FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @UrMakeupArtist

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Guess by Marciano fall fashion show at Miami's hot spot The Pink Room

The Guess by Marciano fashion show on Friday, August 27th, was amazing!  The models looked superb in the latest Marciano fashion, hair by Gregory Q and the makeup, of course, by me.  Fashion shows are already stressful enough, but my original assistant cancelled the day of---which meant my blood pressure went up!  No worries, though, you always have to think fast in this industry, so I contacted another great artist and colleague, Miss Bianca Acosta!  She definitely saved the day!

My inspiration for the model's super glam look was old, Italian starlet beauty.  I prepped the skin with MAC Deep Ultramoisture Cream from the Lightful collection and Prep and Prime skin, to make the skin dewy and glowy.  Then, I used one of my all-time faves, MAC Face and Body foundation, a water-based liquid foundation, with a 190 brush.  Guess reps were adamant about having rich-looking, luscious skin.  I melted Studio Sculpt concealer into the skin with my fingers, to the areas that needed more coverage.  Models were finished with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural with a 129, placed strategically, as to not take away from the overall hydrated look.

The eyes were prepped with MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, with generous amounts near the lashline and blended up towards to the browbone.  Paint Pots are great for building eyeshadow color and to keep shadows from creasing.  With models strutting under hot lights and high-tailing it backstage for wardrobe changes, I wanted to make sure the shadows stayed fresh!  Brows were defined with Lingering eye brow pencil and Omega eyeshadow with a 266 brush.  I wanted a strong, defined brow to balance the smoky eye.  Carbon eyeshadow was packed on to the lid, while Wedge and Brown Script shadows were blended into the crease with a 224 brush.  Feline eye kohl was smudged into the top lash lines and MAC Pro Chromagraphic Pencil in NW20 was added to the waterline to create, big, dreamy eyes.  Generous amounts of MAC's new Haute and Naughty Lash, which hasn't hit stores yet, were applied to lashes.  It is a must-have, creating definition and length!

A beautiful, pouty mouth was created using MAC Boldly Bare lip pencil (a limited edition..sorry guys), Viva Glam II lipstick (what I call the perfect nude lipstick) and Glamour for All lipglass (also limited edition).  It was close to my heart to use a Viva Glam lipstick to support MAC AIDS FUND, 100% of the selling cost of the lipstick goes towards helping women, children and families who are affected by AIDS/HIV.  Plus, the color ROCKED and the models looked gorgeous!

My colleague and hair genius, Gregory Quadagno, gave the model's sexy volume and curl by setting their hair in hot rollers, teasing and sculpting with a curling iron!  It was a funny sight, with random bursts of hair spray backstage and teasing combs flying.  But, let me tell you!  He is magical!  We've worked together before on shoots, but there was a whole other realm of chemistry during the fashion show, which is why I adore Gregory and his work!  It's can be difficult to find people who compliment your work style, ethic and professionalism, but I will definitely be contacting him for other projects! 

It was a pleasure to work with Guess by Marciano, please visit your local Guess by Marciano store!  The clothes this season are to die for!

It was also a pleasure to work with Syama Reyes and the Pink Room Miami (http://www.pinkroommiami.com/).  The nightclub/lounge has great music, a great ambience and beautiful people to party with!  So if you live in the Miami area or will be visiting, it should be on your list of places to go! 

For PICS please check out the Pink Room gallery at : http://picasaweb.google.com/pinkroommiamiclub/GUESSByMarciano2010FallFashionShow#

Video and more pics to come!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Cheers to the Beginning! My first Blog Post!

Good afternoon, people! Welcome to the first entry of my new blog. SUPER EXCITED! I’d like to introduce myself, to those that may not know me very well. My name is Krystal Hardy, a professional makeup artist and founder of Age of Aquarius Artistry. I started Age of Aquarius Artistry last year, to “brand” myself and my artistry. I am experienced in makeup for photo shoots, TV/film and fashion show. I body paint and do some ‘light’ hair styling. I am not represented by an agency (yet), but it is something I am aiming for. Ultimately, I would like for Age of Aquarius Artistry to become a network for makeup artists to gain more work and experience. Age of Aquarius Artistry is my baby, a project that got its name from my astrological sign, the Aquarius. Aquarius personality traits are very much artistic, that of a humanitarian, rebellious and non-conformist---ME, in a nutshell and very much my ideology of makeup as art.

Ok..so a little more about myself: I am a native Milwaukeean (please hold the cheese and beer jokes) and current Miamian, since February of 2010. I relocated to Miami to further pursue my dreams as a makeup artist. Miami , which I’d visited often, was a beautiful city and seemed to be full of opportunity, so I packed up and moved. I’d never really been away from Milwaukee , except to study abroad in Mexico for college, so this is probably the bravest and scariest thing I’ve ever done. You know what? I love it and have no regrets! In my short time here in Miami , I’ve met and worked with some amazing models, stylists, recording artists and photographers. It was a chance meeting with staff writer Joanie Cox of Miami ’s weekly paper, City Link that got the wheels turning to create this blog. I had been entertaining the idea for quite awhile, but Joanie was right! Now is the time! So here I am!

I want this blog to become a portal into my life as a makeup artist and in turn, I hope I can offer great insight to aspiring makeup artists. I will also be interviewing other talented and creative industry professionals in hopes of giving tips and advice to anyone looking to break into the fashion/entertainment industries. Take the journey with me through as I blog about photo shoots, planning fashion shows, working with models/photographers, sharing makeup tips and much, much more. I’m here to share the good, bad, ugly, uplifting and depressing. No worries. It is never to be discouraging. Wisdom comes from falling on your butt!



This blog also serves as my other love and creative outlet, writing! As some of you know, I am a published journalist and aspiring beauty writer. This blog is ‘next’ level for me, as you will see me open up in a way that you’ve never seen before. LOL In any case, I hope that you will be entertained and informed, but more than anything, I hope that you will become inspired!


Peace and Love

Krystal