Another works in the .. works.. :)

Elle Magazine - Aqua Rouge by Make Up For Ever Advertorial

 Elle Magazine - Aqua brows

Love,

A

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Bat your lashes, and lash out

Dear blushers,

I'd like to fill you in on a little secret I have. I have this obsession that I don't think my husband even knows!
I am obsessed with....

Fake Eyelashes

Really. When I say obsessed, I really mean obsessed. Instead of having just enough, my idea of false eyelashes is pretty much the same as having a pair of shoes. You can NEVER have enough of it!

Here's something that will make you agree how obsessed I am with the lashes. Those are just SOME of my lashes. I still have boxes of lashes safely stacked in my secret compartments. :D  Anyway, now let's talk more about the lashes and less about my obsession...! We're definitely blessed to be living in this time. There are so many kinds of lashes out there:

There are interesting fashion lashes...

'normal' pretty lashes...

must-have bridal lashes and many more..

Did you know, false eyelashes was first invented by the American film director D.W. Griffith while he was making his 1916 epic, "Intolerance"? Griffith wanted his actress Seena Owen to have lashes that graced her cheeks, to make her eyes shine larger than life. A wigmaker wove human hair through fine gauze, which was then gummed to Owen's eyelids. As the procedure was rather expensive (and tedious), only famous people could afford it. So not much awareness there then.

And then, in 2004, a breakthrough in material production. False lashes owed its current popularity status to several Asian countries known to the world by their search for beauty. Those countries are none other than Korea and Japan, who introduced the single lash application technique, and individual lashes technique, hence creating an easier application. Not only that, because of the technique, we can now afford to have a more natural, fuller, thicker (and SEXIER) lashes.

False lashes are now produced using either with human hair, sythetic materials or a combination of both, and is applied with eyelash glue. There are even permament lashes, also known as eyelash extensions, that are available for those who would like to wear the lashes for a longer period of time (although, after experiencing what it felt like, I wouldn't recommend it. The glue stings! And when your real lashes naturally fall out, it carries a whole lot of the fake lashes too, leaving you with bald spots. Not pretty.)

Some of the beautiful false lashes that I often used on my models are the ones that are proudly produced right here in Indonesia. (Did you also know that Indonesia is one of the largest manufacturers of false lashes, supplying its lashes all across the world? *clap clap*)

However, there are some lashes that really just took my breath away..

Paperself lashes are designed and produced by PAPERSELF, who was launched in 2009 by London based designer Chunwei Liao. It sole purpose was to unite artists, designers and manufacturers from East to West, challenging conventions of product design.. and beauty. Their lashes are simply beautiful.

Inspired by the art of Chinese paper-cutting, Paperself eyelashes blend an element of traditional culture with contemporary design. Intricately cut and delicately pretty, they are now available in 11 styles.

Another one that I have to give my wholesome credit to is Koji  - Dolly Wink false lashes. It is designed by the very famous Japanese gyaru doll-faced Tsubasa Masuwaka. I was pretty skeptical at first. I mean, any celebrities can just lend their name to any products and claimed to be super nice right? Oh man was I wrong.. the lashes are soo sooo gorgeous, and really, you can pretty much stop any taxi with those lashes. It doesn't make you look like a drag queen too.. that's a plus point there.

I promise to make a special review on these lashes, but just in case you're curious to get your hands on these Dolly Wink lashes, make your way to Sogo or Debenham, or Guardian (not all Guardian stocked them though..) Highly recommended!

 Here are some illustrations on how eyelashes (when done properly) can enhance your eyes even more:

 This model, like many Asians, has monolids. With proper use of false lashes, it helped create double eyelid for both of her eyes, making her eyes appear larger.

This beautiful model is my every supportive mom. Volunteering (forced actually :D) herself to become one of my victims, she wore a stagerring 4 layer of false lashes, one on top of the other in each eye. What a trooper. Can you see how it helped to 'lift' sagging eyelids? Love you mom!

Promise to keep my promise for the eyelashes review..!

Till then, Love,
A

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Works works works..

Elle

Female

 

Highend Teen

Highend Teen

 Love,

A

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Makeup Through the Decades

I was very blessed to be given the opportunity to have my take on how I see make up through the years. This was done for Fashion TV magazine Indonesia, the pearl edition. Thanks to the super talented stylist that further realised the vision. The shots turned out amazing!

1 model

7 looks

here we go..

Love,

A

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My First Make Up Guru

Dear Blushers,
Today I wanna tell you guys about my first ever Make Up guru. He's the first person to really inspire me about make up, even brought out the curiosity and passion to know and learn more about it. I can honestly say that if I didn't know about him, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing right now. Seriously. He is that influential on me. And till this very day, would you believe that I still flip through his books like my beauty bible?
So, who is he? He is none other than ... Kevyn Aucoin!

A LOT can be said about Kevyn, and it would take me forever (and hundreds of blog pages) to just gush how awesome his works are. I believe he was and is the first Celebrity Make Up Artist, a celebrity by his own right. I realise I'm not very good in summarising his life, so I took this lovely excerpt of Kevyn from Lisa Eldridge website (http://www.lisaeldridge.com):

"Kevyn became interested in make-up at a very young age. As a young, obviously gay, flamboyant boy with a passion for make-up, growing up in Louisiana in the 60’s and 70’s was extremely difficult but despite being relentlessly teased and bullied he stuck to his dream of becoming a make-up artist.

In 1982 he moved to New York where he ambitiously perused his career. Initially working for free with up-and-coming models and photographers, he was discovered by Vogue and championed by their then beauty editor Andrea Quinn Robinson. For the next year and half, he worked closely with legendary photographers Steven Meisel and Irving Penn before shooting his first Vogue cover in 1986 with Cindy Crawford – over the next three years, he did the make-up for 18 more!

Kevyn had a legion of celebrity fans from Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Sharon Stone even the late Audrey Hepburn.

He was a real style leader and truly innovative. His talent was quickly recognised by Revlon, who hired him in 1993 (aged just 21!) to be the Creative Director of their new prestige make-up line Ultima II. With them, he developed a make-up line called The New Nakeds (later renamed The Nakeds), which broke all of the trends for cosmetic brands at the time as it incorporated make-up for women of all skin tones. He also used a variety of neutral, matte, tones in his face, eye and lip products that went against the best-selling vivid colours of the time but that followed his belief that make-up should be a tool in helping people to discover their natural beauty. Kevin led the way for brands like Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, which were also built on this aesthetic.

In a way his most enduring legacy to the world of make up was creating the original ‘Nude’ Look, and particularly his take on a look that I like to call ‘Heavy Natural’. Using neutral tones of mainly matte texture he would sculpt, define, highlight, shape and tone a face, minimizing and maximizing features like no one before him (or since!). It was a look, which has become synonymous with the late 80’s early 90’s and although he moved on from this style later in the 1990’s I think most of us will always remember and admire him for that particular vision of beauty.

Tragically, Kevyn passed away in 2002, not long after he finished working on his own brand, Kevyn Aucoin Beauty, but his legacy definitely lives on."

Such a loss for the world, to lose someone with an exceptional talent in beauty. Whether you are an aspiring Make Up Artist, an Established Make Up Artist, or just someone who likes make up, I really urge you to get his books and be truly inspired.

This is his first ground breaking book, that holds a very special place in my heart.

followed by his next inspiring follow up books

now do you believe me when I said I've learned my contouring techniques from a young age too? :D



Kevyn, you are indeed deseved to be called a Guru.


Love,
A

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Photoshoot

Having your first photoshoot assignment can be very daunting. The intimidating studio. The stereotypical bitchy models. The pressure to have your make up just perfect. The demanding stylist. The super sharp-eyes photographer that's ready to pinpoint your every mistake. A lot can go wrong.. or can it?

- I believe good preparation is the key. Have them send you their reference looks and concept, and openly discuss with the stylist before, during even after the make up is done. You're bound to have changes on the spot, and you just have to be ready for it. The good news is, sometimes changes can be good, especially when they like what you do to improve their concept.

- Have a professional attitude always, come on time or earlier even.

- Have a good set of makeup remover wipes. When you're rushing, this can be your lifesaver to save time..!

- Always bring a clean set of tools, whether that is your brush or sponges. I just think dirty messy tools scream lazy and unhygienic. You'll win points with the model and the stylist.

- Bring extra.. of everything. Extra brush, extra cotton buds, extra lashes, extra glue, extra whatever.

- Don't be surprised if your makeup look so different behind the lens. As we all know, lighting will affect how your makeup will turn out to be like. So don't panic, take it easy, just have your touch up tools ready at all times.

- Last but not least, be confident and just relax and have fun... It's not as daunting as you think :)

What? Hairstylist didn't show up? No worries, let's just do some simple hair styling updo..

 

Me with Cata that was having a major tummy ache that day, so instead of forcing her to sit through the gruelling hours, why not offer my lap and let her catch some sleep?

All done with Cata looking fierce and fabulous after her nap :)

Love,

A

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Indonesian style VS 'Bule' style

Whoa! This is an all different thing to talk about here. We can even dissect the topic into a more focused discussion, and in the end we can talk about this for days, weeks, months, years.. who's counting?

With no offense to my western friends, I use the term 'bule' because I think it's easier for us to generalise the Western style, even though it may originate from different countries. So 'bule' here is a term we use to speak on behalf of American, French, Australian, Italian, English etc etc. Oh, btw, bule means Westerners in Indonesian. :)

In terms of make up, I believe without a doubt there's a HUGE difference of styles between these two. Let's just take a couple of random examples. We'll start this interesting analysis by showing a couple of famous bule icons:

And now, let's bring out a couple of well known Indonesian celebrities:

Okay then, where shall we begin? I'm sure all of you can see the 'subtle' difference of make up styles between the two?

I'm an Indonesian, and I live here, and quite honestly, seeing this thick make up, applied super generously on the faces of the women here doesn't even make me raise my eyebrow anymore. How do you say it? It's just their cup of tea, and slowly I've come to accept it too. Not to me, personally, but I understand it's what they mostly look for when they go to a make up artist to get their make up done.

Here's a quick recipe on how to get the Indonesian celebrity make up look. You need:

- Thick foundation (even better in cream), 1 to even 2 tones lighter than your skin.

- Even thicker powder. Acne scars? Zits? Moles? Gone!

- Really sharp, defined eyebrows. Not a hair out of place, if there is, pluck it!

- SHADING. I have this joke with my students. You're not a true Indonesian if you haven't shade your cheekbones AND the most important thing of all; NOSE. Your nose have to look super straight, super sharp and super curiously will make people ask themselves whether it's cosmetically enhanced.

- Fake Eyelashes. This is it. The secret. The motherload of all makeup ship. Without fake eyelashes, I doubt anyone of the Indonesian celebrities would dare walk out their door. I'm not talking just a pair. We're being modest with 2 pairs. Yes my dear obssesionistas, we're in a different league here. We're talking 3 pairs and above. Rumour has it that Syahrini wore 5 pairs of fake eyelashes every single time. Hence, the famous 'bulu mata anti badai' (anti storm lashes).

Here I'm demonstrating what I meant on how the same style of makeup, but with different intensities can look like (have your finger close one side when comparing to appreciate the full change):

left: typican Indonesian makeup (here I only used 3 fake lashes)

right: same style, but softer look (i use 1 fake lashes)

Okay, I'm not being critical on this. Like I said, living here and seeing this type of makeup on a daily basis, I've come to accept it that this is what the public wants. I'm not saying it's horrible, but it sure is different. Anyone who would like to step out in a different style is welcome to try this look. I guarantee, it will make heads turn. Finish it off with the famous blowdried bouncy hair wave, and I'm sure no one would question whether you are truly an Indonesian :)

Until our next analysis,

Love,

A



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my REAL life :)

Hi there bloggers and make up addicts in the blogsphere...!

Forgive me for not writing for so so long.. omg, it"s been almost 2 years since I last posted! That IS long..

BUT

within that 2 years, a lot of things have happened, so let me quickly give you an update;
. i'm a proud mom to the most gorgeous, most talkative baby I've ever met, Chloe Daniella Joewono.
She came into the world after a giving me a 32 hour struggle, and one look into her face, I just knew I would go another 32 hours for her.
Okay. That's a lie. 32 hours okayy!! Who do you think I am? Wonderwoman? I aint gonna go through that again yo! I'm not equipped for that I think.. but really people, for all the pain and discomfort, she IS definitely worth the fight :) and I thank God every time I looked at her smile, for she is truly my living, breathing miracle..

Our first family Picture - 26 Dec 2010

. i'm now teaching make up. Oh Em Gee. Can life get any better than this? Well I guess it can, coz I'm teaching in one of the make up academies that are famous for its make up, and that's Make Up For Ever (MUFE). *scream* I love teaching. I love make up. and I love MUFE products! It's just the perfect combination. Give me a talented, easy-to-teach, eager-to-learn student, and I'll definitely know its a dream. It's just too perfect.. Hahahaha.. But I literally wake up super early, got ready for work (while humming along to a song) with a smile on my face. It's weird (and annoying), I know, but that's how much I love my job.

That's me re-arranging the model's headpiece, with my student finishing her work

. Never in my head or imagination would I imagine saying this; I have done quite a number of fashion shows (Alberta Ferreti, Jean Paul Gaultier, several Indonesian designers etc), Photoshoots for famous magazines and even weddings. It started slow, but I'm making my mark in the make up world, one foundation at a time.

So my dear friends, with that, let me give you my word that from this moment on, I'm gonna dedicate myself to writing and updating this blog of mine with everything and anything that is in my brain.. It can be things related to make up, or even simple tips and tricks that I've discovered along the way that would help you in your make up routine.. Either way, I do hope that it would turn all of you into my 'beautiful blushers'..

Write to you tomorrow..!

Love,
A

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