getting make-up off of make-up haters

much like the cowboys dislike of make-up...I frequently encounter many others that can't wait to scrape, scrub, or smear it off...

namely men, kids don't seem to care, and women who wear no more than chapstick...

so on my journey I've dicovered some make-up removers I love:

here are the winners:

if you have access to water...then I love the disposable washclothes from Huggies

they fold open like a real washcloth size

they are textured so it really cleans your skin

they are hypo-allergenic and smell nice

Kandee tip: I take them with me when I travel so I have a sanitary means of washing my face...I am kinda a mild germaphobe...so I don't really like using hotel washclothes on my face....who knows what those things have scrubbed...yuck)

If you need to get make-up off, on-the-spot style...then I like:

Pond's Make-up Remover Towelettes- they work really well, but I can't stand the smell...they are a lot cheaper than the MAC make-up removers..and when you go through as many as I can on a shoot...I just try not to breathe the stink in...

cowboys hate make-up

but they all obliged me...and called me ma'am...i loved it

it was about 100 degrees and we worked right in the way of all the cowboys, horses, cows, and sheep...it was pretty hot and very dirty...everynight I walked to my car with a fine layer of visible manure all over me...ha ha ha

we'd wait til the rodeo was over each night to start shooting...and go until 3-4 am

I applied pure vitamin E oil, Glycerin, and some greasy moisturizer in layers to make the sweat "look perfect"

Then I dabbed on my special mixture of "dirt" quite strategically to their faces and necks....

then I had to do my special ear trick...but I'll mention that in a sentence or two

this campaign recently won the  Graphis International Advertising Gold Award

we shot this during the "richest rodeo", the Reno Rodeo

I wish I had copied of the whole campaign...each cowboy had a cool theme shot that tied into their specialty (bronc riding, roping, barrel racing)

*this shot was in the middle of the day, but with the lighting it looks like night....I had to put a mixture of emollient and black eyeshadow and apply it to the backs of his ears so that the intense lighting didn't make his look all translucent and pink -not cute for cowboys- glowing pink ears

there was a crew from NY shooting a documentary on the rodeo life at the same time...it was a fun shoot and I enjoyed being served funnel cakes and corn on the cob as our snacks...

Chola Chola Chola

orale...fresh off my bicycle with the chain steering wheel...

this is from some of the pictures for my "It's a gangster Christmas" card

I hope my gramma will think it's funny...she actually has a lowered Impala...for real! Her maiden name, Rodela...means wheels... orale

Chola make-up gets a bad rap...it's kinda like a really cool art form...

For anyone who wants to see some chola-glam to inspire something else...here's some chola tips:

Start with heavy foundation- go to town contouring 

Emphasize the cheekbones with dark bronzer or deep rose blush

FOR THE EYES:

*use the lightest concealer or white eyeliner all over the lid -  lashes to brows

*pack on white or pearl eyeshadow lashes to brows

*contour the crease and blend upwards from crease to outer corner of eyes with a purpley-grey or steel blue

*bust out the liquid liner and line from the inner corner to the cat-eye wings...do  the same with the bottom and blend into outer wings to the liner wings from the  upper lid

DO NOT forget to draw some crazy eyebrows with liner or a sharpie (not really)

I was going to apply mustache wax to my eyebrows, then apply foundation and powder and you look as if you shaved them off...but I didn't have my make-up kit with the wax with me....

FOR THE LIPS:

you have 2 options....the pale...line your lips with MAC spice liner...and fill in with MAC Myth (a pale nude that looks like concealer) lipstick and use a gloss like MAC C-Thru

the option I went with is:

*MAC lipliner in STONE (a dark brownish-grey) line slightly outside your natural lips

*fill in with MAC Viva Glam I (a dark rose-plum)

*CHOLA trick- go over liner with black eyeliner and really get the corners of the  mouth Fill it in a little bit towards the center of your lips

 *go over the black liner with a dark burgundy-plum eyeshadow to soften it up and   make it look nice and dry

I know you won't paint it up chola style for your next date....but if you don't know what to be next year come October 31st......."put some highliner in jor aye"

viva la dark lipliner homes!

Ralph Lauren Shoot-mockery

kandee: waiting to make-up 2 adults and 3 kids

you know those Ralph Lauren ads were they show families clad in sweater, scarves, and perhaps a nice pair or corduroy pants... sitting in front of a fire placce or perhaps somehwere on the outskirts of their winter ski home estate...and none of them interacting with one another...just concentrating on their beautifully, vain eye contact with the camera....well that was the basid for this Ralph Mockery shoot...

man wearing obnoxiously, bright red pants, and an ascot holding  very expensive pair of glasses in teeth while sipping a glass of real bourbon (no ice tea fake-out here) 

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woman in tall riding boots and white jodhpur pants with a vest and another ascot

I had to warn her not to be scared when she looked in the mirror...because the light was really intense on one side of her face....I had to add a lot of contouring and blush to one side and not the other....but in real light it looked a little scary..ha ha ha)

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fancy mansion house with a 20 tall Christmas tree decorated in pearls and other sparkly ornaments that I loved

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2 cute kids and one 5 year old that just cut a huge chunk out of the front of his hair that I had camouflage

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hunting dogs that were in the picture for atmosphere

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me catching the photo assistant sipping a Fat-Tire Beer(he said it was Non-Alcoholic)

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the kids doing and holding the most "snooty" poses 

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one of the funniest shoots I've seen in a long time

some good lip service

I love this stuff! My sister just gave this to me for my "Christmas on Thanksgiving" present...and it is so awesome...let me count thee ways for you:

1. it cancels out all redness around the lips which will make lipliner/lipstick look crappy because the redness from your lips will always make the color look different

(bonus fact: women's hormones naturally increase the redness around women's nostrils, and lip and chin area....i know...not very cute)

2. provides the perfect canvas for a perfect looking pout - because it is the perfect grey-ish pink color...

3. now I don't have to slather on concealer...which is what I've always done to get the perfect "no color" canvas to apply lipcolor/liner so it stays longer and looks perfect

4. lipstick won't feather or bleed color to the outskirts of your pout

and last but not least..it takes 2 seconds to put it on..

and those little tricks are the ones that make your make-up look like a professional did it...

so show off your professional smackers...

now off to make sure my kit is fully stocked for my shoot this afternoon....

and I have to hunt for a blue wig for a Smurf's commercial next week....if only the store's didn't keep all their post-October 31st clearance wigs out til now...ha ha ha

how to fix broken eyeshadow in 2 steps

unlike a broken heart...eyeshadow can be fused back together in just a couple seconds...

there are a bunch of other people with advice on how to do this...that involves grinding the eyeshadow back into powder...plastic bags...paper clips....ugh...way too many steps for such a simple healing trick...

What you need:

*broken eyeshadow (ofcourse)

*a finger tip (fingers are so amazing...I'm so glad I have 10 of em')

*rubbing alcohol (70% is what we be needin')

Step 1: sprinkle a few drops of the rubbing alcohol on the broken eyeshadow

making sure that the eyeshadow has evenly soaked up the alcohol (we want damp shadow...not soggy)

Step 2: press down on the eyeshadow with your fingertip - compacting the shadow back into the form of it's container 

you can use the kleenex for this part too if you want a "fingerprintless" pattern...

Extra Step trick: if you want you can go crazy...take a coin, wrap it in tissue,sock or t-shirt and press it into the eyeshadow for a more "fresh from the store" look

that's it.....wet, press, and you're good to go, well after the alcohol fully evaporates that is.....an hour or so should make it dry and ready for more abuse

Traveling with Make-up

whether your packing heat for personal make-up use or for a shoot....here's some tips that'll save your beautification investment....

this is just my personal make-up I brought to play with from my recent trip...

I put all my make-up (especially anything powdery - eyeshadows, blush, face powder...my brushes) in hard plastic containers that you can find at any store with a "plastic storage" aisle...

*it's like having insurance for your make-up...nothing will shatter (well it shouldn't) if you drop it

*it prevents your brushes from getting smashed and mis-shapen

*and it's easy to see everything

( i know this is blurry)

this is my personal eyeshadow palette...which I've labeled "PEEPERS" for my eye shadows

I label all my palettes so I don't have to waste time opening and checking what's inside

(a label-maker is a fun little investment for situations such as this-and it looks neat)

*for make-up kit palettes you can label even further...with eyeshadow palettes broken down into browns, purples, neutrals...you get the idea)...same with blushes and so on

I happened to be driving on my trip...but if you're going by plane...I always take my palettes on board with me.....I once got off the plane for a job...and after checking my make-up case...I opened it to find every color eyeshadow and blush....had cracked and turned into a rainbow of powdery broken pieces EVERYWHERE! (note: shimmery and sparkly eye shadows will crack easliy due to the large sizes of the "glittery" particles)

I did drop one of my favorite discontinued eyeshadows on this trip and it broke...so I will give you the magic trick to fix those in my next blog...