Stories – Aimee Makeup Artistry

Bridal Trial | Soft nude tone glamour and romantic half-up for Emily

glamorous lashes, soft natural tone overall, with hair extension for half-up Beautiful Emily was a joy to work with from beginning to the end. She knew what she wanted and it made things easier for me. I don't mind my bride being particular but reasonable and well-organized. I love it actually. If you do not know much about makeup or hair and want to leave it to me to help you decide, then what I would need is for you to start with what-you-don't-want. There's some thinking needed on both sides, the artist and the client. We have to narrow your likes/dislikes down because seriously there are so many ways to approach beauty. I don't have a cookie-cutter way to do makeup since I have a broad range of clientele. Back to our beautiful Emily here, she loves good skin work, contouring and enhanced eyeliner/lashes. I focused on making her skin flawless, with a good amount of contouring too but not so obvious. The lashes was fun! The part that took the most time was the curls! She knew her hair wouldn't hold any curls. Again, this is similar to K's blond hair (in another story below), very fine and low in porosity. We discussed via email about all this, therefore, Emily came with a box of extensions as I suggested. She tested the hair by going around SF after the trial and texted to let me know her hair was still holding all the waves nicely hours after. Before the wedding day, she had these extensions layered perfectly to match her real hair. It was so much fun getting Emily ready on her wedding day. I still remember all the laughters.

Bridal trial | Soft natural makeup and hair down for K

wavy curls with no hair extensions It was a pleasure working with this wonderful dietician! We had no problem with the makeup here at all, except... the curls! Once in a while I came upon the hardest hair to work with, that is very thin hair, meaning the width of an individual hair strand (diameter) is quite thin and it was also more flat on one side. K's hair also has low porosity, therefore, it doesn't take products and heat very well. Her curls fall flat within a matter of an hour or two (without touching). The result was beautiful, but all it would take is for me to run my fingers through the curls and they will instantly lay almost straight. I prepped her hair very well fyi. It was not due to lack of prepping. She and I both love love these 2 hairstyles on her, but given she'll be having an all day wedding in San Francisco, she worried. I told K for her hair type and the windy and high humidity level around SF, it probably would be best to consider updo. Therefore, we did have another trial and updo was the way to go. Actually, if she has an indoor wedding, the curls might last ok! Just not outdoor SF weather. Peace of mind is priceless, right? It's not fun to keep worrying about your curls on the day of. You want to hug people, move around and dance without fear. I wish there's a way to combat this problem with thin and fine hair, but there isn't unless the bride is willing to wear a full head of extensions. I'll share her 2nd trial with more makeup and in an updo soon.

Life is a school | Mastering different textures and creating movements

Soft curl textured updo vs. clean and elegant updo Anyone else agree with me that life is a school and there are endless classes for us to always improve ourselves? I'm so glad I was able to take this Master hair training with Tonya Stylist from Russia. I had this moment where I was about to cry happy tears seeing my own work. I've admired Tonya's work for so long and seeing myself being able to produce this kind of work, close to her perfectionist's movements, was priceless. I still need to practice a lot more but for now, I'm happy with my progress. I hope I'll always remain a curious, enthusiastic and hard working student for as long as I live and as long as I work in this beauty industry!

Bridal Trial | Soft glam makeup and updo for Steph

sultry eyes, bright coral lipstick, textured updo She's a true natural beauty! One of the most naturally beautiful faces I've had on my chair. Don't trust the "before" photo here because the camera just doesn't give plain faces much love (no contrast). But that's where I come in, making my clients more camera-ready, but the option to look more glamorous or natural in person is up to my client. Steph is 100% Vietnamese, yet she's always been mistaken for being half-white or Hispanic. I've worked with Steph 2 times already, so this trial was super easy. She loves the look here but we did decided to go more natural on the eyes for the wedding day, less eyeliner. I love her wedding photos very much. Will try to share it on my blog soon. So much marketing/website/admin and trials to do during these months, before the wedding season.

Bridal Trial | Can romantic and glamorous go together?

lashes for days, glamorous makeup Romantic and glamorous is how I would describe S's makeup & hair. This is a little different than the usual natural finish that I often get requested. I was excited to do something different! I had a lot of fun with this look for S! Since she loves lashes and a good glam, we balanced that with a soft loose side bun. Again, this was a tough updo to make because S has virgin black hair which is really hard to show the texture and S loved nothing but texture. Her hair length is shown here for my future brides to get an idea. It's a good length for this updo, but the front has to be trimmed to have more natural fallen strands to frame the face. On her wedding day, it was perfect. I'm sharing her wedding day photos here for you to see. I worked hard to make her side bun look as stunning in photos as it looked in person. The last 4 photos are taken by the amazing Jasmine Lee.

Bridal trial | Romantic beautiful wavy curls for Weikun

long hair with extensions Love these waves on Weikun! She was super happy with the outcome too. Did you notice there's extensions in the hair? Yes, we did add 1 row of extensions just to add some length to the style. Weikun has gorgeous hair color and also very ideal hair texture to work with already, therefore, the style turned out beautifully. I did use a lot of hairspray, but with careful prepping, it didn't appear crunchy & hair-sprayed. The extention is a little too long here, but I had Weikun colored and trimmed it to match her real hair perfectly for the day of. In general, to achieve a soft and romantic hair down like this for Asians, extension is our friend. It helps elongate the look in the back and make our faces look slimmer. You do not want "old-lady" curls. Curls can easily add years to Asians if the curls are too tight and/or if the hair is very thick and jet black. Of course this is not the rule and everyone's taste is different, but in general, I personally love styling hair down when the client has her hair already colored and extension is a plus.

Bridal Trial | Earthy bronzy soft glam eye makeup & romantic low updo

A big shoutout for this environmental engineer bride who does cross-fit and half time vegan. Can I be this good?! Claudia is definitely one of the clients that I'll always remember and appreciate. I plan to keep her heart-felt Thank-you card for 20 more years! She's young, energetic, athletic, and so thoughtful. I've been blessed with many amazing clients! She told me she loves a defined and soft glam look for her wedding day, although on a daily basis, she's the most natural and casual. Please don't mind the intensity of the makeup you see here. I think it was the way I set my camera and the lighting in my studio that day. In person, her makeup was not as intense, just soft smoky brown on the eyes and peachy coral lips. Due to her fair skin and dark hair too, perhaps, that the contrast in my photos for her seem a little off. I'm not a photographer, so it sometimes a hit or miss with my capture (sigh).

Bridal Trial | Soft glam and natural waves for Jenny

hair down with one side pinned back, no extensions I adore Jenny! Her skin was so beautiful. It was like porcelain baby skin. She has this super calm and beautiful presence, totally trusting my work and just so easy to work with. She told me what she wanted: natural makeup with a touch of glam for lashes is ok, and she wanted her hair all down or half up. As she doesn't have too much volume, I suggested Jenny to not do half-up because half-up means you'll take away some hair on the side to pull to the back. It's not a good idea for fine hair. Fine hair, especially if there's some thinning in the front, is best worn all down or one side pinned back a little like Jenny's. I hope you enjoy this transformation! I'm including some of her wedding photos in this story. Jenny got a nice trim to freshen the ends and her hair was longer on the wedding day. To make her hair look fuller and the curls last longer, I also did more teasing and more heavy-handed with products. The secret is to not make it look like it had a lot of products, of course. Photo credit: Jasmine Lee Photography

City Hall Bride | Natural Makeup paired with beautiful red lips

Early call time for this beautiful city hall bride of mine, 5am at my studio!!! Jessica was a dream client to have, so pleasant, so easy going. Keep in mind for city hall brides, usually we don't do a trial ahead of time. So, on day of, when we got to the lip color, Jessica was debating between red or neutral pink and she chose pink. Somehow I could sense that what she truly wanted was red, but just nervous. Knowing so, I started with the safe color, putting a little bit of natural pink on her lower lip first, then I step back and observe. I thought to myself, "pink looks nice but it didn't give her hazel eyes and her complexion a boost." So, with her permission, I went straight for red from there. Plus, her charming smile can carry a classy neutral red! Well, after the red color was on, her eyes lit up, and we had a winner! On to her hair, even though it was really short, we managed to turn it into an updo with soft strands in the front framing her face. I can't wait to see her wedding photos!

Bridal Trial | Very natural makeup and low elegant chignon

I would say this was one of my favorite low buns to do. I wish I had captured a before with her hair length shown, which was about 6" below shoulder I believe. She has the perfect length for this updo! Slimmer neck and shoulder line is always a plus for updo too, in my opinion. For makeup, she wanted the features to be enhanced, but nothing dramatic, just enough for photos. She hired Sally Pinera, one of the best photographers from LA. I was so excited about working with Sally. Another big thing for her was to feel comfortable wearing the makeup throughout the day. With her small face, I focused on making her skin bright and luminous, without too much coverage or contouring. I suggested her to do a little stronger for the eyeshadow and longer lashes to add depth, but the rest neutral. It was a success. She was super happy and we copied exact same look (but better) for her wedding. Note: I do not edit my makeup work! What you see is what you get. I do seek for good natural light when photographing my client and quickly edit my photos in Lightroom (to keep exposure consistent) but that would be all. I don't zip out any imperfections or retouch any lines of my makeup work. I want my future clients to know my skill is limited and I can only strive for perfection out of the situations/conditions given only.

Bridal Trial | Soft glam and loose textured updo

Another successful trial and another amazing client in my chair! She was happy with my work and that made my day. To show texture on straight, one-dimensional, black asian hair is the hardest! It took me an hour and forty five minutes for this updo. I'm still working on improving my skill for this type of hair. I spent a lot of time in prepping the hair and face shaping in front. My client has thinner hair too so manipulating the texture of her hair (for long lasting updo) was a lot of work but really satisfying when I could make it happen. M was another amazing person to work with, graceful and kind all the way. She loves fallen strands from the bun itself in the back for an effortless feel. I took note on this and will find ways to make it even more effortless-looking on the day of. Can't wait for this beauty's wedding day!

Bridal Trial | Youthful glow with half-up half-down

I love working with this angel! The absolute sweetest. She's blessed with thick hair texture plus A LOT of it! To control this type of hair is not an easy job. She told me her main concern is face shaping as her face is rather round and with a stronger jawline. I lifted her hair at the crown and changed the way her bang falls to show more of her forehead and therefore lengthen the face shape. This way, we can see more of her beautiful eyes and that sweet smile. I did minimal contouring with makeup, just enough for photos. Who says "contouring" mean adding darker shade onto your face? For Asian beauty, especially with fairer complexion, less is more with contouring. I've been trying to find out ways to shape faces with hairstyling techniques so I can minimize the makeup part.

Bridal Trial | A radiant, elegant and subtle glam for Meg

A Natural Look Like most brides, Meg wanted to look like the best and prettiest version of herself, but still on the natural side, and not glamorous. With a small face, balanced bone structure and a bright beautiful smile to boost, of course it wasn't difficult. As long as the skin, the eyeliner and lashes were done nicely, even without much shaping or contouring, she'd still going to be so photogenic. Please check out Meg and Evan wedding day photos on our blog and you can see how the makeup/hair shows up in full day light situation and through a professional DSLR's lens (photos by Jasmine Lee). Keep in mind that most of your wedding photos will be captured in half-body and full-body shots, unlike the trial where I would take photos mostly in portrait style, which would show your makeup more. Please check out her wedding via our Blog. Look for Meg+Evan wedding.

Portfolio Building | A soft glam session for Laura

A touch of glam for the makeup and a really pretty updo I had a chance to work with a beautiful bride Emily last September and from her wedding I got to meet Laura, her big sister. I loved Laura's gorgeous blue eyes and her happy energy so much I asked her to come sit as a model for me. I wanted to offer more updo styles for my future brides and I thought Laura would be such a joy to work with. I glammed up her blue eyes with warm browns and shimmery beige, plus short and medium length individual lashes on top to add more depth. I paid lots of attention to her skin too, ensuring it looks healthy and glowy, with rosy cheeks. I contoured a lot, but not in a way that'll look "contoured" which is not my personal preference for pale porcelain skin. Sharper contour looks better on darker skin. As far as the hair, I really enjoyed this ribbon-like twisty updo on Laura. What do you think? No heat tool was used for the bun, except curling the fallen strands. Would I say Laura's hair is the perfect length and volume to work with? Yes for length, very good for updos; but her texture is a harder one to work with. Her hair is so fine and easily tangled up. She has a lot of hair but mostly in the back, not much volume in front and sides. They won't hold curls too well either. So, in my profesional opinion, if you're a bride with this hair type, it's best to opt for an updo if your wedding will be a 7-10hrs affair, especially if there'll be some open space outdoor time such as ceremony, first look, or photo time. If you wear your hair down, you'll definitely need a box of clip-in extensions. It's to add volume and the extension curls will help hold up the curls for the real hair as well.

Portfolio Day | Testing multiple makeup & hair styles

understated glamour If you ask me which makeup and hairstyle I think will look best on you, I would say, "I don't know." You have to be the one deciding on that! In my own opinion, you probably can wear many styles, like my model here, but whether that style will best express who you are or not, only you can tell. Makeup & hair is an expression so there's no right or wrong. For brides, in terms of hairstyle, your dress will play a role in how you should style the hair. But, the most important factor is that the hairstyle should flatter your face. There's no use for a gorgeous look in the back but flat and unattractive look in the front. On a technical level as your beauty stylist, I have to say there's limitation in what I can do due to your hair color, volume and length. There are certain styles that short hair or thin hair won't be the best fit, or thick and too long won't be the best fit. In this testing here, as you can see, a slight change in the hairstyle change the whole look & feel. With braids, it's more boho. With a high pouf and pin back to middle, it's more classy and sexy. With it being pinned back just at the bang, it's youthful and sweet. I think all of these hairstyles look great on her. So, how do we choose? Go back to the dress, and the overall styling of your wedding!

Bridal trial | a romantic and timeless look for Gabby

romantic waves and understated glamour makeup Gabby asked me: "I want to look glamorous for my wedding, but also natural, is that possible?" I was thinking "Hmmm... sounds a little tricky," because what it means is she wanted me to find that perfect balance where her makeup does give her a WOW factor, yet soft and understated and allows her beauty to shine through. I have to say I can't do this for every face. For some faces, it's best we go straight for smoky eyes. For some faces, it's best we keep it clean and simple. But as soon as I saw Gabby, I knew her request would be possible! She has the right eye color and depth, plus the right bone structure for that "natural glamour" as she wished for. Loved working with this very pretty, sweet and super mellow bride-to-be!

Bridal Trial | Youthful, radiant, super natural finish

natural makeup, low messy updo What can I say about this wonderful client of mine? She's intelligent, down to earth, fun to talk to, love to laugh and ... DOESN'T LIKE TO FEEL LIKE SHE'S WEARING MAKEUP, especially lashes. And what's my role? Her wedding makeup artist! LOLOL My job is to deliver a look or a makeover that's most comfortable for my client, yet still make her feel enhanced, and most beautiful. She was super happy here. However, she wore this look to go do her Engagement Photoshoot at Lands End, and her photographer gave my bride an honest feedback, "You may want to consider wearing more lashes for your wedding day because it doesn't show in photos at all." I hope Cindy will approve of this! The lighting in my studio shows the makeup so well but on a real wedding day under bright light, your makeup will barely show up in pictures. What can help transferring to photos are your eyeliners and lashes = gives dimension. My job is to make my brides happy and feel comfortable in her own skin, but as Cindy said it herself, "the sweet spot is when you feel slightly uncomfortable with the amount of makeup." Can we make it the golden rule? And "slightly uncomfortable" is still subjective by the way!

City Hall Bride | Modern, radiant and effortless chic …

radiant skin, rosy cheeks, with stronger eyeliner and lashes I had a great pleasure beautifying this kindhearted, fun and sweet bride, Roberta. These are some photos from both her trial and her wedding day. Yes, "modern, radiant and effortless chic" was what she asked for in terms of the overall look and feel of her hair & makeup. With her very short and super fine hair, we still managed to whip it up into a clean and chic chignon. On her wedding day, she did ask for a few minor tweaks which was less foundation, but that was it. Her hair grew so fast so I could also make it into a much nicer bun, similar with one of the updo style Roberta originally asked for. Seeing her very bright and happy smile on the day of her wedding, after I was done with her hair & makeup, was the best feeling!

Bridal Trial | Smoky eyes & a romantic low updo for Beth

Radiant and sexy makeup paired with timeless elegant updo Beth had me at hello! One of the most cheerful person I've met met my entire life! She had this huge smile on her face the moment I came out to greet her. I knew right away we'd be a great match. Our communication was just super easy! It's the understanding between the artist and the client's preferences and personality that makes the final outcome from good to great. I would always try to understand where's my client coming from. Honestly it was a lot more mental work to do than me just going with what I want to do for a client in front of me. Even when I had super easy clients who told me "just do what you think is best for me," I'd still ask them questions and check in throughout the process. Here we had Beth telling me she loves drama and smoky in the eyes, but the rest she is happy to let me choose whatever I think is best. For hair, Beth really wasn't quite sure which style would suit her the best. With the photos of 3 favorite hair ideas she showed me, I gave her a quick preview on all 3. With limited time for the trial, if a client can not make up her mind with hair up or down, then we can not go for a fully finished, well-pinned and long lasting style. I can only show mostly the front and pin the back quickly. Her big YES moment was when we had the low updo. The last 2 trial photos are the ones we tried prior to the low updo and as you can tell, those did not help enhance her facial shape and features. --- Update: I've included a few of her gorgeous wedding photos here. I've made her updo more relaxed and effortless, compared to the trial. Head over to my blog later on tomorrow to see more of this wedding (5/23/19)

Special Occasion | A soft glam for this beautiful mom

brown smoky eyes, glowy skin Gina contacted me for her family photoshoot with her husband and her two daughters. She has learned about my work through her photographer Jenny Soi. As soon as I know Jenny would be photographing her, I couldn't help but feeling super excited. If you haven't seen her work, check out https://www.jennysoi.com. Gina was so unbelievably kind and made me feel so at ease, even though it was our first time meeting. My job felt like the easiest job in the world. We discussed the look and I chose a light brown smoky eyes for her because it will photograph well yet more natural. She always has full and long natural lashes already, so the one thing I wanted to look more glam was her eye lashes, by adding 1 light strip just to add fullness and a few individuals on top as well. For the hair, understanding new moms always have these funky baby hair sticking out, I made sure to spend an extra 10m to smooth and tame them down. She was very happy and that made my day! #iphonephotography

Style shoot | a blushing bride in the making

#iphone, #behindthescene Before I start working on a face, I always try to quickly take a mental note on what's to enhance and what's to improve. Since Emily has this gorgeous and kind blue eyes, I wanted to make her eyes the focal point. I spent most of my time designing her lashes. Honestly with this beautiful set of eyes, I can throw in a bronzy smoky style, which is very in now, and use a full set of lashes and call it a day. And she would look even more captivating especially for photos with smoky eyes. Smoky eyes will always photograph very well when done right. However, with the mood board Jessica Song from Blushing Joy Events created and the look of the venue, I knew I must keep the look more fresh and timeless. If you're curious about the mood board and our overall theme, head over to my Blog and see. My model's skin looks quite fair with some redness and imperfections too, so that is definitely something to be improved. I tend to leave the lip color to last once I'm done painting the rest of the face. Looking over to the table set up and seeing the decor installation and the bright bouquet, INSPIRED, I then mixed this poppy pink + cherry red for her lips. What do you think? See more gorgeousness of this shoot in my blog.

Bridal Trial | Classy Smoky Eyes for Lindsay

clean smokey eyes and tousled waves This beautiful lady was a dream to work with! My team and I did her wedding this past July and the day was filled with fun stories, dance moves and laughters from beginning to the end. Her blue eyes were so easy to glam up with a clean smokey and I kept that as the focal point for the look. She told me she would be more tan on the day of her wedding, so I airbrushed her face a little tanner than her natural tone just so we figured out the color choices ahead of time (lips, blush etc). What was so special for me was that while she was on her honeymoon, she texted me to let me know how much she loved everything about our makeup + hair services for herself, mom & her 9 bridesmaids!!! Thank you Lindsay for being the most gracious, thoughtful and fun brides to work with!

Engagement | Big Sur photoshoot

Glam It Up! J was so much fun to work with! An introvert like me, but she quickly warmed up. Her matter-of-fact stories and comments made our conversation really fun! She openly told me she loves getting her makeup done and wouldn't mind going more glam and stronger for her E-session, instead of keeping it soft and natural. However, we save the softer glam version for her upcoming city hall wedding. For this look, I did brownish smoky with a touch of golden/bronze shimmer. I would very much love to style her hair all down and wavy, but given her location will be from 4-6pm shooting in Big Sur, she opted for a side bun to keep her hair in place and not causing any fuss. She sent me some sneak peaks of the shoot right way and she looked like a model stepped out of an Ad.

Engagement | Barely there makeup and side chignon

Individual lashes and natural, barely-there makeup My beautiful client here asked for "natural" look. I've learned through the years that a simple request like "natural makeup" can mean so many different things from different people. It's not THAT SIMPLE to understand without asking more questions along the way. Some clients said "natural" because they're afraid of getting heavy colors or contour on them, but they do want to be glammed-up. Other times, "natural" was to described having little makeup with very subtle enhancement. As an artist, I love to listen and always think of a way to deliver the result my client wanted, but I also offer my thoughts and concerns as how it would photographed, and then let them decide. Here, seeing that Cindy was happy when I chose a blush color that was more like a earthy peach and yields no pink tone, I knew her "natural" request was the real natural. Cindy was very happy about her makeover. She gave me a Yelp review right away. Thank you so much!

Bridal Trial | Neutral smokey eyes for Alice

romantic smokey eyes and peachy nude lips Alice has such a sweet and charming personality and it was my pleasure to be chosen as her makeup artist for her wedding day. Working with her was so easy because she is such a joyful, calm, and happy person inside out! Alice saw me for an Engagement session, then a few months later, she met me for the trial. Why did we choose smokey for her look? Because smoky gives her eyes more depth and with neutral tones that I chose, it would not look overdone or "clubbing". With just the perfect amount of smokey, the eyes will be photographed best. Of course there are other ways to glam up Asian eyes, but personally I find a tasteful smokey eyes with the right choice lashes will always instantly glam up any women!

Engagement | San Francisco | A natural and sweet look for Elsie

Fresh, natural and romantic In Elsie's words, "I want to look fresh, natural yet elegant... I like braids too but I'm not sure my hair is long enough." Well, making her look fresh and natural was quite easy, so was some braids in her hair. The moment I saw Elsie, I automatically felt a happy and calm energy about her. She wore her pretty dress inside but with an oversized jacket outside. I could enhance her eyes way more because her eyes can carry more makeup, but I asked her, "between natural and glam, which way you would rather go for given you need more for photos?" She said, "Natural" with a smile, "because I don't wear makeup often." She sat so still and was just a perfect canvas for me to work on. Great session!

Family photoshoot | Fun and glamorous

bright-eyes, rosy cheeks, and photo-ready makeup What a great pleasure to have Claire back in the studio! Unlike her wedding day look which was a fancy high updo and glamorous lashes, this time we went a more fun and casual look with added braids for her not-very-long hair (below shoulder length). Claire has such beautiful features already, and noted the cute dimples. The only help she needed was just evening out the skin color, giving more depth to her eyes and pretty rosy cheeks. Knowing she would wear a bright yellow dress (last photo), and given the photoshoot would start much later at 5pm, I added an extra pop of pink for her lips and rosier cheeks. Makeup does settle in and gets lighter or blended into your skin as time goes by, so a little more than you think you needed at first is always a good idea.