I hope everyone is having a beautiful holiday season. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that it’s almost over! It’s bittersweet. I’m often reminded that it’s a sign of old age.
However, age is but a number to me! I’m quite excited to enjoy 2015. There is so much in store for Miracle Amor Artistry and I’ve been blessed to have new business partners by my side. Till next time!
This BB Cream is gorgeous on the skin and has small light reflecting particles making your comlexion glow!
I’ve been in the market to find that right BB cream and I think this is it! I’ve used similar products in the past, but most of them gives my skin a one dimensional look. This product gives me a natural glow and doesn’t make my face feel oily at all. I layered with MAC’s blotting powder on top to help with the shine more.
Had the opportunity to put together a face chart for my June 2014 bride.
When I was young, Holidays consisted of food, gifts and snow. I lived in Reno where there were four seasons determined by trees.
Being older and living in the Bay Area is completely different though. The Holidays are determined with what window displays there are. I’m not completely sad because the Bay Area does not have a limit in Holiday sales!
I opened my inbox and saw that Sephora’s anual VIB is here! I hopped on their website instantly and my jaw just about hit the floor. My most favorite items are all on sale, and has a better deal than my Pro discounts. Who would have guessed that? I love the holidays!
My first purchases (yes I’m sure a couple more will follow) from Sephora’s VIB sale were:
Gorgeous classic set! ($38)
Sephora.com exclusive. Beautiful colors. ($34)
What else canI say? Sephora.com exclusive. ($300)
My first NARS purchase. I know, can you believe it? ($65)
These goodies are set to arrive mid week next week! Super excited!
Xo,
Miracle
Hello everyone! Have you had the chance to see these new brushes by MAC?
I definitely like the Linear 1 Brush at $25 and already see different ways how it could be useful in my kit. The other two however do not make me excited enough to purchase them right away.
This little guy has definite cute points, but I have way too many products to get my hands on at once that will overwhelm this cutie. I see someone, in their teens perhaps, whos collection isn’t as varied. Also, for those minimalist on the go women who have perhaps their favorite 6 products. It reminds me of the stands they have at my salon that showcases our newly launched makeup collections. Would you “Back this Project?”
Today I was honored to have been hired by photographers I’ve worked with in the past. The first shoot was with Gigi, a photographer whom I’ve met for a short amount of time while shooting a fashion designer’s Senior Project. I enjoyed our conversation and found her features very memorable. Later, I found out she modeled herself. Her husband is quite a traveler from what I learned today. He has been to places I can only imagine traveling to!
Gigi had a coworker that is expecting her very first child. Her name was Lynn. Lynn was a glowing mommy indeed. She had finesse and was very soft spoken. I had to tame my super loud morning voice while talking to her. The first thing I noticed about Lynn were her soft downsloped eyes. My first thought, “Man, how do I get them to be bright and youthful, but not overwhelming.” I ended up defining them with gel liner and adding light with metalic eyeshadow. I paired them with dark eyebrows to further add the “youthful” effect, but later found out it was too dark for Lynn. I lightened them up by touching them up with translucent powder. These were the final products. 
(Lynn with darker eyebrows.)
(Lynn with lighter eyebrows.)
The second shoot of the day was with Todd Fong. I’ve shot with Todd Fong a handful of times and we really now know how each other works. He waits patiently as I take my time with makeup, and I wait patiently as he adjusts the light. This was our second engagement shoot and I knew we will be needing to look up poses as the shoot went on. To our surprise, the couple already had moves on their own!
Anna and John are two very busy professionals that still enjoy the small things in life. Although Anna was petite, she was not afraid to direct. She knew what her and John wanted out of the shoot, the architecture being one of them, but she also knew that this shoot needed to be fun just like the couple that they were. Anna and John practiced different poses at home that really helped during this shoot. The most memorable part of the shoot was when this adorable couple danced. Right in the middle of this huge space with beautiful architecture, they danced to whatever music they agreed on and it gave me butterflies. They laughed as they danced and John even dipped Anna at one point. It was beautiful.
Anna had really bright and optimistic eyes. I believe the closest word would be, motherly. They were soft but strong. I definitely had to bring them out! Slowly, I see the inner Anna that has wanted to come out since we met. The “girl” in Anna that loved all things pink, soft and cuddly. If she weren’t so busy, I’m sure I could be makeup shopping every weekend with her. I always try to do the lips last as not to smear lipstick all over the client’s face or clothing. Anna had this gorgeous fuscia pink dress on that I LOVED and was PERFECT for an engagement shoot. I paired it with a shade that I had in my palette and voi’ la, Anna was set for her close ups! 
(Anna’s before and after.)
(Anna and John “talking.” I had to snap a photo because of how gorgeous everything was!)
Needless to say, it was a very happy day! These are the photoshoots that make me so thankful to be part of. Every photoshoot is a blessing of course, but if I could have it my way, I would be hired to be part of people’s special, most memorable events. I went home very tired, but very happy! An amazing Sunday indeed!
Hi everyone! Summertime by far is my favorite season. A couple of weeks back, Todd and I definitely got our daily suggested amount of Vitamin D shooting with the gorgeous Josephine, shown in the photo above. We shot at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden which was in full bloom. It was a pleasant shoot because we were not once bugged by any rangers or park officials. We were free to roam choosing just the perfect bunch of roses to shoot in. It was a delightful afternoon with gorgeous photos as output!
Woah! Is it the end of April already? Really?
April is definitely a whirlwind of a month for me, but in a very great way!
I recently joined the team at Antidote Salon, an Aveda Exclusive Salon that I have been a client of the last two years. The whole application process really started as a joke that ended up benefiting me majorly! Hey, it does pay to try to be funny sometimes! ;D
Todd Fong and I have worked on multiple projects this month to continue and improve our portfolios. In the middle of our role, post production was halted after Todd experienced pain on his shoulder. He went to the chiro and found out it was a pinched nerve. He is getting better everyday and we will get back to more bigger and better things in no time!
I got back in contact with another photographer, Mark Joseph. Mark was MIA for quite a while and it really worried me and another model who I last worked with with him. He got back to me, thank God, to tell me he had been terribly under the weather. Luckily, he said he’s feeling better and is working to full recovery. We have yet to shoot since I’ve gotten back from my vacation and I can only hold my breathe till we create something beautiful again!
While we’re on the topic of beautiful things, I shot with a few new photographers this month also! The first, Justin Parker. We shot at Baker Beach early in the morning in late March with a prior model, Brigette. He’s a film photographer and I can only imagine how her photos are processed! The second, a female photographer, Aliona Kuznetsova. She grew up in Russia, moved to Switzerland and visited the U.S. for a short period of time. I am so honored to have shot with her while she was here because her portfolio on Model Mayhem (http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/1482847/viewall) is just so gorgeous. What is it with these European photographers? No worries, I love my American photographers just as much!
So let’s get back to my blog title. I have never really paid attention to Earth Day until this year. I don’t know what it is, but this year I became more aware of myself and the world around me. Perhaps it’s from seeing how badly Manila, Philippines is in contrast of how beautiful El Nido, Philippines is? Traveling just an hour by plane from the city can really put you in perspective! On the other hand, maybe it’s from paying a little extra for the paper bags everytime I go shopping. (The government’s theory sure worked on me! Good job guys.) I can’t say I’ve done ALL I can to leave a smaller footprint on Earth, but going forward, I would really like to work on this. Working at Antidote can help me in this goal because since it’s Aveda Exclusive, we only use Aveda products that aim for just that. From hair color to their face systems, Aveda aims to be 99% all natural and supports efforts in creating a better environment for the future. Just a fun fact, buying liter bottles of your Aveda shampoo instead of the 16.5 oz ones means you’re using 40% less plastic! That’s drastic if you think about it globally! If we all work to be more self sufficient and do our small part in bettering the environment, our future generations would live in a better planet!
For more ways in how you can support this movement, please visit: http://www.earthday.org
Lastly, I just want to say thank you to the young lady ahead of us, who was sweetheart enough to pay my group’s toll payment last night into San Francisco. Many of my friends have never heard of “Paying it forward” and she was a great example of it. Hopefully our effort of saying thank you while trying to go the same speed next to you on the Bay Bridge didn’t brush you the wrong way! Thank you again! I’ll be sure to pay it forward!
Till next time guys!
xoxo,
M.A.D.
This past week proved to be very fulfilling and gave me a great sense of accomplishment!
I was able to find time to reflect on the past year, and I continue to be amazed by how far networking has gotten me and how lucky I am to have been able to work with such talented people!
This weekend, my business partner Todd Fong and I encountered our very first, “flake”. Having a no-show is a definite downer, specially when you’ve planned the shoot and showed up at the location with knowing that this person may not even show. However, Todd and I took this opportunity to check out some venues for our future shoots! That got our spirits up and our creative juices running again!
With that said, I can’t wait to do a peasant shoot! Lately I’ve been doing a lot of lifestyle makeup and would like to do more of this simple yet beautiful look that really engages the model’s best features!
This coming week looks very quiet, but that just gives me a week to recuperate before the fun begins again!
Till next time beauties!
xoxo,
MAD
Sharing my creative journey...
I'd rather regret something that I'd done than something I was too afraid to do.
miracle amor artistry 