25 Oct 2011

Metro Newspaper shoot

Last year I did a shoot for the Luxury Wedding Show which was written about in the Metro Newspaper, Credits are as follows

Photography - Gretel Ensignia
Dress - Suzie Turner who specialises in Bridal Couture
Venue - The Landmark Hotel, Marylebone
Hair and Makeup - Sana Kermani




As you can see, the shoot was very glamourous .......the last image was chosen for the newspaper.

I am the Official Makeup artist and Hair Stylist for all The Luxury Wedding Shows and get to meet several potential Brides there. My team and I work under immense pressure to create beautiful hair styles and looks for the catwalks at the shows. Between the catwalks, we also provide free makeovers to potential brides and consultations and people visit us to browse through our portfolios and benefit from special offers for the coming year.

See you at the next one on 9 Nov 2011 at Plaisterers' Hall, London.

24 Oct 2011

Things to do before your wedding to look Beautiful (as can be) - By a Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist

If you are getting married and want to look luscious before your wedding, then trying to have some sort of a game plan is a good idea.




My top tips for a bride-to-be:

1. Have a healthy diet, include omegas from oily fish, foods rich in anti-oxidants and high fibre and protein are a good idea. You want to have a healthy looking complexion so fresh vegetables and fruits are definitely something to add to your diet

2. Try to control your intake of caffeine and increase your intake of water, have lemon with ginger to spruce up your water or just a twist of lemon to add some taste

3. Rest when you can and try and sleep around 8 h, although the stress of the wedding can give some brides insomnia

4. To sleep well and produce endorphins (or happy hormones) exercise even if it is 20 mins a day, all that sweating will increase your stamina and fitness and cleanse your body of toxins through your pores.

5. Organise your tasks and prioritise, this way you will know what needs to get done first

6. Delegate some tasks if you can to reliable friends and family members, most friends want to help out...

7.If you have a good beauty routine ie. you cleanse your face thoroughly of all makeup before bed and in the morning cleanse and tone, then moisturise - you are on track! Don't try and do something new to your skin if it is in good condition, just for the sake as this can give you spots and blemishes. If you have oily skin with blackheads, have a consultation and then a course of facials to deep clean your skin and maintain it at home with good cleansing habits.

8. Have some me-time from all the wedding preparations, go for a manicure and a pedicure or a massage and unwind, what's better take your best friend and not talk about the wedding.

9. Find a makeup artist whose work you admire and have a consultation, then a trial. Make sure you ask as many questions as you can before and at the trial. You should be able to communicate with each other  with ease and you should feel relaxed during the trial. If you like the work, why not book yourself a lesson to learn how to do your makeup like a pro for all the pre and post wedding parties.

10. Find a hairdresser and have a consultation, then a trial. Make sure you discuss the styles you want to go for and don't get pushed into anything that you have not done before and would be self conscious of on the day. There is plenty of material in magazines and the internet.

    

Bridal Makeup - Asian, Contemporary, Arabic - the choice is yours - By Sana K Makeup

In the years that I have done various brides, one of the questions that brides ask is what race I do most makeup on. The answer to that is simple, I am a Makeup Artist first and by Genetics; an Asian Makeup Artist who also does a lot of Contemporary work with success. On any good makeup course, you are taught about various skin tones and how to apply makeup on a variety of ages and races.

When I first began putting a portfolio together, there was a lot of snobbery towards Wedding Makeup Artistry (Still is), it is looked down upon and thought of as cheesy as compared to someone who works in Fashion most days. Believe it or not, a lot of racism also exists in the industry, for example, one race would rather get the same race makeup artist and not another, as they believe that their kind would know their skin tones better - what a load of crap!?! So for those who like to judge, I created separate websites

www.sanakermani.com (the Contemporary one)



www.sanakmakeup.com (The Asian one)

Initially, I thought that was a lot of work, but then I realised I had already done so much work in the time that there was enough for both the sites. I enjoy making people look and feel great and I do not think of their creed and colour.

Most Contemporary brides want to look like themselves, but a very polished and natural version; meaning glowing skin with neutral tones. Very few would request a smokey eye or eyeliner unless they had a specific theme.


Usually, Asian brides want to look as glamorous as possible and want to look different to their norm. They go for full colour on their eyes and big lashes with strong lips - the great thing is their skin tones, their dress and jewellery is all so glam that everything blends well.

Arabic brides are a mixture of a contemporary and Asian - they wear the white dress but love to have dark smokey eyes.

In my opinion, a bride is always the centre of attention, no matter what she wears or who does her makeup :)

Whatever the look; a good makeup artist will keep your requirements in mind before tailor-making your look for your big day. 

18 Oct 2011

Sassoon Soiree - Best Haircut

Few months ago, I blogged about the 30 week Diploma I was involved with at the Sassoon Academy in London.

The last 10 weeks were spent preparing for our final graduation show. We were a small team of 6 students, who had to organise 3 models each;  clothes, accessories, food, drinks, props, makeup, photography, videography, thank you gifts etc. It seemed like a big task especially as we had watched previous shows which seemed of a really high standard. The show was booked at Wella Studios in Mortimer Street and we knew that would add a professional backdrop for our the catwalk.

The theme title was finalised as Manufactured Landscapes and in short we were inspired by Architectural buildings or anything man-made with some kind of definitive structure.

Here is a picture of Tulip fields that summarised our theme and also formed our colour palette for hair.


Previously Sassoon cuts were known to be inspired by the Bauhaus, so as this was a classic course, we thought this theme was perfect.

Classic cuts are all about sharp lines and angles but ofcourse executed according to suitability to the face.

We also watched several Sassoon DVD collections to get inspiration from.

One of the looks that I  was really inspired by was from the Tribe one collection, which was a long hair cut with a really creative fringe.


Here is the haircut I did ........


this was chosen as the best haircut at the show. I was really pleased with the finish and the whole look.
The colours that I chose were a warm reddy brown all over and a blue black in the fringe area.

Other cuts that I did were a scissor over comb with layers for a young male

and creative cut with creative colours of purples with a bleach and tone.



This officially marks the beginnings of hairdressing for me (even though I have been hairstyling for nearly a decade thanks to Weddings and Fashion work).