Makeup by Lucky

New York Times

2012-02-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE to see one of my bridal (and bridal party) clients wedding pics in the New York Times!

MTV Publicity Photoshoot

2012-02-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

check out some behind-the-scenes footage from the MTV hosts photoshoot I did makeup for:

Makeup Classes!

2012-01-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

On February 12, 2012 I will be teaching two classes: Makeup for HD and Makeup for Music Videos! If you would like to attend, please CLICK HERE for the link to purchase tickets! There is even a special earlybird price if you wish to attend both classes. I hope to see you there!

Brutal Hearts video premiere

2011-11-25T09:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the video (actually, director Bruce McDonald made TWO versions) for Bedouin Soundclash feat. Coeur de Pirate's Brutal Hearts. You can read an article about the video here. Also, my previous post about the making of the video is here. May I suggest that you watch the videos on fullscreen as they are beautiful!

This is the second version of the video, which I LOVE... mostly because the skeleton dancers are featured and I loved them.

finally, here is a behind the scenes video:

Makeup inspired by Beyonce's "Countdown" video!

2011-11-17T13:51:00.000-08:00

Halloween at MTV 2011

2011-10-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Toronto Fashion Week

2011-10-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

I was very happy to be asked to do a day at fashion week this fall. It's been a while since I've done it (I used to do every season before I started doing TV full time) and it was great fun to see some old friends backstage, make some new ones, and of course see all of the spring fashion for 2012.

MTV Fora came backstage with me and shot me doing some makeup and eating a tuna salad. Because my life is just that glamorous.

my makeup is in this video which follows Steph backstage at Fashion Week... I did her makeup for the Cydelic show:

Backstage with Steph from istoica on Vimeo.

Stills from Brutal Hearts

2011-10-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

More stills from the set of the Brutal Hearts music video set. All photos by Jeremy Chan.

Artbound Party!

2011-09-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

This year I did a few clients up in their music icon of choice for this year's Artbound party.

This one made it into Toronto's Grid Magazine... pictured is Craig Kielburger (founder of Free The Children) and a Gene Simmons makeup I did:

...and here is "Gene Simmons" and his lovely wife "Shania Twain" before they left their hotel room:

Polaris Prize 2011

2011-09-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

I did makeup for The Polaris Prize this year. These are a few fun behind-the-scenes shots I took of Damian (from MuchMusic's The Wedge and singer of former Polaris Prize winning band Fucked Up) and Grant Lawrence from CBC Radio 3... we had a lot of fun in the makeup room that night. And, congrats to The Arcade Fire- this year's winner.

Katie from Austra wanted me to give her a modern Cleopatra vibe:

this is my friend Cat who was helping out with makeup:

Damian as Grant, Grant as Damian:

Articles

2011-09-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

Check out a few articles I wrote... click here for an article for Elle Canada about how to get concealer right, and click here for a Huffington Post article on TIFF makeup trends!

Jessica

2011-09-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Today I did makeup for my friend (and model) Jessica. I love her face, she has strong features and a lot of character. She wanted to have an aggressive, bewitched, slightly supernatural vibe. Looking forward to seeing some selects.

Of course Jessica fell in love with my dog Jose:

Fall Fashion Story

2011-09-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

Did makeup for a fall fashion story for a daytime tv show. The models were lovely and so funny... I took these pics at 7am with my iphone 4:

this is my friend Amy! (she was doing a makeup demo on the show.)

Up In Smoke

2011-09-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

So my dad always used to tell me stories about how he grew up with Tommy Chong (yeah duh, of Cheech and Chong) in Bowness, Alberta. Bowness is, or was, a really really small place. One of the stories revolved around a park in Bowness that had canals running through it, like in Venice or Amsterdam. Another story involved a VW van and some mushrooms. I kinda always thought my dad was full of it, or that he inflated his relationship with Tommy a bit to make for a better story. Then, the day came when I got to work with Cheech and Chong. I met Tommy in the hallway and we started having a conversation about Russell Brand, and flopsweat, and blah blah... anyway we were chatting away like we were old friends. He came in and hung out in the makeup room, and I asked him if he was from Alberta, and he said, “Yeah, from Calgary. Well, not really, just outside of Calgary, this really small place called Bowness.” Get the outta here, thought I. “I think you may have known my dad.”

Tommy freakin' Chong totally remembered my dad and told me the same stories, just with his spin on them. Party stories. It totally made me all misty-eyed. He also remembered my mom’s NAME and the exact corner that her grandfather’s store was. When I told him that my granddad owned the gas station across the street, how my dad worked there and that’s how he met my mom, he smacked my leg and said, “I KNOW THAT STORY!” …but all he could remember was something about my dad kidnapping my mom for a date in a convertible. He also said, "You know, you're like me. Half Asian and don't look it." Anyway, he was a really nice dude. Both of them were. Tommy was telling Cheech about my dad and Bowness, and Cheech asked Chong, “If she’s the Bowness, were you the boner?” Surreal moment #372: Cheech and Chong standing in my makeup room singing “Luck Be a Lady” to me.

Pump It Up

2011-09-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

Just found some video of one of Elvis Costello's shows that I did makeup for. This particular episode was with Bono and The Edge (who are some of the nicest people I've ever worked with). I remember the security around the building on this occasion was astonishing... there were security and policemen everywhere. I was escorted to the makeup room by two security guards!! Yet, for whatever reason, I was left alone in the makeup room with no security, alone with The Edge and a shirtless (!) sunglassless (!!) Bono doing his vocal warmups.

Both Bono and The Edge have rosacea- Bono's neck and chest go extremely red and The Edge's cheeks become crimson- and, as the show was in HD I had my work cut out for me. Basically I had to cover the affected areas with a green primer, then bring their skin back to their normal skintone using foundations. (Read: yes, I painted Bono's bare chest.) I'm so pleased to say that both gentlemen were very pleased with the results. We had a great time talking about how all three of us in the room had unusual names and Bono sang a little ditty that he made up about my name and how I must have been teased in school. The Edge told me stories about how he would come to Toronto as a boy and he has many lovely memories here. He also told me the story of how he met his wife... truly, both of these men were some of the nicest people I've met. Mr. Costello and his band The Imposters were always charming, funny gentlemen as well. I have very fond memories of working on 'Spectacle! Elvis Costello With...'

(If you watch the credits at the end of the first video you'll see my name. Small things thrill me.)

Bono also had me hang on to his Carmex lip balm so I could run in on breaks and hand it to him. He said that when he got nervous his lips became dry. I asked him what he could possibly nervous about ? He looked at me and said, "Darlin', have you heard? Elvis Costello is interviewing me tonight!!!"

At the end of the night, I was packing up and The Edge came back in to the makeup room to thank me. I was really struck by how absolutely "normal" and kind of all of the people around them these men were despite how incredibly famous they are. I truly hope I get to work with them again one day.

Bea still my (brutal) heart (get it?)

2011-09-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

i love this still from the upcoming Brutal Hearts video. Bea looks stunning.

Brutal Hearts video shoot

2011-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

I had a great time hanging out with my friends Bedouin Soundclash and Coeur de Pirate shooting the video for Brutal Hearts. This one is directed by the legendary Bruce MacDonald and I was quite thrilled to be working with him. My job seldom feels like work and this day was no exception! I did Beatrice and Jay's makeup first... here they are being silly:

and here is the lovely Miss Bea:

The following afternoon we shoot in a park in Kensington Market. This park is FULL of local characters, which was hilarious and provided us with much entertainment:

The video includes 5 dancers, and the skull makeup was inspired by the movies The Warriors and Dead Presidents with a bit of a tribal/voodoo/New Orleans/Día de los Muertos vibe thrown in.

I love this shot of Eon & Sekou:

Bea & Jay taking direction from Bruce MacDonald:

the boys:

Here I am posing with the dancers:

and here is the band's manager Dave (a/k/a Zizou) being Very Busy talking about Important Things:

Looking forward to seeing the video... the song is one of my favorites. So happy to be able to be part of it!!

In The Makeup Room With Lucky: Sheena gets a Nicole Holness inspired look

2011-08-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Power Outage!!

2011-08-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today there was a major power outage in many areas of Toronto. The MTV building was in one of those areas, and after some deliberation as to whether we were just going to give up and go home, we decided to shoot some of the shows outside and tape the live shows.

But first, I tried to do Aliya-Jasmine's makeup in the pitch dark. I always tell her that I know her face so well I could probably do her makeup with my eyes closed... well, it appears I cannot:

So, we asked one of our interns, Kalista, to hold a light while I got AJ ready to do MTV News:

Thankfully, the power came back in time for me to shoot a tutorial with Sheena where we recreated Nicole's Pop Yo Bottles look:

and, Lise Watier put up another pic of makeup I did on Sharlene!! CLICK HERE to see it!!

Lise Watier

2011-08-08T18:22:00.000-07:00

Lise Watier was kind enough to put a pic of a makeup I did on Nicole Holness up on their tumblr!! CLICK HERE to see it!!!

Nicole blows off some steam...

2011-08-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

In The Makeup Room with Lucky: makeup inspired by Lady Gaga

2011-08-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

Sharlene gets Gagalooed with makeup inspired by "The Edge of Glory" video:

Monkeying around with Paul the Intern

2011-08-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

today I had to whip together a look for Paul the Intern. the producers at MTV Live needed him to look like a monkey man and I only had an hour to throw the whole thing together... which thankfully was long enough to make poor Paul look sufficiently creepy!!

there was no time to do latex to hide the seam of the nose, but it won't read on TV. *whew*

Sharlene makeup tutorial inpired by??? sneak peek...

2011-07-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Aliya Jasmine's Keri Hilson inspired makeup tutorial

2011-07-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

PRIDE special tutorial

2011-06-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Pride week in Toronto, I wanted to do something special... so I asked 1 Girl 5 Gays cast member Philip to join me in a tutorial. I think it turned out pretty fabulous!

your daily laugh with Nicole

2011-06-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

it's never boring in the makeup room with Nicole.

how DID her bum get so small, anyway?

moments before the show:

2011-06-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

just another day behind the scenes at MTV Live:

Sharlene in makeup inspired by Oh Land!

2011-06-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Mean Girls

2011-06-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Thank God the people I work with know I have a dry sense of humour and (most of) the stuff i say is a joke!!! Here is Nicole & Sharlene imitating me:

I'M JUST KIDDING YOU GUISE!!! (most of the time)

Sheena as Beth Ditto

2011-06-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

Sheena gets the Beth Ditto look

2011-06-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

...and cracks me up in the process!!

Nicole gets a Nicki Minaj Inspired Look

2011-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Pretty Little Liars commercial

2011-05-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

you may have read a past blog post where i did makeup for two of the cast members of Pretty Little Liars, Shay Mitchell and Ashley Benson. here is the commercial:

An Exorcism: 13 Years In The Making

2011-05-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Exorcise a Demon: Cutting Dreadlocks from Rubio Films on Vimeo.

disclaimer: i had the flu and felt/looked like hell!! regardless, check out this amazing video shot by Rubio Films.

Jared Leto confirms that I made AJ look like a Kardashian.

2011-05-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

Michael vs Michael

2011-05-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today I did a shoot with my friend Michael Palma. It was a very special day for him... why? Well, I can't reveal that quite yet. As soon as they release the finals I will post them here and you will see why. For now, here are the bits I *can* show you:

Dan Levy/ B Insider

2011-05-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

the other day i was happily reunited with my former colleague and dear friend Dan Levy. we did a shoot for The Hudson's Bay Company's new B Insider blog (which i have to admit i'm now a big fan of). Dan got to choose fantastic designer clothing from The Bay and style his own shoot... he has such an eye for what works, and it was really fun to see him put it all together.

we had such a fun day, the photographer Jaclyn Locke is ever so talented... as you'll see by clicking the link here!

here's some behind the scenes:

Sharlene's Look Inspired By Florence & The Machine

2011-05-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

We tried a new direction with the Fora Tutorials this time around... we added audio!! Although it's always cringe-worthy watching yourself on screen, I do like that they captured the banter between Sharlene and I. The other fun thing is that this is actually how fun my job is every day.

How To: Sheena's Pretty & Polished Look

2011-05-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

What's In Your Satchel?

2011-04-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

haha!! I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that Sheena gave me a shout out in this vid:

How to: Aliya-Jasmine's Smoky Eye

2011-04-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Katie's special talent

2011-04-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is MTV's stylist, Katie. And, this is Katie's special talent:

How To: Makeup Inspired by Rihanna on Nicole Holness

2011-04-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

makeup inspired by Rihanna in the "Who's That Chick" video ... enjoy!

Happy birthday Nicole!

2011-04-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Nicole was pretending to be in a coma for a photo that was part of one of the taped pieces on MTV Live. I couldn't resist using the opportunity to sing her Happy Birthday in that moment. I'm not sure why I it sounds like I have a smoker's laugh... oh well. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!!

Watch me!

2011-04-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am doing Aliya-Jasmine's makeup for an MTV Fora tutorial:

hip hopera

2011-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

just more of Nicole and I being geeks in the makeup room:

How to: Nicole's Bronze Glow

2011-04-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Watch me!

2011-03-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

today I shot a few videos for MTV FORA where I do the host's makeup and give a rundown of what I use. the first in the series is with MTV News' Sharlene Chiu. take a look and tell me what you think!

johnny reid

2011-03-15T20:22:00.000-07:00

i recently did a taping of a concert with Johnny Reid. he is an extremely nice fellow, and working with him and his band felt like being part of a family.

all photos by Darren Goldstien.

someone i don't know sent me a message saying, ‎"i can totally tell you are good at what you do because the people that you work on in the photos look to you in fondness." thank you, stranger... you made my day.

"That’s why I began doing makeup in the first place: I was hoping that through helping people see the beauty in themselves, I could try and find it in me."
- Kevyn Aucoin

shoot with Aliya-Jasmine

2011-03-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today I had a fun day shooting with Aliya-Jasmine and photographer Steve Carty.

I thought I'd share a little behind the scenes stuff and a little video that I'll call "Three Things I Love About Lucky." AJ must be a sadist because she made me sound really mean!!! hahaha.... I'm really not!! Right....?

here's me waiting on set for AJ (she got stuck in traffic behind a parade!)

later on Daniel from Stereos popped in to say hi to AJ... (pic courtesy of Daniel's twitter)

poor paul

2011-02-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

here i am covering Paul "the intern" Lemieux's acne:

Armistice

2011-02-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

last week my dear friends Jay and Beatrice were on MTV Live with their new music project Armistice. Bea's face is one of my favorites... i love how she looks like an old soul and a child all at once. i gave Bea some bronzed smoky eyes, and Jay a haircut. love it when my friends are part of my work day... so much fun getting to hang out with them.

Check out the new video:

Fishy Little Liars

2011-01-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did makeup for two of the cast members of Pretty Little Liars for the promo they were shooting for MuchMusic. I had the pleasure of painting the faces of Ashley Benson (Hanna) and Shay Mitchell (Emily). Another artist on set, Mila, has these great Chanel glasses that she gets everyone to try on, and then documents it.

Here are Shay and I doing our "fishyfaces"!

Shay= sexy fishyface:

Lucky= WTF fishyface:

it was a fun day!

Bedouin Haircut

2011-01-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

New video from Bedouin Soundclash. No, I wasn't on set with them in India, but I did cut Jay's hair for this.

serenaded by Nicole

2010-12-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

for those of you who don't know, i call MTV Live's Nicole "talent" and she calls me "makeup". stupid nicknames that just stuck and have gone on for years... here's Nicole singing to me in the makeup room:

sorry for cutting you off, talent.

holidays!

2010-12-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

(gratuitous photo of my dog Jose)

just a quick post with a link to an Eye Weekly article i'm in. check it out here... ironically, i also did the makeup for the headshots that Dan Levy and Amber Mac submitted for the same article!

i also recently did a makeup test with the new hosts of MuchMusic's brand new show New.Music.Live. ... turns out Phoebe is a big fan of Paul "the intern" so i surprised her and brought him in to meet her! she was shocked to say the least...

i also ran into fellow blogger Arianne who does The Glitter Geek at the MAC Pro store today!

happy holidays everyone! put on some red lipstick and false lashes already!!

shoot with krystal 2

2010-11-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

here are some more photos of my friend Krystal... we have shot together before, you can view that post here. this time, we shot with the immensely talented Christopher Wadsworth... look at his site here and let your jaw drop.

i picked a few from the shoot that are some of my faves to show you here:

special thanks to Danielle Kil for coming out last minute to do Krystal's hair.

Special Effects Legend

2010-11-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

today at the Toronto IMATS i had the pleasure of meeting Tom Savini. i told MTV Movie Night about Tom's speaking engagement there so i also got to hang out and listen while they interviewed him. it was really interesting to hear his opinions on CGI vs traditional effects makeup... kind of dying to go to his special effects school now. pretty inspiring.

here's me with Mr. Savini:

some memorable quotes:

"You must make your dreams come true because otherwise they will haunt you."

"The more you do, the more you can do."

"The less you have (time, budget, etc.) the more creative you become."

it's hard to believe this dude is in his 60's. i certainly admire his career and hope you check out some of his work if you aren't familiar already.

Hallowe'en 2010

2010-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Photos of Johnny Hockin (zombie) and Aliya-Jasmine Sovani (Katy Perry) courtesy of Gregg Hunter and Aliya-Jasmine's blackberry. :)

FORA Magazine Fall 2.0

2010-10-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

To see Fora issue click here. To see my beauty article, click here. All photos by Gary Samson and Ron Ruiz:

The FINAL Hills Aftershow Finale: A Hollywood Ending

2010-10-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be appropriate to do this post now as Jessi's farewell special is now airing on MTV!

We shot the final episode at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Apparently this hotel is haunted by the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, but the only bumps in the night that I heard were from drunk patrons returning to their hotel rooms! Here's a shot of the crew building the stage over the famous pool:

i love street art...

i had a good laugh at the kind of stuff you can casually buy in any drugstore in Hollywood:

speaking of which, the hotel mini bar wasn't so mini!!

of course we had to go to In-N-Out Burger. if you ever go to LA, order it 'animal style'.

the day of the show, there was a bit of stress as Jessi's dress (that she co-designed with Mikhael Kale) wasn't ready. i was sent out to find some other options for Jessi to wear for the big finale. (no pressure.) if you are a fan of Jessi's at all, you'll know that she has a very distinct eye for fashion, and she's extremely picky about what she wears on a regular day, nevermind the finale!!! so i ran out to shop for our lady (i only had about 3 hours to do this) and she was really pleased with what i chose for her. this is the only time you'll see what she *might* have worn, as the Mikhael Kale dress arrived last minute *phew*!
from left to right: J.Mendel, Azzedine Alaïa, Proenza Schouler

the production desk:

the makeup area:

mr. levy studies his notes: (i thought he was extra handsome that night...)

commercial break:

did i mention all the drama that was going on in front of the hotel during the red carpet? Spencer Pratt apparently had tried to book a room overlooking the pool, but having failed that, he dressed up as an old man and pestered the cast and paparazzi.

i love this photo. it really sums up how we all felt in this moment...

after it was all said and done and everyone was packing up, Lauren Conrad (whose makeup looked flawless thanks to my dear friend Gregory Arlt) came in to say hello, which i thought was just so sweet that she remembered me (i guess we did see each other numerous times over the years!!). i'll never forget the time LC, Audrina and Whitney came to the show together... i had seen something on the internet about one of their co-stars that they hadn't seen yet and i was giving them the scoop. suddenly i realized that i was living a Hills moment, in real life. bizarre. even more bizarre is that The Aftershow is over!!! i have so many fond memories of working on this show that i will always treasure.

Jessi Cruickshank: My MTV Life

2010-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Be sure you watch Jessi Cruickshank: My MTV Life on October 21st at 11pm!! See the preview here! It's bound to be hilarious... I certainly miss seeing (and painting) Jessi's face every day!!

shoot with krystal

2010-10-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i did a shoot with my friend Krystal Garib. She's a singer/dancer/actor with a heart of gold... she also just happens to be from my hometown in British Columbia!! We did 3 looks and Krystal had a great time dancing to some of her favorite music while we shot. Salem, the stylist, was hilarious and kept us in stitches all morning! Everyone on set gave each other the nickname "hooker" (thanks to Salem... or Lafayette from True Blood!).

It was a fun morning and the camera loves Krystal! (thanks to Alberto Espinal and Krystal's iphone for the photos!)

the infamous Brose dress:

typical Okanagan girls:

keep your eye on this one!! oh yeah, random side note: while shooting outside (before we got kicked off the property!!) we ran into some of the boys from Down With Webster:

yep, that's them in the background. trust me.

getting married in style!

2010-10-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I did makeup for my friend Yael's wedding. Yael is a really fun girl and has a keen eye for style (check her blog here and watch a video from Plaid Magazine here) so doing her makeup for her big day was not only an honour, it was really fun! All of her bridesmaids had me in stitches laughing away as I worked... definitely one of the most fun weddings I've done!

Did I mention a certain young pop star with a famous haircut was also in attendance? Read more about it here.

Fora Magazine, Back to School!

2010-09-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

starring MTV Live's Nicole Holness and contest winners Osmayra and Rebecca.

all photos by Ron Ruiz and Gary Samson.

for my beauty article, click here!

to see Fora Magazine, click here!

team FORA

2010-08-25T10:53:00.001-07:00

some of the great team who bring you Fora Magazine. missing from the photo is photographer Gary Samson.

muchmusic vj's publicity shoot

2010-08-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

a few months ago i did makeup for the MuchMusic VJ's publicity photos. it was such a fun day! not only are the faces gorgeous, but every one of the VJs have great personalities and an amazing sense of humour. they kept me laughing the whole day! i'm looking forward to hopefully working with them again.

Fora Magazine, Summer 2.0

2010-08-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

all photos by Ron Ruiz and Gary Samson. click here to see Fora Magazine!

Nicole Holness - POP YO BOTTLES - Official Music Video

2010-07-17T02:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the video for Nicole's new song! I wrote an earlier blog about the making of this video which you can see here. I'm so excited for you all to see it!

the very last Hills Aftershow

2010-07-09T21:10:00.001-07:00

What a crazy ride it's been. I remember when we first started The Laguna Beach Aftershow years ago. I used to be one of the Aftershow "friends" on a regular basis before the show gained momentum (and viewers!!). We shot it in the studio with no audience. I was the one who made the stencils for those god-awful "Team LC" and "Team Kristin" shirts that Dan and Jessi wore on that first show... and those cocktails in the martini glasses used to be real cocktails, not Vitamin Water!

I was so proud to watch Dan and Jessi grow during the duration of the show, and watch it get picked up by the U.S. and be one of the first shows to go live from Canada to the U.S.! Eventually we were invited down to LA and NY to participate in the premieres and finales for The Hills (which I've written about in past blogs). I used to stand back and watch the audience file in and fill up the Concert Hall and was just in awe of how successful The Aftershow had become.

As we all know, all good things must come to an end, and the last Canadian-aired Hills Aftershow was very emotional for everyone who had been involved with the show. As Dan and Jessi said their goodbyes at the end of the show, they both got choked up which sent our entire crew and the devoted Aftershow Friends into tears.

Tika has been an Aftershow Friend almost since the beginning. She had quite a following of her own based on her "tell it like it is" personality and fans in the audience would yell "TIKA!!" when she came onstage. All of these photos are courtesy of Tika. She's a little emotional in this one:

I have to add Tika's comment on this photo... it made me laugh! "4 years and NEVER had one picture with Lucky...She did my make-up and ALWAYS made me look beautiful even though I was NEGRO-late EVERY TIME!!! EXCEPT THE LAST SHOW!!! I made it a priority to make it on time! love you Lucky!!! Thanx for the memories! LOVE! :)"

Sad to see it go, excited for what the future brings!! As they say in the biz, That's A Wrap!!

Now, off to LA to do the big Hills finale!

Coeur de Pirate!

2010-07-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

So proud of my friend Beatrice! She's on the cover of Quebec ELLE for August 2010 and she looks so great! (i didn't do the makeup...credit goes elsewhere for that!)

Here's me and B after I did her makeup for the MMVA's this past June:

gorgeous bride

2010-07-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

i just love this photo of Sasha, the beautiful bride... i'll post colour pics later so you can see the makeup, but there is just something about her in this photo...

Jessi is a Fashion Fatale

2010-07-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

i did Jessi's makeup for this fun pic in the Toronto Star... view the complete article here.

Fora Magazine, Summertime!

2010-06-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

all photos by Ron Ruiz and Gary Samson.

check out the new issue of Fora, along with my makeup tips!

Much Mommy

2010-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite faces is Erica Ehm. I say this in a broader sense than just doing her makeup; i say it also because i grew up watching her as one of the first VJ's for MuchMusic. as a teenager i was glued to the tv watching that channel, and watched Erica interview some of my music heroes. growing up in small town British Columbia, i yearned to have a career like hers: wear cool clothes, talk to rock stars... i mean, come on. but Erica was different than so many of the other women i saw on tv at the time. yes, she was smart, and gorgeous, but there was something unconventional about her. she really brought her own personality, her own quirkiness to the screen. as someone who felt out of place a lot of the time as a teen, she subconsciously encouraged me to just be myself, and be so fearlessly.

fast forward a few years, and i see that Erica has created a new empire. no, that's the wrong word... she's created a community. it's for mothers. yummy mummies, to be exact. i love hitting up yummy mummy club because, in my opinion, it's not just for moms; it's for all women. and being the smart cookie she is, Erica didn't follow the paths others had laid out for her, she created her own. i'm going to guess it was by following her heart.

now, i have the pleasure of working with Erica on a regular basis, doing her makeup while she hosts Bravo! At The Concert Hall. she's everything i thought she would be when i used to watch her on MuchMusic, and now even more. she's smart, funny, gorgeous, compassionate, personable, professional, one of the most open people i know, and now i can also say that she's become a mentor.

Erica has featured articles i've written on her blog, and even mentioned me in a few of her own. (i promise i'll get around to writing a post about that whole Bono/The Edge thing in detail...)

just another reason why my job's pretty sweet.

When God Made Me He Broke All The Rules

2010-06-14T16:00:00.001-07:00

when i was a little girl, around 6 or 7 years old, i was obsessed with KISS. while other little girls had posters of unicorns and rainbows on their walls, my room was decorated with posters of Gene Simmons with his eyes rolled back in his head spurting out blood with that...tongue... wagging around. the first thing i ever purchased with my own allowance money was "Love Gun". i remember being in the store with my mom and she looked at the record and said, "are you sure?"

my brother had an 8-track in his bedroom, and i had found the cassette for Destroyer amongst his music collection and was immediately intrigued. i used to play that thing all the time, until i could afford to buy my own KISS album. Love Gun is still one of my favorite karaoke songs.
my little 7 year old friends were terrified to sleep over at my house on account of my Gene posters. i guess i saw through it all a bit, but i loved the theatre of it all... the makeup, the costumes, the pyro. i also loved, even at that young age, that my parents just didn't get why i loved this offensive band. my 7 year old self also secretly wished that the members of KISS really did have powers befitting to their characters. around this time i also became curious about religion, so i remember praying to god at night for forgiveness because i just couldn't help liking KISS, and they were clearly evil.

so one day at work, Gene Simmons came in. let me remind you that this is grown-up me, and i work for a television network, and my job is touching the faces of celebrities and music icons on a regular basis. no one ever really "throws" me... not to my face. i let them walk away from me before i have an "oh my god!!" moment. except that day.

when Gene walked in to the makeup room, he came flanked with a photographer (who happened to be my friend Telma) and a cameraman. we were introduced, we shook hands, and Gene and i locked eyes. say what you will about this man, that he's a douchebag, a sleazeball, a money grabbing opportunist... (and grown-up me agrees with all those things- although i am guilty of enjoying Family Jewels) but, he is ONE INTENSE MAN. i felt like i was locked into him. he's so tall and, well, intense.

then things immediately turned into a shitshow. i said, "Gene. So nice to meet you." and he pulled me in and bear hugged me. then he sang, "Fairy tales do come true... it can happen to you" as he snapped my bra strap on my back over and over. i think i turned 50 shades of red. he stood back, still holding my arms, and proceeded to "poke" my armpit with his finger, making this weird squeaking noise as he did so. i could not stop laughing. i turned into 7 year old me in one second flat...not that that kind of behavior had anything to do with my childhood, but you know what i'm trying to say. then he hugged me some more and held my face with his hands and put his nose on my upper lip, and sniffed. "i like how you smell" he told me. then i sat him down to do his powder, and he asked me for hairspray. so i helped him spray that helmet of hair he has... the whole while he blew kisses at himself in the mirror. i said, "Gene, you are a handsome and powerful man." he liked that. then he opened his pants a bit and pretended to hairspray his crotch. i told him if it needed hairspray, he clearly needed to trim.

as he walked out, i noticed his back was covered in some red fuzz, so i stopped him and was using the lint roller on his back... he stuck out his butt and said, "feel that." so, i did. he said, "not bad, huh?" and i said, "surprisingly, rock hard!" "you think that's hard?" he said, and took my hand and put it on his schmeckle. yup. i'm not kidding. i said, "wow, that's big. is that where you keep your money?" he did a huge belly laugh, hugged me again, and walked out.

so weird, but i was totally laughing and having fun even though it was kind of creepy. and i was blushing. a lot. oh, and a plastic severed hand that i had stolen from a hallowe'en party somehow made its way into the hugs...

the whole time Telma was snapping away on her camera.
it was quite the day at work. i met a childhood icon. wow. now, if you will excuse me, i have to go pray.

The Hills Aftershow Finale 2007

2010-06-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

the first time we were invited to LA to do The Hills Aftershow Finale was back in december 2007. we all had SUCH a good time on this trip!!
the weather was gorgeous, and we shot the finale at Area nightclub. we stayed in a boutique hotel (the name of which escapes me) but it was beautiful, and had a huge rooftop pool and deck to enjoy the sun on.
Jessi was wearing a gorgeous Greta Constantine dress, which i loved, but it almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown!! Dan and Jessi had a trailer at the location to get ready in, and just as i was doing final touchups and there was a knock on the door yelling "FIVE MINUTES" (this was their US debut, no presh) Jessi's dress suddenly went POP! POP-POP!! and those cool square gold attatchments around the neckline of the dress came flying off.
we looked at each other in a moment of panic. i grabbed her face and said, "It's going to be fine." (i think i was telling myself that as much as her!) then i grabbed some double-sided tape and stuck those suckers back on. worked like a charm, except my stress level through the entire (live to air!) show was through the roof, worrying that one of those things was going to pop off on air. thankfully, they didn't. let's just say i had a BIG cocktail shortly after we wrapped!!

When work was done, we went to Les Deux (at the time, frequent hangout of The Hills cast) and The Roosevelt Hotel, and danced and had fun... maybe a little too much fun!! We hung out with UFC fighters that night... random.

i kept telling Jess not to leave her coat anywhere. the last pic is Jessi looking for her stolen coat at Les Deux. she never did find it.

The Hills After Show Finale 2008

2010-06-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

this was back in 2008. the canadian crew of The After Show went to LA for the second time to host The Hills season finale. i remember it was colder than it was in Toronto in LA, and it rained a lot. we shot the finale at a huge mansion in the hills, and the Goodyear Blimp flew overhead advertising the show. Usher was a special guest, and just as he was supposed to go on, no one could find him. panic ensued. turns out he was on his phone and didn't hear the knock on his door. i remember he performed "Love In This Club" and sprayed champagne over the crowd... mostly on me.
after we wrapped, we went to Chateau Marmont for some food and cocktails, and the The Bachelorette girl was there with her new husband. this was before the finale of The Bachelorette had aired so it was a big spoiler for all of our crew who watched that show.

Nike Plus iRun

2010-06-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

i just found these pics from a couple years ago!! i did makeup for an ad my talented friends at Helios Design Labs did for Nike Plus iRun with Dan Levy. the day we shot was extremely cold and the snow in the park was really quite deep (can you even see the white dog in that one pic?)... so we all had cold toes, noses and fingers that day! it was worth it, though, as the spot looks lovely.

Nike - Plus I Run from Helios Design Labs on Vimeo.

Girlicious

2010-06-13T18:58:00.001-07:00

Girlicious performed at Canadian Music Week earlier this year. Those girls have a TON of energy and were really sweet.

This pic makes me die of laughter everytime i see it... you can see my reflection in the mirror and i ruin their sexy pose.

Beauty Blog Interviews/Articles

2010-06-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

thought i'd share a few interviews and articles i've done!

interviews:
The Beauty Of Life -First Look Fridays

Adorned Magazine- Q & A With...

Faces By Farah- Sunday Feature

Beauty Squared- Gingers With Red Lips (ok, not really MY article but i thought it was cool that the post was inspired by this rant!

articles:
The Yummy Mummy Club-Celebrity Makeup Tips

The Yummy Mummy Club- Smoky Eyes

The Yummy Mummy Club-The Girl Next Door Look

The Yummy Mummy Club-Old Hollywood

MTV After Show Blog-Getting Lucky - this is a regular blog i do for The After Show featuring Jessi's makeup look and general ramblings!

Fora Magazine - Makeup Tips- Flawless Prom Skin

Fora Magazine - Makeup Tips- Top Trends For Flirty Eye Makeup This Spring - another site i contribute to on a regular basis... new article to come on Fora tomorrow!

Fora Magazine

2010-06-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

i've been fortunate enough to be part of this project which you can see here. along with doing the makeup for all of the fashion spreads which feature the MTV hosts, i've also been writing the "Makeup Tips" articles, which you can see here and here. the photographers for Fora, Ron Ruiz and Gary Samson, are incredibly talented and have great vision. it's always a pleasure to work with them.

The first three shoots were with Jessi Cruickshank and Dan Levy, and the theme was "Prom".

love that Oscar de la Renta dress.

for the second shoot, Jessi's makeup was inspired by my love of 1960's makeup which had been re-ignited with my viewing of Tom Ford's "A Single Man".

the third shoot:

Life Is A Gun

2010-06-13T00:14:00.001-07:00

here are some stills and a bit of behind the scenes from Jay Malinowski's "Life Is A Gun" video that i did hair and makeup for. the video's mood is quite dark, but we really had a lot of fun that day just fooling around and being silly. you should definitely check out Jay's album, and if you aren't familiar with Coeur de Pirate, i suggest you become so. her music is so lovely.

check out the video here.

giving Jay a trim after i beat his face (with makeup, of course)

with Dave G from Pirate's Blend Records and the lovely Coeur de Pirate

behind the scenes - MTV Promo

2010-06-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

Had a fun day yesterday with the MTV Live hosts shooting a new promo for the show... here's a peek!

Sneak Peek- Pop Yo Bottles video

2010-06-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

a few months ago i wrote the treatment for Nicole Holness' new video for her song "Pop Yo Bottles". I also had a heavy hand in the styling, some of the directing, the editing, and of course i keyed the makeup! this was the first time i've ever attempted writing a music video treatment, and it was a really fun process (read: a LOT of work!!). i had an amazing makeup team that day (can't thank them enough) and the extras were all hand-picked and wonderful to work with. what a great experience! i'd love to do it again.

we shot in a gorgeous horse stable about an hour out of the city. when we first arrived everyone was overwhelmed by the "eau de farm" fragrances but after a while you kind of forgot about it. i grew up having 3 horses, so it didn't bother me... i think i was the only person there who also wasn't afraid of horses, so when you see the video, those are my hands in the quick shots of the horse being washed. there were so many beautiful animals there... it was fun to shoot with cute barn kittens running around! i think the horse i was washing really found it a relaxing experience as he peed... on my boots. i couldn't jump out of the way for fear of ruining the shot.

here's a few sneak peeks from the video:

there were a lot of wigs on set that day and a lot of the male extras had a great time putting them on and doing runway up and down the stall aisles. unfortunately i didn't have time to document it.

yep, that's the horse who peed on me.

we also worked with a lot of liquid latex that day... actually, Nicole technically isn't wearing a top... i painted red liquid latex on her upper chest. Nicole and i have been friends for about 4 years now, and though we know each other quite well, painting her tatas took it to a whole 'nother level.

at one point i dropped a whole jug of black liquid latex on the floor. i had a moment of panic before realizing that it's really the easiest cleanup ever... once it dried, we just peeled it off the floor. whew.

here are myself, the director, and some of the extras watching playback of the "burlesque girls" scene... those girls were really into it and it made for some pretty steamy entertainment!! the girl in the front with the black lips plays the teacher in the "teacher/student" scene and she stole the show... and the guy with the black and white mask beside her is the choreographer, who we ended up using in the video in a last-minute decision! he was fantastic, too.

i loved this day. i wish i could live it over again. i love my job. thank you, Nicole, for giving me this opportunity.

hallowe'en fun

2010-06-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

Jessi Cruickshank as Shiloh Jolie-Pitt

Sharlene Chiu as Karen O

quick skull facepainting

Johnny Hockin as Russell Brand

myself as The Spirit of Jazz from The Mighty Boosh

Paul "the intern" Lemieux as The Joker

Paul "the intern" Lemieux as Witch

Jessi Cruickshank & Dan Levy as Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and Suri Cruise

Peaches

2010-06-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

Peaches is fun to work with as she (obviously) has a very open mind and likes to play around with her image. She told me i could do "whatever i wanted" ... so i asked her to give me a "vibe"... she said, "Nina Hagen!"

Luckily, and strangely i suppose, i loved Nina Hagen when i was a teenager. She's a German musician and the proclaimed "mother of punk". I don't think she got much airplay in North America. So, when Peaches mentioned her name i said, "which album?" and in that moment i earned some points with Peaches, i think.

so, here's my Nina Hagen-inspired makeup on Peaches:

pic taken with blackberry in the dressing room... quality! (sarcasm).

Peaches loved the makeup so much that she sent her wardrobe guy out to buy every single product.

Fashion sCares backstage

2010-06-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

with Korby Banner from "Style by Jury"

Verve Girl

2010-06-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

creative shoot w/Nicole Holness

2010-06-12T23:07:00.001-07:00

photos by Richard Sibbald.

Behind the Scenes - publicity shots for MTV

2010-06-12T22:59:00.000-07:00