Camille

Camille is my Singapore-based bride. I first met up with her, together with her husband Alex, when she booked me, then the 2nd time for trial makeup at her home in Las Pinas. By the 3rd time, which was on her wedding day, I was already quite comfortable with her. We have been emailing back and forth too regarding the details of her and her entourage’s hair and makeup so by the wedding day, everything was set. We were all just relaxed and having a good time during preps. The only thing that kept this from being perfect was the horrendous EDSA and SLEX traffic (doesn’t Manila traffic always always get in the way?). Almost all the suppliers were late because of this, but we all managed to keep up and do our job on time.

Before I post Camille’s before-and-after photos, I just remembered what she told me before I took pictures of her. She said “Dream ko talaga malagay before-and-after photos sa blog mo!” Haha! Every time I have wedding posts in this blog, it always gets the most number of hits, and I think it’s because of this. So here it goes!

Before:

Camille has one of the neatest sets of eyebrows I’ve seen, so I don’t have to do much about them. She just requested for natural makeup, which was different from the more dramatic look we did during her trial

After:

Here are more photos from Paolo Feliciano:

Easily my favorite pic. This is simply gorgeous! I could have this printed and include it in my portfolio but Camille’s hair is not yet done. How I wish there’s another pic like exactly like this but with her hair upstyled already!

Congrats Alex and Camille!

Project Level Up Part 3: NEW MAKEUP GEAR!

After finishing my logo and website, I was also itching to upgrade my makeup gear. I have been canvassing around and asking other makeup artists for months on what I could buy, and I finally settled on these three:

1. MAKEUP CHAIR

I bought a wooden makeup chair from Quiapo before for around P3,500. It’s ok, but I realized that not anyone could really sit in it, especially if my client is a bit on the heavy side. After over a year it’s now a bit rickety, so I stopped bringing it with me. I’ve heard of horror stories from other clients where the chair broke apart while someone is sitting on it, and I would definitely not wait for that to happen. I was searching for a chair with sturdy aluminum frames but I can’t find any available locally. Good thing my good friend and makeup artist Faye Young showed me her aluminum makeup chair when I visited her in her makeup studio. She ordered it online from Amazon and had it shipped here. The inggitera that I am, I ordered mine that same night! After 1 1/2 months, it finally arrived at my house =)

The height is perfect! I have scoliosis and my back hurts easily when I bend down a lot, so this is really heaven sent.

I like  this foldable thing at the left of the chair, I could set up my makeup here. No need for a table =) The chair also comes with a detachable canvas pouch which you could attach at the right side of the chair and a net that you could put below the seat if you want to put some stuff there, but I decided to remove them so it won’t be too bulky.

Of course it’s foldable so you could easily bring it anywhere. It’s also very, very lightweight, much lighter than the wooden one. I could carry it effortlessly with just one hand.

COST: $60.000 (P2,580.00) plus $30 (P1,290) shipping to New Jersey (because the store can’t directly ship to Phils so I have to have it shipped to my tita in New Jersey, who will ship it for me here) plus $50 (P2,150) shipping to Philippines.

TOTAL COST: P6,020 (not bad, considering that this would definitely last for years. Instead of buying branded, high-quality wooden makeup chair like the one from Makeup Forever which costs P16,000 plus, this one’s worth the price)

2. MAKEUP TROLLEY

I have separate makeup boxes for traditional makeup and airbrush makeup. Whenever I do weddings and other projects that require airbrush makeup, it is quite a pain to carry all of them because both kits does not have wheels. So I was looking for something with wheels that could fit all my stuff.

When I visited makeup artist Gold Magtoto at her condo (she wanted to buy some of the Makeup Designory makeup I was selling), I found out she’s also selling makeup kits, malettes, trolleys, and chairs. I have this particular trolley that I was eyeing for weeks now and when she said she has that model and showed it to me, I bought it on the spot! Here’s what it looked like:

The good thing about this is that it could be divided into two!

I bring the smaller one when I go to magazine shoots and other projects which just require basic makeup, and I attach it to the bigger one if I need to do airbrush makeup.

You could open up the bottom compartment like this:

It’s actually quite spacious and I could still put a lot of stuff there, perhaps my hairstyling equipment. Below that is where I put my air compressor.

And the smaller kit/upper compartment opens like this:

Again, no need for a table, I could work out of the kit. It’s stroller-type so no more lugging around heavy bags!

(without the upper kit)

It’s the ultimate Transformers makeup kit. I like how it’s so versatile, I could just carry the upper kit, the lower kit, or both!

COST: P6,800 (much lower than if you buy this from Suesh, which sell it at P8,500)

Gold has other makeup kits such as malette with stand and lights (P14,000), wooden makeup chair (P3,800), small makeup kit (P2,800). Her prices are definitely lower than most suppliers.  You could contact her at 0918 941 4529 if you’re interested to check out more of her products.

3. MAKEUP MALETTE WITH STAND AND LIGHTS

I already have a small malette with lights that I bought in Quiapo last year, but I wanted to buy a bigger one with stand for the sole reason that it looks more bongga in wedding photos. Haha.  I was telling makeup artist Denise Go-Ochoa when I met her again in a wedding (she did the bride’s makeup and I did the entourage’s) that I wanted to buy a bigger one, and she told me she’s selling hers already. I don’t mind buying a 2nd hand makeup malette as long as it’s in good condition, and I said I’m very interested to buy hers. This is what it looks like:

it’s also stroller type, and it opens up to this:

COST: a steal at P5,000!

Denise also sells TSZ Airbrush Makeup, so if you’re interested in buying or trying out TSZ (this is what she uses for her TVCs such as Pantene and in magazine covers such as Preview and Metro), you could contact her at 0917 320 7500 or check out TSZ’s Facebook page.

I’m so happy with my new makeup gear. Now this is quite THE set up!