You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman...

Sorry, had to go there!  Ok, now that that song is all in our heads...
I wanted to do a quick post before I embark upon a CRAZY weekend!  Three trial runs, a wedding and a photo shoot...so definitely, no time to post in the next couple of days.  Clients ask me a lot about natural makeup....they want to look like "themselves" and think that adding makeup won't look right.  Wrong, 100% wrong!  Often when "natural" people attempt their own makeup, or look around at other people wearing a lot, what they don't like is a lot of COLOR.  This is makeup that I did recently as part of a commercial photo shoot for Smart Barre, a local chain that offers a barre/yoga/strength training workout experience, mostly led by former dancers.  So cool!  I'm getting ready to take some classes there myself.  At any rate, the vibe of the shoot was polished, but natural....red lips or teal eyeshadow would've been totally out of place, so I kept it all soft and neutral, but still sophisticated.  On this instructor, I shaped her brows, corrected and evened out her skin (but notice...freckles still show a bit!), added peachy pink lips and blush.  For eyes, there's a bit of vanilla and camel shadow for definition, and then I used a black/brown shadow applied with a pencil brush...I buffed that into her upper and lower lashlines for a soft, but still defined look...love this trick!  I never, ever draw a pencil line on the lower lashline...too harsh.  This gives you the thick looking lashline in a much softer way.  So, here's the before and after....

She looks polished, pretty, but still NATURAL.  With a bunch of makeup on.  It's all in how it's applied and what colors are used!  This look is a popular one for brides who don't normally wear makeup, except for a bride, I'd add false lashes for a bit more impact and probably more blush...both are needed for wedding photography against a white or ivory dress.  So, are you convinced that makeup CAN look really natural?  Let me know what you think in the comments!  I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend, I'll be back next week to post pics from all the stuff I've been working on....I have THREE fun photo shoots to share!  See you soon!  JT