High School Dance Collection 2010

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Make-up by Marci De Leon

Hair by Melissa Smith

Direction & Photography by Byron Kirkland

Sisters

Leandra

Bree

Today sisters, Leandra and Bree, came to me to help get them camera ready for their friend's wedding. Leandra was in the bridal party, so we did a bit of a heavier eye and added strip lashes. Bree was going to the wedding as a guest, and wanted to keep her look a bit more simple, so we kept her lashes natural and gave her a soft glossy lip.

Clean Slate

Pricilla / Before

After

Mallory / Before

After

I wanted to share a couple of examples of how to decide which direction to take when applying make-up. Each of these ladies, both so beautiful, have such unique features from each other. This is the perfect way to show how individual color pallets can accent each person differently.

Lets start with the skin. Pricilla has olive skin that needs a warmer pop of color. You can create this contour by adding bronzer along the hairline and under the cheekbone and putting a pink blush on the cheek up to the hair line. Mallory has light, pink undertones. With her we wanted to blend the discoloration of the skin and soften all the red. You can achieve this by first finding the right match of foundation to the lightest part of the face, usually the jaw line. After applying a good concealer, it's time to bring some life to her face. With Mallory's red hair and blue eyes, I wanted to stay in the peach family with her blush.

For their eyes. Pricilla has smaller eyes that I really wanted to bring out. We went with a smoky eye with less eyeshadow so her eye's wouldn't completely disappear. After adding a heavier strip lash, she got the sparkle we were going for. For Mallory, she has these big, blue eyes that I wanted to bring out. I used a pallet of teal greens in her liner and shadow to add interest without overdoing it. The brown liner worked well in tying in the drama of the lashes and colors.

For both of the girls lips, we stayed with the pink, modest tones. They each have a more dramatic eye, so I thought it best to keep it simple. You don't want the eyes and lips to fight each other. Usually it's best to pick one to accent and build from there so you stay balanced without overdoing it.