His & Hers Foto and Makeup by Keri Ann's Makeup Project Podcast

When local photographer, Kristi Allen, from His & Hers Foto, asked me to do her maternity photo makeup, I was thrilled to be of service to her.  AND I also thought I had found a perfect model for another project I have been wanting to do.

Kristi wears very little makeup on a daily basis.  For her maternity photos, Kristi wanted to look natural, but she wanted her features enhanced.  Kristi is like many of my clients who are used to wearing very little makeup.

Several of my clients have come to me after they have had unsuccessful trial runs with other makeup artists, but I often don't get many details about their experiences.  And I rarely get to see what the makeup looked like.  I only get reports that the makeup was "too heavy".

For this project, Kristi agreed to be my face model and take photos of herself:

without makeup on

with makeup on that she applied herself

with makeup applied by me

with makeup applied by a different artist

Oscar is her husband and business partner at His & Hers Foto.  He agreed to document Kristi's face, in various stages of makeup, with his camera.  Both Kristi and Oscar were kind enough to create a podcast about our project and we are excited to have you join our conversation. 

In this podcast, Kristi talks about her experiences as a makeup client AND Oscar chimes in with his reaction to seeing his wife's makeup applied in different ways.  They also invited me to in to talk about what it was like for me to watch another artist do makeup and the makeup experience for weddings and other events.

Please click HERE to listen to Life As Art podcast and let us know what you think!  It is a long podcast, so you may need to listen in small segments.  

Kristi & Oscar do a pre-makeup project podcast that begins at 7:04

Kristi & Oscar discuss the makeup done by the other MUA at 21:55

Kristi, Oscar & I discuss the entire project & our experiences at 59:57

This is Kristi's maternity photo makeup done by Keri Ann:

Photo credit to Barron & Barron Photography

Photo credit to Barron & Barron Photography

I have such great fun doing these podcasts with Kristi & Oscar & we appreciate Grizzaffi Coffee for sponsoring all of their podcasts. 

Be sure to check out my next blog with a photo diary and Kristi's thoughts about all of her makeup experiences by clicking HEREhttp://www.makeupbykeriann.com/2017/01/his-and-hers-foto-and-makeup-by-keri.html!

Play! by Sephora May 2016 Subscription Box

Last month I received my first Play! by Sephora Subscription Box (see the video unboxing of April's subscription by clicking here).

Yesterday I received my May 2016 Subscription box:

Bottom of the Play! by Sephora May 2016 Subscription Box

My box actually arrived a lot quicker than last month's delivery.  I believe the Houston floods kept mail in a holding pattern for a few days (my box only was in Carrollton, TX for a day or two this time compared to 4 days in April).

I immediately noticed that this box is smaller than the box delivered last month.  But good things come in smaller packages, right!?!?

Front of Play! by Sephora May 2016 Subscription Box 

Here I started to open the box:

First peek inside the box:

The Play! by Sephora "book" is not a book this time, but a folded pamphlet and the Play! by Sephora card is on the front instead of the back this time.  This little guide gives you a scoop on all the products inside.  (I don't want read the end of the book first, so I will wait to see the goodies inside before opening the "book")

I know there must be fragrance inside, as the box is lightly scented with something…

The products are inside this cute little bag!

 Here are the entire contents of the bag:

The cutest travel lip crayon is from tart and the color is Latergram.  It's a great neutral color and will go with everything so this little treat will be a new addition to my personal lipstick bag.

BITE Beauty provided Amuse Bouche in the color Kimchi.  This hot pink lipstick is adorably packaged, but I think the color would be better used in my makeup kit rather than in my personal stash. (I'll find a way to test the feel and color though…)

The Don't Despair Repair Deep Conditioning Hair Mask was provided by Briogeo.  The Play! booklet describes the Argan oil as "a potent…." and upon opening the lid, a potent scent quickly found its way to my nostrils.  I am not a fan of fragrances and too much of any scent gives me a headache, so this little sample is going to go into my give-away stash.

Orgins provided a skin optimizing mask primer (Who knew we needed a mask primer?!?!?)  AND 2 masks for your skin - one to clear pores and one to hydrate overnight - now that one is intriguing.  I might just have to get primed and hydrated!

Next up is a Wild Rose Sleeping facial from KORRES.  Once you get near the little box, you can smell  roses.  I don't like strong fragrances and rose-scented products have always been a turn off for me.  This will be a good gift for someone out there...

Last, but not least, Atelier Cologne provided a sample of their Orange Sanguine Cologne.  The little fragrance vial is packaged inside a gift bag with a post card to describe it.  Two thumbs up on the packaging - the gift bag & postcard conjure up memories of summer vacations.  Unfortunately, the fragrance isn't for me, so someone will be getting this as well.

Over all, this month's unboxing was a little disappointing.

Last month's box felt like I was receiving a gift - complete with shred and a gift box that welcomed me to open it.  I started trying products right away.

This month I was a little less than wowed with the presentation, packaging and the products.  I only have one product I definitely use for personal use.  I have one new lipstick for my professional makeup kit.  I have one mask & primer that I might get around to trying at some point.  And I have 3 new items to add to my stash of goodies to give away.

Micellar Water

Makeup by Keri Ann Micellar Water Review

Even though I ask my clients to come without makeup on, it's inevitable that someone will show up in full makeup.  (I really can't blame her - walking around without makeup is a cardinal sin to me too.)

I have so many products in my kit that additional bottles of skin care - for every skin type, is not practical, as I do not use it consistently on clients.

However, I do recognize the need to have something - cleansing wipes are always easy and portable, but then what about moisturizer?  Cleansing wipes can dry out the skin.

Micellar Water seemed to be the one-step miracle I was looking for - at least according to the advertisements.  I heard other makeup artists love to have it in their kit, so I purchased a bottle to try it.

At first glance, it looks very much like oil-free eye makeup remover.  It's clear, but you can see two parts to it.

I shook the bottle and I applied a small amount to a cotton pad and began to wipe my face.  It really did take the makeup off of my skin (I still needed eye makeup remover to get off my mascara).  My skin felt really clean, but way it also felt way too emollient for me.  Even though this is supposed to be a no-rinse product, I used a wash cloth moistened with water to remove the extra oil.  Once my skin was dry, I was super happy with the feel of my skin - I didn't even apply moisturizer, as I felt hydrated enough.

A little bit of this product will go a very long way, so it's very economical.

I poured enough liquid into a travel friendly bottle to add to my kit for those clients who need to remove makeup quickly and easily.

If you want to read more about the molecular compositions and how this stuff really works scientifically, here are a few interesting links for you:

Huffington Post Article about Micellar Water

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water