team Sasha (which is Sasha and her studio manager, Kelsie) Enjoy some of the photos!

May & Kevin {Cupertino Wedding}

Makeup & Hair: Skyla Arts {Liz & Carolyn}
Photography: Bliss Imagery
Venue(s): Hakone Gardens, Saratoga & Cypress Hotel, Cupertino

A real blog today!!! :)  I'm thrilled to share May & Kevin's photos from November of 2011! May & Kevin tied the knot the same day as my mom & my aunt's birthday (they are twin sisters!) so it's super easy to remember their anniversary for me! 

The bridal party - Kevin's three lovely sisters and May's friend - they were such a dream to work with!  We had a lot of fun when they disclosed May's cheerleading past, and Kevin's modeling contest days! The morning went by so smoothly; the bridal party kept the fun stories flowing, the energy level so positive in the bridal suite that we barely noticed time passing! They came prepared and excited - what more could we ask for??~ 

Looking at these photos, could you tell that May only slept one hour the evening before?  My big sister also only slept one hour the evening before her big day!  Even so, May was busy making sure that Carolyn and I and the bridal party had food & water - we were so touched by her attention to detail and we feel so lucky to have May as our client!  As Carolyn and I were leaving, all we could think about is: "We Love Our Job!" and thanked everyone for being so awesome.  Looking through their film, the couple looked so happy in every photo - it is hard not to have a smile on my face!  

I am all packed for my action-packed 5-day-in-a-row thing! Kicking off my (work) weekend, I'll be doing a lovely bride in beautiful Santa Cruz, CA!  :) Have a lovely weekend!! Until next time...lol! (It may be another few months!)

Published in Seventeen Magazine! May 2012!

I apologize for these crappy iPhone photos and not a proper scan, but...it will do for now!  I still remember my first publication and how I felt - this one felt almost like the first one!  It is my first national magazine that you can get in any store!  As I arrived to do Chelsie's makeup & hair, she said to me: "Yay! I'm your FIRST!" (First national publication) And I was like: "Yes! I am so excited!"  :)  

The magazine is out today (April 17th), and as I rushed to my nearest Safeway, and opened the magazine in anticipation, I definitely had to hold back on my happy tears.  lol!  

Chelsie's story is really inspiring...! You can check it out in the magazine! :) We were shooting at the accident site, so Ivy (Christa's studio manager) and I had to make sure to spot the on-coming traffic!  It was quite an adventurous/action-packed morning near Monterey, CA! I was so inspired by Chelsie's strength and her positive energy.  It was also a great pleasure to work with Christa!!!  

I feel very grateful for this opportunity! :) :) :) 

Photo: Christa Renee

Hair & Makeup: Elizabeth Chang for MAKE UP FOR EVER

Inspirational Trip to The Makeup Show Los Angeles

A brief update! Not too long ago I just returned from The Makeup Show Los Angeles to pick-up some essential makeup and hair tools, take some inspirational classes by seasoned & famous makeup artists, receive priceless portfolio reviews and critiques from industry experts, and finally I got to work with film fashion photographer Matt Edge whom I've hoped to work with for a while now!  The whole trip was filled with lots of inspirations! From the classes, to reconnecting with familiar faces (it's like a mini-pro artist family reunion!!), meeting for the first time artist I've been in touch with for a while and recognizing/spotting them, and chasing them down to say hello!!!  :P And now I am getting ready for my lovely brides this weekend!

I started 2012 just hitting the ground and just work work work...and I was starting to feel a little burnt out already. And it's March! Even though my LA trip was a bit exhausting ("Only" 19 hours of driving in a 5 day span!), and not to mention driving in LA lol...  -  I do feel that my "creative" batteries have been recharged.  I also got to visit my family in LA - which was great. It was also cool to see that the building that burnt down across my old apartment in LA (Yes, the one where my sweet, beautiful bridal client Jeah was getting her makeup trial done, and suddenly we saw heavy smoke heading our way!!!) being rebuilt and re-inhabited, and that a new and DELICIOUS Korean BBQ place has opened around the corner where I used to live.  

I am just filled with gratitude that The Makeup Show and The Powder Group are around to continuously provide education, support, and also, building our community.  I can't even tell you how nice it feels to be with people who know and understand support you.  In the creative industries or any other industry actually, unfortunately there are always going to be unprofessional people who treat you badly.  Even if you think you are in the "right," there's no referee or anything like that, and there's no point to argue with unprofessional people.  It just gives you perspective on how to avoid working with them in the future, or how to handle it graciously, and move on from negativity.  Fortunately, we have positive energies - like our local makeup artist community to support each other, and events like The Makeup Show to meet true professionals, and of course - there are people who are not only professional, but inspirational!!! Those are going to be the people we should focus our energies on!!!

And I shall end this personal reflection post with some behind the scenes images with my shoot with Matt, and Ford Model Thais (from Brazil!), and Alison who styled the shoot! :) It was a great pleasure to work with everyone, and I'm really excited to continue my 2012 year!!!!  :D Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Sue & Jeff {Mountain Winery / Saratoga Wedding}

I'm very excited to share the photos from Sue & Jeff's wedding last fall at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga! :) You may remember seeing their engagement photos! 

Sue was so much fun to work with! For her big day, I was lucky to have my friend & colleague Michelle on the team to beautify the bridal party (including Sue's mom!)  I was very excited when Sue decided to go with the hair piece by Bonnie from One World Designs (link provided below). I had a feeling that Sue would like it - and when she saw it in my studio when I was doing her engagement makeup & hair - I was like Yay! Because knowing the description of her dress and the feel that she wanted to go for, I knew we had a match! ^o^I love head to toe looks! 

I loved so many of the photos taken by uber talented Meg Perotti - and please enjoy a few that I pulled from Meg's blog! :)

List of vendors:
Makeup & Hair: Skyla Arts {Liz & Michelle}
Hair Accessory: One World Designs {Lily Flower Feather Fascinator}
Photography: Meg Perotti
Wedding Coordinator: Amazae Special Events
Florist: Huckleberry Karen Designs
Venue: Mountain Winery