ARmakeup Blog

Hello all and welcome to my new blog! Some of you may know me, some may not but thanks for stopping by and more importantly, stay classy!

Bottom line is I’m a makeup artist that loves makeup, beauty, cosmetics and happy people. I love the craft, the art, even the smell of makeup! I love to see faces transform and big smiles when a look is complete. I think this makes me unique because unlike many of my makeup artist counterparts, I’m most concerned with beauty, not business. I’m the makeup artist with integrity darn it! I’m not perfect, but I’ll do whatever I can to continue to hone my skills. This is not just a job, it’s my livelihood. I live to do makeup, I don’t do makeup to live!

I’m always surprised at how many brides do NOT want to look traditional anymore. Gone are the days of bright lipstick, flushed cheeks and a natural eye. Brides want liner, they want smoky, they want drama, they want…UNFORGETTABLE!

I think it’s important for a bride to look like herself on the day of her wedding. I can picture it now, the groom anxiously awaits his beautiful bride only to discover…he’s marrying a complete stranger! OH HORROR! The bride should be herself, only updated and polished. Her best features should be emphasized and her skin glowing and radiant.

Don’t get me wrong, I love makeup so doing up a face in preparation for a beauty pageant is loads of fun. However, I don’t think the bride will be too happy if she looks like Little Miss Sunshine.

If I learned anything through my experience at Laura Mercier Cosmetics, it was that skin is the most important part of your beauty routine. Laura Mercier said if your skin looks bad, nothing else matters. I pass this philosophy on to my clients on a regular basis. I also tell them to throw out their tweezers but that’s another story!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my blogging so far and please note you are welcome to subcribe via SMS text message. Just enter your phone number on the home page of my blog and click subscribe. You may also subscribe by clicking the small orange square at the top of the screen on the home page as well. If you have questions, please feel free to drop me a line at Anne@ARMakeup.com. Have a beautiful day!

Someone told me yesterday that I should do product reviews. I think this is a great idea. However, as I ran out of my favorite Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer this morning, I thought I might start with products that I simply cannot live without. First of which would be my Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer.

Summer is rapidly approaching or already here if you’re in Houston, Texas like me. Unfortunately my skin is very unseasonably Casper like but at least my skin looks flawless with this product. I can’t live without it and you’ll be able to spot me later at Sephora grabbing another tube of this makeup goodness.

What is a tinted moisturizer? This is a product I use to not only protect myself with a plentiful dose of SPF 20 but it covers just enough without a heavy, cakey look. It glides onto my skin and blends seamlessly. The best part is it does NOT break me out. It’s oil-free and gentle on my sensitive skin but covers imperfections much more substantially than regular tinted moisturizer products so it’s great for every day wear! I can also tell people that I don’t wear foundation, I wear tinted moisturizer and that just sounds better doesn’t it?

Almost every day I receive an email from a bride to be inquiring about airbrush makeup. All brides want this but do they know why? Why choose airbrush and what’s so great about it?

Airbrush makeup is fantastic because it stands up to heat so it looks great under hot lights or blazing summer weather (or Houston winter seasons!). The coverage is unbeatable, it’s very durable and lasts up to 18 hours. Durability is important for a bride since she needs to look her best through her photos, ceremony, reception and more photos!

The airbrush technique is great because the compressor allows air to pass through a hose and finally spray through a “beauty brush” or as many of us makeup artists call the “gun.” The makeup sprays onto the skin in fine micro dots so the person’s natural skin tone will still be apparent. Makeup is sprayed or “airbrushed” in passes, making for a fast, flawless and sterile application.

Many makeup artists are aware of the demand for airbrush makeup. They run out and purchase their airbrush systems but so many of them don’t know how to use it! If you’re reading this and wondering how to prevent this, make sure you ask your artist if they’re a certified airbrush makeup artist and if so, who trained them? I train artists to airbrush so I would say as long as they’re either trained by an airbrush cosmetics company or a certified airbrush makeup artist, then they’re probably well versed in airbrush techniques. Otherwise, beware! Some of these “airbrush” artists not only mismatch foundation colors which looks terrible in photos, but make far too many passes, resulting in a cakey appearance.

If you must ask, I’m a certified airbrush makeup artist with Dinair. I plan on switching in the near future.  Speaking of the near future, you’ll soon notice some changes to my website however these are only temporary until my brand new website debuts. Stay tuned!!

I told you yesterday that I was running out of Tinted Moisturizer right? Well I never made it to Sephora. Just because I’m a makeup artist doesn’t mean I’m not an occasional cheapskate. However, I decided to rummage through my beloved makeup kit to locate one last tube of this glorious product. To my delight, I have just enough to get me through another week!

I also talked about airbrushing yesterday so maybe you’re asking why I carry tinted moisturizer in my kit…Well I’ll tell you I do it for you. I do it for the clients who also use tinted moisturizer and swear by it’s capabilities. I do it for the just in case moments..or the guys who don’t want to wear makeup because they’d rather wear “tinted moisturizer” and hold onto their masculinity. Yes, I’ve had a few wedding parties with certain guys needing a “touch-up.” It’s also fairly common for makeup artist to use tinted moisturizer on men in movies, see masculinity comment above. I also carry bottles of foundation, more eye shadow than I could possibly ever use and there’s more where that came from. I have a bag stuffed with lipstick and a whole set of drawers in my closet filled the brim with makeup. This is the joy of being a makeup artist. I always have more than I need because I can’t ever predict what the next person will want. What I want is to make sure my clients are happy.  I would never use anything that would cause them pain, trouble or discontent (take a hint Maybelline Cool Effects pencils, I will NEVER buy you again!).

Yes, there have been several chuckles at my expense when people see my dragging around my huge obnoxious Wal-Mart handiman kit but I don’t care. I can work wonders with the products crammed inside my plastic monstrosity.  Let’s have another chuckle at my expense, shall we? I’m putting it to the tune of the Budweiser commercials, “Real Men of Genius.”

Hello All,

Don’t be mad, I know I haven’t written in a few days and I feel terrible, I really do. However, now it’s “Hump Day” and I think it’s a perfect occasion to drop a line or two.

My basic plan as a makeup artist (or just a busy screwball) is to jam pack my schedule with as many events as possible. While I was waiting for more weddings to come through I decided to book trials on Saturdays. I know several makeup artists who do not do this because while they wrap up one face in two hours or less, they could complete a whole wedding party for a bigger paycheck. I didn’t say the bigger paycheck is important but it is important to have Saturdays available, especially during wedding season. I’m sorry to all of the busy brides but I’m doing what’s best for little ol’ ARMakeup. I’m also off  Sundays. I figure after a long week it’s the least I can do for myself and my faith. I’m a new convert to Catholicism so Sundays are a sacred, brand new tradition in my life and I couldn’t be happier!

As some of you may have noticed I’ve made a few changes on my website. One change was the actual title, “ARMakeup,” no longer “ARMakeup & Hair.” I’m going to be very “transparent” right now and reveal the dirty details as to why I decided to exclude this service from future events.

I’m a makeup artist who runs a small business of offering makeup services for various events. I’ve worked for other makeup artists who do both hair and makeup. They would have me come along on various bookings to help them with the overload. I would do makeup with a smile on my face, just happy to be painting. The lead artist would pay me on their own schedule and I’d be on my way. I would also do the occasional makeup job for free just to express my loyalty and determination. However, at some point the paid work began to decrease yet I was still asked (and pressured) to do free work. I loved doing makeup however I felt like I was being used. I wanted to move up in the makeup world and that’s the last thing on anyone else’s agenda. I decided it was time for me to move on and start making strides to find my own work.

I’m successful on my own now and I really don’t need others to give me work. I’m grateful for the opportunities I had in the past to simply develop my craft, speed and efficiency as an artist at a busy event. However I recently struggled with another hurdle.

I don’t “do” hair. I don’t do fussy up-dos for weddings and proms but I can curl and style like no one’s business! I’m not as passionate about hair so I’ve always booked other hair stylists for events. One in particular I would use on a regular basis because I thought she was one of the best stylists I had ever worked with. She too does hair and makeup so I decided that as long as she wasn’t contracted to work only with ARMakeup & Hair then she was competition.

Gone are the days of me trusting other artists, giving a new client another artists’ card and expecting that artist to book me for another event. Gone are the days of sending my prospective clients a link to another artists’ website who does hair so they can look at pictures, only to have that artist “steal” my prospect right from under me! I have been very trusting of other artists because I always thought they had the same passion as me. A passion for beauty, a passion for art. A passion to actually feel happy because your client looks and feels amazing!

I also love to work with other artists. I love to see the “green” artist who wants nothing more than to make up another person’s face and they’re willing to do anything for a fair shake. This is how I used to be however I’m still like that! I’m still full of enthusiasm and passion for my wonderful makeup artist career.

So now what? What do I say if a person wants hair? I’m taking a different approach now by offering a free trial for makeup. The client must secure their makeup booking with a contract and deposit before I make arrangements for hair. This protects me in case the hair person tries to schedule them for makeup AND hair. This also protects me in case the hair stylist I normally recommend is unavailable so my client can make arrangements with a salon or another stylist. If my hair stylist associate is available, I’ll schedule them for a trial or for the wedding but not without a signed contractor event notice. This can protect not only me but the bride too in case the hair stylist decides to back out.

I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish I could just have a partner in beauty, a hair stylist buddy or buddies. I’ve always wanted to be part of a group but it looks like I’ll have to stick with ARMakeup, the independent, makeup artist hermit for now!