Daytime Retro Hair and Makeup Demonstration

Final Result

This is my first real attempt at making a hair and makeup video. It's not really a tutorial, but more of a demonstration. I realized that I didn't like the sound of my own voice and it was a bit nerve-wracking to try and talk the whole time, so I just recorded my every day makeup process and a page boy hair style. I took the sound off and sped it up, even though it's still 15 minutes long. If you want to skip the makeup, the hair starts at minute six.

Tip: Make sure your hair is completely dry before removing the hair clips.

Products Used:
Urban Decay Face Primer
Makeup For Ever HD Foundation
Makeup For Ever Concealer Palette
MAC Eyeshadow in Blanc Type
MAC Eyeshadow in Omega
MAC Blush in Buff
Anastasia Brow Wiz eyebrow pencil
Anastasia Eyeliner
Better than sex Mascara
Makeup For Ever Lip Liner
Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing Lipstick in Bravado
Makeup For Ever HD Loose Powder

Hair:
Layrite Grooming Spray
Sportnet Teasing Brush
Two-prong Hair Clips
Big Sexy Hair spray in Get Layered
Mason Pearson Bristle Brush
Kenra Volume Hair Spray

Tools:
Beauty Blender Sponge
Real Technique Makeup Brushes
MAC Brushes

Ultimate Vegas Outfit

I was recently approached by Vegas.com to participate in the search for the #UltimateVegasOutfit. I am actually going to Las Vegas in February and was very excited to show off my vintage style. I chose to put together an outfit for the day and one for the night. I also decided to try and use mostly items that I already own so that I can truly say that I approve of their quality and how they look on the body.

Top: Pinup Girl Clothing, Doris Top in white ($54)
Belt: Pinup Girl Clothing, Black bow belt in black (this is no longer available, but I also love their patent leather belts without the bows. $16)
Sunglasses: Pinup Girl Clothing, Rockin' Cat Sunglasses ($24)
Earrings: modcloth.com, Retro Rosie Earrings in Dusty Rose ($12.99)
Skirt: Pinup Girl Clothing, Jenny Skirt in Mary Blair Train Border Print ($102)
Shoes: Shoe Bakery, Premium Pink Syrup Ice Cream Flats ($165)
Purse: Pinup Girl Clothing, Retro Rotary Phone Clutch in Pink ($54)
Hair Scarf: Pinup Girl Clothing, Vintage Style Sheer Hair Scarf in either black or pink ($23)
Not pictured: Pinup Girl Clothing, Jennifer Two Layer Petticoat in White ($60)

Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing, Niagara Dress in Pink Bengaline ($120)
Earrings: Pinup Girl Clothing, Enchantress Bow Earrings ($32)
Shoes: Mod Cloth, Sass and You Shall Receive Heel ($49.99)
Purse: Etsy, Ostrich Feather Clutch - Light Pink & Gold ($146)
Hair Pin: Pinup Girl Clothing, Crystal Hair Pin in Baby Pink ($100)

Vintage Hair Styling Class

Photo by Greyline Creative, Hair and Makeup by Bouffants & Beehives

I've been asked by several people to teach a class and share my love of vintage hair styles. So I am finally going to do it! Here are the specifics:

Date: Saturday, February 7, 2015
Time: 10 am - 1 pm
Location: Greyline Creative Studio, Fayetteville Square on the corner of Block and Center Street (below David Adams Jewelry) Fayetteville, Arkansas
Cost: $85 (includes gift bag with vintage styling essentials)

Space: Space is limited to a maximum enrollment of 10 people. The registration deadline is Wednesday, February 4, 2015.

Refund Policy: Refunds will only be given if notified by Wednesday, February 4, 2015, after that date, you can apply a credit toward another class in the future.

What to bring: Please bring a curling utensil of your choice, whether it's a curling iron, hot rollers, etc., a brush of your choice and any special styling products that you would like to use. Hairspray will be provided. Also bring any special hair accessories, i.e. flowers, scarves, etc. that you would like to practice with. Finally, please feel free to bring any photos of hairstyles for inspiration.

If you have any question, please feel free to email or call me at aliwilliams28@gmail.com or 479-387-6284.

Fill out my online form.

Vintage Pageboy Hairstyle using Pin Curls

pageboy hairstyle

A pageboy hairstyle is a haircut which is designed for medium to short length hair. In the fifties the pageboy generally stopped at shoulder-length but later renditions saw the hair cut to just below the ear, where it curls under; in a reverse pageboy, the hair is curled outwards.

Here is how to do it using pin curls.

Sculpture Pin Curler

I started with pin curls that I made using the sculpture pin curler tool. You don't need to use this tool, but it keeps the curls uniform and makes the process faster. I alternated rows between rolling up and under curls.

This is what the pin curls look like when finished. I used bobby pins to secure. They are flatter and easier to sleep on than clips. My hair was slightly damp and I used some LottaBody setting lotion that I bought at my local beauty supply store.

I put a sheer scarf over to protect the curls while I slept. Using a sheer scarf is important to allow the curls to dry completely.

This is what my curls looked like after I took all the bobby pins out. Shirley Temple.

This is what my hair looked like after I ran my fingers through it. You need to break up the curls. I like this look.

Then the real magic happens when you start to brush. I used my boar bristle Mason Pearson brush and I just brushed in sections against my hand and rolled the hair under. I used clips to hold the hair in place when I got it to look just like I wanted. Don't worry about losing your curls by brushing too much. Just keep brushing until you tame the fro.

This is the final look. A sculptured pageboy. Because the curls are so strong, I should be able to turn this curl set into another look tomorrow.

Pink Bow City Magazine Pinup Contest

I'm in a pinup contest. The winner gets her photo in an issue of the Pink Bow City magazine. To vote, please click on this link: VOTE! or the photo below and like or share.

Concept Shoot: Winter

The winter/ice/snow queen.

One down and one more to go. So far Greyline Creative and I have completed Summer, Fall and now Winter. We were inspired by the seasons for these fun photo shoots. Sometimes we like to stretch our creative muscles and do some photos that are more creative, unique and more editorial. This shoot was no exception. For winter we tried to capture the ethereal feeling of a winter snow queen. We decided that pink would be a good accent color because we saw so much blue used for similar shots and we wanted to do something different. I made the pink collar out of coffee filters that I dyed pink. I created a cage and then filled it with the flower-like paper much like a parade float. The twig head piece was made by a local floral designer, Jules Design. The hair was a combination of white spray and a substance called angel hair. I had never used this before and it was wonderful. It was like a mix between spider webs and hair. It created really lovely puffs that mimicked snow.

We had a beautiful model, Morgan, who was very kind to allow us to do whatever we wanted. I covered her well moisturized face in white makeup from the Makeup Forever flash palette and contoured her face with ice blue eyeshadow. I added glitter to her eyelids and used Ben Nye white mascara on her eyelashes. I have her some rosy cheeks with pink powder blush and berry kissed lips with a combination of clear lip gloss and a dap of hot pink eyeshadow in the middle of her upper and lower lips.

Top left: dying the coffee filters, Top right: Morgan before
Bottom: Close up of Morgan becoming the snow queen.

The other seasons in the series.
Left: Fall  Right: Summer

Christmas Present Ideas for the Pin Up in Your Life

Do you have a pin up girl in your life? Not sure what to get her for Christmas. Here are some ideas.

You can't go wrong with a Sephora gift card: http://www.sephora.com/

She will love anything from Pinup Girl Clothing:
http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com/

Every true pin up girl needs proper undergarments:
http://www.whatkatiedid.com/en_us/

For the extra special girl, go big with the Whirling Turban:
http://whirlingturban.com/

She will love this vintage hair styling book:
http://www.hrstbooks.com/vintage-hairstyling

You could also buy her a subscription to this pin up magazine to give her inspiration:
http://www.pinkbowcity.com/

Behind the Scenes of a Concept Shoot

Greyline Creative and I are at it again. This time we are doing some portfolio work. It is a series inspired by the seasons. This particular shoot was all about Summer.

I bought some new Sleek palettes and they were perfect for this shoot. The particular palette that I used is the acid color palette. The colors are very saturated and blend easily. I used a MAC 217 to do the blending. Before I applied the makeup to the model, I practiced on myself. I knew that I wanted to use a pink/orange/yellow color scheme to mimic the feel of summer.

Acid Sleek palette (top) My practice session (bottom)

I started by applying an eyeshadow primer (Urban Decay). I then put down a base of white eye shadow to make the color brighter. I put a thick coat of orange (4th color on top row) all over my eye lid and blended it up into the crease. I then blended light hot pink (3rd color on bottom row) in the outer corner of the eye. I also added the orange and pink under the eye. I then blended the darker pink (1st on top row) even further out in the corner. I also added the bright yellow to the inner corner of the eye and underneath the eye inside. Finally, I added a bit of black in a v-shape to the outer corner of the eye to add dimension. It ended up looking purple instead of black which was nice.

My makeup arsenal

Glitter lip tattoos provide a strong beautiful glitter lip. Feels a bit weird and are not easy to apply.
I used gold on just the bottom lip for the shoot.

You can see the gold bottom lip here and the same eyeshadow treatment as above.

I curled the hair as I usually do, with a wand and stand up pin curls to give it body and wave.

The Shoot

Casey, the photographer, had the idea that she wanted to weave the models hair into a fence to create a romantic, whimsical composition. We knew we wanted flower to be a large part of the image and decided on orange and pink snapdragons, hydrangea and eucalyptus. We got a great deal on flowers from Casey's friend Julie from Jule's Design, an amazing flower designer.

The corset was one that I created for my Seven Deadly Sins fashion show. I'm glad that I was able to use it again.

The set up against a fence with flowers weaved around the model.

Another view of the shoot.

The Final Shot

Here is the final shot after all of that work. I think it turned out wonderfully. It always helps to have a beautiful model.

You can see the gold bottom lip here.

A close up of the makeup, without the gold lip. You can really see the eyeshadow gradient.

The full shot with the beautiful flowers.

Vintage Glamour

Here is a photo from my latest session with Greyline Creative. This is Gail. She wanted an authentic vintage look. My idea of more authentic look includes more sculptural hair. Her hair was actually longer, but I pin curled the bottom all the way around to give it a Marylin appeal. Gail's porcelain skin and blonde hair also helped. Contact Greyline if you want to set up your own vintage photo shoot.

More Fashion Show Pics

Here are more photos of my segment of the NWA Fashion Week fashion show, "The Seven Deadly Sins." These wonderful photos were provided by Victor Chalfant Photography.

Katie Terrell as Greed

Abi Moser as Wrath

Lindsay Smith as Sloth

Buffie Merryman as Pride

Jessica Gray as Lust

Katy Jones as Gluttony

Melanie Messina as Envy

NWA Fashion Week

Seven deadly sins

Just wanted to post a photo of the final results of the project I've been working on since November. A fashion show segment inspired by the seven deadly sins. I'll be posting more photos of each outfit very soon. Thanks to my beautiful models, my helpers Katie and Casey, again to Casey for the photos and finally to my wonderful, patient, supportive husband Brad.

1920's Photo Shoot Inspired by Downton Abbey

Update: Click here to view the rest of the images from the shoot.

This look was inspired by Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey.  The model Shayla was perfect for the part, elegant and graceful. This was actually the first really successful finger wave that I have done. I found a wonderful tutorial by Tara Harman.



At first I tried this with just regular hair gel, but that didn't work. The key is to use the gel she uses in the video, Clear Ice. After I set the hair in clips I dried the hair under under my vintage hair dryer.

For the makeup, I lightened her eyebrows with a bit of glue stick and concealer. I then drew on a thin line above the brow that pointed down at the end. The 20's brow is much more of a soft curve than an arch. The 20's look also concentrates the shadow in the inner corners of the eye and underneath the eye. The lips are angular with an exaggerated cupid's bow and narrowed on the ends.

Finger waves set with clips.

Finger waves set with clips, pin curls on the ends.

Set with a dryer.

Smokey eyes using a purple shadow brings out Shayla's brown eyes.

Final look with the angular lip before brushing out the hair. Photo by Greyline Creative.

Final look after brushing out the hair. It's a bit softer. The lips are softer here also.
Photo by Greyline Creative.

Glamour Photo Shoots

I have teamed up with Greyline Creative Photography to offer a full package of hair, makeup, styling and photography for individuals or groups. Visit Greyline's website to find out about pricing. Book a session today, I guarantee you will have fun!

These aren't your typical "glamour shots" as you know them. When some people think of glamour photos, they think of the photos from the 80's like this:

This is not what we do!  We do sophisticated, fashionable, timeless photography like this:

Sneak Peak of My Upcoming Fashion Show

On March 14, I am going to be a part of the NWA Fashionweek Art Amiss Designer Showcase. My particular segment will be a burlesque theme of the seven deadly sins. I'm working very hard right now to create the clothes, hair and makeup. Here is a sneak peek. It's a sketch I drew for Gluttony.

If you would like to buy tickets to the show, they can be purchased here:
http://nwafw.com/collections/event-tickets