20 Dec 2010

IMATS show

Here is more about makeup shopping (OK so it is in the the future in Jan 2011, which is not so far away now) dates can be seen on the IMATS site. This is a great 2 day show in London, for makeup artists whether they are new or seasoned. There are various talks by top makeup artists (TV, film, celebrity etc) in the industry and lots of stalls by makeup companies like MAC, Make up Forever to name a few, Also, you will find big makeup schools like Greasepaint etc too. The show is open to anyone as long as you can buy a ticket you can get in. If you are a student, bring a letter to get a discount on the ticket.

If you go to the IMATS site, you will see a link to fill a form out to make a Pro makeup artist discount card which entitles you to several discounts within IMATS especially on the magazine called Makeup Artist.

I look forward to the show every year as I get to meet some amazing people, get to hear attend some amazing talks / demos, make a few discount cards with certain makeup brands, check out new products and so much more.

Depending on how tired I am, I might even attend the second day this year.

Looking forward to buying an air brush kit so I can do some creative work.......(Temptu, Dinair, IWATA here I come)

Kryolan / Dermacolor Products

A lot of you ask me about the foundations I use in my work. The answer to that is I use a whole variety but for stage make-up or heavy coverage (to hide marks or scars) or for photographic make-up I like to use Kryolan products. They have a range called Dermacolor which is great to camouflage things like tattoos or heavy pigmented areas (melasmas, birth marks, blemishes or eye bags).

I have bought 2 palettes which are great for any make-up artist, one is Light and the other is called medium (great for any make up artists' kit, as we need a range of colours to mix and match). I thought this was great for my Western and Asian models / clients). I also bought a concealer wheel darker colours which can be used on darker skin tones as concealers, as foundations for a heavy coverage or simply as contouring colours on medium / dark skins.


Lastly, there is an empty palette here which is great if you have other brands' concealers and you want to make your own concealer palette (I have several MAC ones that could use this for. These make great lipstick palettes. Just make sure you label them under each well with a permanent marker pen. Palettes save you taking several make-up items and considerably lightens your kit!

Illamasqua Products

So, I went make-up shopping in the snow as soon as the trains and tubes were running again! I have been reading various Illamasqua reviews and watching YouTube (incase you did not know but I have 2 accounts there now, and I am looking forward to uploading a few videos soon, so please subscribe:www.youtube.com/sanakmakeupartist for Asian work and
www.youtube.com/sanakmakeup for my Western work).

I ended up in Charles Fox in Covent Garden  and bought quite a few items but the ones I wanted to show you were by Illamasqua. If you go to their link they tell you where they sell their brand - online and at various retail shops in London. The good news is that if you are a make-up artist, they give you 40% discount if you shop online, so all you need to do is provide a few items to prove you work in the industry.  My discount was approved this morning!

Here are the 4 colours I picked:

In order from L to R - Puzzle, Gypsy, Fluke, Slave (the latter two are pretty similar)


Puzzle is like a bright yellow
Gypsy is like a burnt orange
Fluke and Slave are both light peachy coloured which can easily be used as highlighters

The bad news is that the 4 eye shadows I picked up from Charles Fox, are discontinued by Illamasqua!

I have used them on my eyes today (sorry did not take a picture) but they are highly pigmented and very blendable, matt eyeshadows. I might do a quick tutorial with these so you can see how I used them.

As my online discount is activated I shall be buying a few more of their eyeshadows for my kit.

23 Nov 2010

Siver body paint

A couple of days ago I did a job using a makeupforever pro product which comes as a pump (trying to find a picture for your reference but have not as yet). The product comes out as toothpaste and at first test on the back of your hand seems quite pigmened. I was using the mettalic grey silver one. I tried to cream the body and then appy this with a sponge but it did not seem to move much on the skin and also seemed to be sheerer. I also tried  wetting a brush and then painting it on, but this seemed to give a light layer, which would have to be layered quite a few times before looking remotely silver. Eventually, the best option was to smear it on your hands and then rub over the skin, which gave the most coverage!

Here is a shot of the after, still seems patchy -wondering if an airbrush gun would have been better - yet to try!

22 Nov 2010

Strawberries and Carmex

I thought I should recommend one of my favourites in my makeup kit - a lip balm by Carmex. I recently purchased their new variety in strawberry flavour! I must say this is pretty mild in flavour as compared to the cherry one which has been out a longer and I do prefer that one over the regular Carmex.



If you are going to buy any, for a kit as a makeup artist or just someone who wants to offer to friends; without having to dunk their fingers in their tub, I would recommend the squeezy tube variety as it is more hygeinic.
As the weather is cold and heating is on, lips (and your skin) will get dry and chapped, so apart from drinking water and having fruits, wearing some of your favourite lip balm is bound to help that smile.

20 Aug 2010

To cry or not to cry

Do read the blog as I will be recommending products time to time. Although new products arrive in the market all the time, some of them are my firm favourites for brides!  Top of my list is Lancome's mascara - Hypnose drama. This adds not only volume to the luscious lashes (so some girls can opt out of wearing false lashes) but is waterproof too! So, if and when there is that need to shed tears, atleast it can be without black streaks down the aisle..........

19 Aug 2010

Can do by Canodo

My ideas were transformed by Canodo into a logo today and my website designed for the better - looking forward to more alterations in the next few months. Over the years, I have now got a feel for my own brand now