Where have I been?

This post is going to be a bit different from my usual makeup-related stuff...

The simple truth is, I've been too stressed out to enjoy makeup the way I normally do. It's incredibly sad, but I have to take things one day at a time and relax when I have the opportunity. The source of most of my stress has been my entering into a new relationship with a close friend of mine. We have always been very close...but now that there is a title defining our relationship, everything has changed. My parents who once loved him now despise him and my mother does everything in her power to break us up, despite knowing that he makes me so so happy. Really, he does. I've never been so happy with someone before!
But what does one do when the odds are against you? I'm your generic white American girl, and he is a half black, half white British guy. No matter what I say or do, nothing will convince my family that he is right for me. And yes, it is about race. At this point, all I can do is wait it out and stay strong in my faith that everything will work out.
The best advice he has given me on the issues is this: Don't listen to what people think, because people rarely think rationally. Listen to what people know, the facts. That's really all that matters.
So, I will not let an opinion break me down. I will not let a thousand opinions break me down. I know what I know, and that is all that matters.

I promise, I will be updating more in the future. In fact, I have two shoots coming up that should be a lot of fun! With that said, I look forward to getting back in the swing of things....have a wonderful week everybody!!

-Tanya

Lady Gaga Makeup

If you are a regular at Makeup Alley, then you already know about the recent challenge to recreate a Lady Gaga look. Makeup Alley, if you are not aware, is a fabulous makeup community with reviews, pictures, boards, and basically everything else you can imagine. Go lurk if you're at all curious!

www.makeupalley.com

In any case, this post is to show you how I created my Lady Gaga inspired look.


This is obviously not one of her stage makeups, with lightning bolts or zippers on her face. You can go that direction if you feel comfortable with it...but I'm just going to stick with this more "casual" look (for Gaga, anyway).

The most obvious thing about this look is the heavily contrasted eyes. You could achieve this look using only black and white shadow, but you are welcome to choose any light colored shadow and dark colored shadow you like. My only recommendation would be to keep it on the matte side, especially with the darker shadows. For this look, I used mostly electra on the lid with gesso as a highlight, and carbon in the crease. Also, refrain from darkening your brows too much. Lady Gaga keeps hers extremely light, and usually has heavy bangs which cover them anyway. The point is, she obviously doesn't give a crap about eyebrows.
The next thing to consider is the shape of the shadow, or the shadow placement. Most women would never go that heavily with a black shadow so close to the bridge of the nose. But Gaga, she's not "most women". You want to concentrate the darkest color just under the beginning of the brow, and bring it down until it is almost level with your tear duct. You should keep some space between that color and your tear duct, to create the illusion of much larger eyes. Think of it as if you were continuing the line of your crease. Now that you have that placed, continue the shadow in nearly a straight line to the outer corner of your eye. I said nearly straight, because you want to work with the natural shape of your eyes, which is likely curved. If Gaga wanted it to be straight, she would have just used tape. BUT that's not what we're trying to achieve!
Next, bring that dark shadow down and place it pretty heavily on the outer corner, including the lower lashline. This gives the illusion of big doll-like eyes. O.O
Okay, so you add your lid color and highlighter and you have everything blended, now what?
For liner, you would want to use a black gel, cake, or even a liquid liner. Go ahead and wing it out like you would for a retro pin-up look. Also, take the liner all the way to the tear duct. The next part is key to any Gaga look. Line your lower lashline (NOT the waterline) with the same liner you used earlier. Take the line all the way to the inner corner, connecting it with the top liner. If you saw my previous blog post with my all black liner look, you'll see what I'm talking about. It should form a point, which you can exaggerate to your liking. Lady Gaga almost always lines her waterline with white, so go ahead and do that. I used a nyx jumbo pencil in milk.
And you might have noticed something missing from my picture...That would be false lashes. Find the biggest most obnoxious pair you have and bam! Lady Gaga eyes!
The rest of the face is pretty simple..wait, no it's not.
While she has on occasion kept the rest of her face pretty natural, she often wears very extreme blush. Trust me, the woman is not afraid of it. Contouring is key, as well as using a very bright blush (think mac in lillyland collection!) applied all along the cheekbones.
For the lips, you can either go super bright, or keep it nude. I honestly find the look crazy enough already, so I went with nude lips. She often draws her lipliner outside the natural lipline, but if you have full lips this step isn't necessary. The important thing is to line with a nude lipliner and to fill in with a slightly lighter lipstick. I used mac hue lipstick for this.

AAAAAAND that's it! Do something crazy with your hair, put on some spandex body suit, and forget pants before you go out. Sooner or later the paparazzi will be all over you. :)



I hope this was fun! Let me know if there is any sort of look you would like to see duped :)
How do you feel about Lady Gaga? Is the revolutionary and unique or a crazy psychobitch? Let me know!!!

-Tanya

Makeup as Art- What is your style?

You may have noticed (if you watch my youtube channel) that I've been rapidly deleting videos. The reason is pretty understandable. I don't like them. More and more of the people I know in my life are asking about my videos, and it's quite simply embarrassing to have them watch videos I don't like. This doesn't mean I won't make any more videos, it's just that I'm kind of starting over.

Anyway, on to some fun makeup!

This is just something I put together last night out of boredom. I've got these new pigments in interesting colors, so why not go crazy? I personally think that I could have taken it a step further with the fuchsia and white..but that may be just me.
After putting this look together, I got to thinking about what my makeup "style" is. You know, if I'm ever in a magazine, what would people know me for? I'm starting to think that my style focuses on the natural curves of the face. I try not to do any makeup that clashes with the face shape. Let me find an example of what I mean....

Okay, so here is something I did a very long time ago. Thinking along the lines of M. C. Escher, the lines drawn flow with the contour of the eye. This can apply to casual makeup as well! If you are trying to create the illusion of something (a cat eye, eyelid, wider set eyes, higher cheekbones, etc), you have to work WITH the shape of your face, rather than against it. I can't just shade my cheeks where I wish I had cheekbones. That only draws more attention to the fact that I'm faking it. Working with the natural hollows of your cheeks is a better strategy.

Hopefully this has given you something to think about! Next time to experiment with makeup, familiarize yourself with your natural contours. You will learn a lot about how to work with your face in the process. :)

-Tanya