Clarice & Hubert wedding _ Viansa Winery

May 12, 2013

I’m so happy receiving these beautiful photos from Clarice. Her wedding was last year and I can’t thank her enough for everything from trusting me with her beauty to our developed friendship after the wedding, plus a sweet review  she gave me on Yelp  … Though she has now moved to Singapore for her husband’s career, she made sure that I would call her so we can hang out for good food if I stop by Singapore in the near future…

I love Clarice’s taste for beauty and design (she makes beautiful bridal hair pieces – an artist herself!) and her quiet elegance & charm…  These beautiful photographs are taken by Stephanie from This Modern Romance

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Kristen & Carlos Wedding _ Mountain Winery, Saratoga

May 8, 2013

I was very happy when receiving Kristen’s email telling me that her wedding photos are now done & told me she felt beautiful that day (!)… It’s one of the emails that I’ve been waiting for months. I was just dying to see if the camera would do her beauty justice. She looked amazing that morning… and she was a dream to work with. I love Kristen! I’ve blogged about our whole booking and communicating via email process, as well as what happened on the day-of here …

So after I got her email, I jumped to her photographer’s blog right away … And there she is, looking so beautiful & elegant, and above all, happy & glowing in love. Kristen and Carlos make such a great couple!

All photos by Ashley Maxwell Photography

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Marian & Marco Wedding – Casa Real Winery

April 29, 2013

A unique smile! That’s the one thing that first comes to mind every time I think of Marian and I’m telling you that happy smile is contagious:)She’s so lucky to be able to smile all-the-way or even laughing hard and still look so cute … Some of us have a nice smile, but we can hardly look good when smile so big or laughing with our teeth shown (mmm… definitely not me!), but Marian does!

I’ve learned from our trial that her face actually wouldn’t fit carrying much makeup and it also wasn’t her intention either. She was opted for something natural. Some of us have a face that the more makeup you put on, the more “wow” the effect (as models, for examples)… and some of us have a face that’s of the opposite – less is more. A makeup artist’s job is to recognize that limitation and to enhance only where it’s needed. So, how to highlight Marian’s unique smile? A flawless foundation finish with just enough glow (not too shimmery and not too matte), a soft all-over lavender eyeshadow, thin liner with natural lashes and the best part was to let the hair frame her face. She looks gorgeous with that hairstyle and the two flowers completed the look with a perfect softness and elegance.

The best part about working with Marian was that she took care of me!:)She emailed me after the wedding and made sure her photographer would send some photos for my portfolio. And her photographer, Lili Durkin was amazing too. She wasn’t just giving me some photos, she gave me all the best shots from Marian’s wedding day and even created a Hair & Makeup folder separately for me.  Thank you Lili for your generosity!


 

 

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Jennifer & J Wedding – St. Regis San Francisco

December 16, 2012

I love working with people and I remember faces really well. Faces fascinate me, especially the eyes and the smile. You can’t have a bad photo when you put on your brightest smile. And Jennifer not only has a bright smile, but it’s also very sweet and unique that you can’t help but smile back at her. And her wedding was just as beautiful.

Jen & I met about 5 weeks before her wedding day to try out the look after she already saved the date a few months before. At our trial, I asked Jen what would be her desired style for hair & makeup… She said, “I don’t normally wear makeup so I don’t want to look too made-up” and here’s the challenge part, “but I want to look glam & beautiful for my wedding day, but still me” (smile) …

I knew that smoky eyes will suit her eye shape best but in browns & neutral tones, not black, because anything too strong will overshadow her delicate features & that sweet smile. So, I started off with a more natural approach, then slowly add on colors for the eyes until we got to intensity that she was happy & comfortable with. Again, note that in photos, your makeup will show up a lot less than in person. So, it’s really a fine line there.

On Jen’s wedding day, I did her eye makeup a little stronger (than trial version) for 2 reasons:  (1) it has to last much longer and withstand a lot of activities throughout the wedding day, and (2) I’ve worked with Wayne and Angela a few times before so I’m familiar with their style and post processing style in a way. Jen did noticed & asked me about it. She was a bit nervous. But I reassured her that it was meant to be and once she puts her dress on, she would realize it would be just right & not too much. If I had done it any lighter, her wedding photos won’t turn out as nice.

Here are her beautiful pictures, photographed by the amazing husband-wife team photographers, Wayne & Angela

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A bridal shoot in 2011: Is she Jessica Alba?

June 12, 2011

Besides working hard for weddings last month, I also spent my time doing a few photoshoots, which I love to do. In one of those shoots, I worked on a model, Danielle Lombard, that looked just like Jessica Alba, especially after her hair & makeup was done. With her golden tan, that bright smile, and her big beautiful brown eyes, she reminded me so much of the famous actress.

I actually didn’t intend to make her look like Jessica Alba nor had I used Jessica’s hair/makeup as reference while working on Danielle. Only after the shoot that I found these photos online … So interesting!

Above: Danielle on left, Jessica on right

Above: Danielle on left, Jessica on right

It was such a fun shoot. We did 2 looks. For the yellow sun dress, we did a simple nude lip look in which I emphasized the eyes with long lashes & thick liner but keeping the eyeshadow really simple, and adding bronzers on the cheeks. The second look was a bridal look in which I had more fun, especially for her updo. For the bridal look, I used more gold & shimmery brown shades for her eyeshadow, keeping the long lashes the same, adding more shimmery highlight above her cheeks, adding a pinkish blush color  on top of the bronzer we did, and finally for the lips, I chose a peachy pink.

For photography, most of the time, the intensity of makeup colors always show up somewhere 20 – 40% less than what’s actually appear in person. So, what you see here (straight from the camera) is only 70% of the makeup you would actually see in person.

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pretty mom-to-be _ makeup for maternity shoot

June 13, 2013

Every woman knows that there’s a connection between looking good and feeling good. Doesn’t matter how old you are or what kind of work you do, married or single, pregnant or not, we women feel good when we look good. Aren’t we?  :)  And when we look good, we can’t hide that sparkle in the eyes and it just makes the world a much happier place.  And who’s to say that a pregnant woman doesn’t need to look good?

Sophia, who’s in her 32nd weeks of pregnancy, booked me for a Maternity shoot’s hair & makeup about a month before her date with photographer Leo Patrone. She wanted to look good and camera-ready for her Maternity session. Prior to the session, Sophia did send me 3 photos of her: 1 photo without makeup, 1 photo with her own makeup, and 1 smokey eyes makeup someone else had done for her (see photo below) which she liked. She told me she loves smoky eyes.

So, on the day of, she arrived at the studio and instantly I was thinking, “what a pretty mom-to-be!” I asked her what she wanted for her hair, she said “just some loose curls and all down”. So, we got started right away to not waste any time. I had to curl her hair a little tighter than I wanted, because since her shoot will be outdoor in Santa Cruz, I was worry that her fine hair will go flat in no time.

Sophia has good skin to begin with and a small face. I love how with just a little tiny bit of shaping, her face takes on definition and looking so good for the camera. She has a face that can take makeup really well. Great canvas! I love her bone structure.

Here are some very quick before/after snapshots I took of her … I have to confess that after I took these photos, I added more blush on her cheeks, because though the blush was very pretty & visible in person, it didn’t really show up in pictures. So, we did perfected the look a little bit after these few shots…

Thanks Sophia for letting me showcase your photos! I truly appreciate it!

 

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A glam up look for engagement session

May 18, 2013

Trish has a very cool, easy-going personality and it’s just simply fun to be around her. Love this girl!  She’s a nurse working in LA (though she was originally from the Bay Area) so she tried to squeeze in her appointments with vendors each trip back to the Bay. This time, she scheduled a trial with me plus planning an E-session with her photographer, Tyler Vu.  It’s clever.

If you don’t worry that your fiance would know how your makeup and hair will look like on the wedding day, then this is a great way to save you both time and money. It’d just take a little more planning and working out a timeline with both your makeup artist and photographer.

Trish doesn’t wear a lot of makeup daily, but she told her she wouldn’t mind wearing more for her wedding. A moderate glam-up look would be something she’s after. So, for makeup, I gave her brown smoky eyes with natural lip color, and good contouring for photo purpose; and wavy curls with lots of volume for her hair (a lot of teasing!) I had to do her hair a little bit more curly at the beginning because I know her fine hair wouldn’t hold curls very well and San Francisco winds will knock all those curls off in 30m. Because this was a trial so I just tried my best to work with what I have, but I told Trish we’d need hair extensions on her day-of -which she’ll provide me. With hair extensions, I will make this look many times better. She’ll rock a volumous wavy all down hair style with 2 sides pin back like this to frame her face… Can’t wait until I see her again this August!

Here are our iPhone capture for before/after:

And here are her amazing E-session photos with Tyler (www.tylervu.com/blog)

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Lucy & Wilmot Wedding _ Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park

May 15, 2013

Romantic, beautiful and Intimate! This wedding was my first wedding of the year, and I’m thankful I got to work with this amazingly kind, genuine and loving couple, Lucy & Wilmot.

Lucy saw me for a trial run only a week before her wedding (click here to see our trial), and she had Wilmot came with her to my studio, and that was how I got to know them both. They are made for each other!!!

I’m so in love with her photos because Carlie Statsky, her photographer, did such a phenomenal job, telling her wedding story in such a beautiful and romantic way, and action-packed too!

Enjoy!

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A natural youthful glow for Katerina

May 10, 2013

I can’t describe how happy I am every time I receive heartfelt thank-you note from my past brides. More than anything, I wish I did not only make my clients look good but also feel good and enjoyed their happy day to the fullest.

Katerina wrote:

“…. I loved my make up and hair and felt like a princess the whole evening! Thank you for doing such a wonderful job, Aimee! I am really happy I chose you! You worked with me despite the distance and even without a trial or a phone call and I appreciate it! You were so gentle and sweet during the sessions and made me feel so comfortable and relaxed… I really enjoyed having you as my make up artist and also for my girls and my moms! They all looked beautiful and felt amazing! Also, many thanks to Fiona for her work!:) 

As for posting my photos, please feel free to do so… You are more than welcome!”

Katerina flew in just 2 days before her wedding. Our communication was totally via email. But, she was a dream to work with, so sweet and easy-going. On the day of, she didn’t even ask for a mirror to check up on her makeup the whole time I was working on her. I think I had to force a mirror on her at one point & asked if she liked the individual lashes that I did.

Prior to the day of, Katerina sent me a picture of herself and a few hair styles that she liked, and her request for makeup was: a light airbrush tan to give the skin a little bit of color, a flawless foundation finish and an innocent/natural makeup overall. I understood her beauty reference right away. She wanted to look like herself but a sweet and enhanced version with a healthy glow. I totally agree she chose the right approach based on her features and personality.

With her big and beautiful blue eyes, I think us makeup artists would have the urge to put more on (so much room to play!)… but I didn’t. I worked with her wish in mind. I could’ve curl those lashes up higher, put a fuller/longer pair of lashes on to create a big “wow” … but I chose the brown-colored individual lashes instead, for them to blend in well with her real lashes, so in person others couldn’t even tell she had fake lashes on.

I can do glam to moderate glam to natural … and definitely I know too well that the first two styles (glam versions) will show up on pictures better and will benefit me as a makeup artist to later showcase my work. But my job wasn’t to do that. My job was to give my client the look that makes her feel beautiful and comfortable throughout the day in front of all her guests. There’s no use looking pretty in the photos after, but in person you feel like you have a mask on.

Thank you Katerina for trusting me 100% with your beauty and for allowing me to use your photos!

 

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