The Artist Summit in Miami 2009

At the beginning of October I went to Miami to attend The Artist Summit. Unfortunately I was not able to attend both days of the program but next year you can be sure I will be at both. It was a long day because I drove from the West Coast of Florida to Miami and back home in one day but it was well worth the trip. The workshops that were offered were very helpful and I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone a bit when choosing classes to attend.

I have not been interested in the past in special effects makeup but after one class with Orlando Santiago that has all changed. He showed us how to age someone and Orlando also taught us how to create bruses using simple concealer/color corrector palettes and everyday items from our makeup kit. He showed us the first, second and third stages of a bruise (you can see above on the models chest) and also gave many examples of when you could be asked to apply the technique. For someone like myself who has not worked in television or film this helped me set some new goals for my work. I am now volunteering as an assistant to makeup artists at local theater groups so that I can learn and apply my knowledge on a regular basis. Practice, practice, practice is so important. I am lucky that I live in an area that has a huge theater presence (ballet, opera & theater) but luck aside it takes work to hone your artist skills. So thanks Orlando for helping me to become a better artist!

The other makeup artist I enjoyed watching work was Daven Mayeda. Daven showed up tips on finishing your work that really help complete a makeup look and make it more "polished" looking. For example, you can save a lot of time by contouring a face with foundation. Choose one shade lighter and one shade darker than you would normally use and then apply how you would normally contour the face. By the time you finish up with your makeup application and set the look with HD powder (Make Up For Ever was his choice) the face looks flawless. Another trick he used that I liked was adding "light" to areas. I believe he was using a Smashbox product to highlight the nose, forehead, chin, upper lip and cheekbone, but I use a highlighter from Boots No. 7 myself. Above is the finished face he did for my class.

The other thing I really liked at the Summit was ... of course the vendor area! I did some shopping.

As you may know I had Make Up For Ever's Flash Palette on my Christmas list. Well, I got to take it off the list 3 months early. I could not pass up the opportunity to buy one for $57! What a savings from the one I was going to buy from Sephora for $95. Same exact palette, just sold at the show for a discount for professionals. Thanks Make Up For Ever.

I also bought a Mehron palette. I purchased this one because the Mehron palette had a more metallic looking mix of colors so I figured with the combination of the Mehron, Kryolan and Make Up For Ever palettes I own I should be covered for a good while. I paid $31 to Makeup Mania for it. You can purchase from them online at www.makeupmania.com or just google search for Mehron. I believe Silly Farm sells the products too for a reasonable price.
I got a new lip palette from Frends Beauty Supply for a discount. It was $19. I also picked up some new brushes from Crown Brushes. I bought two sets but I only photographed one. I can't remeber what I spent but I think it was under $40. This was an awesome buy. I got to pick all of the colors in the palette above. This makeup is from Inglot. They are a brand from Poland who has just opened a flag ship store in NYC. I love these colors and they are incredible in color payoff. The size of the shadow pans is huge. They are all magnetic so they stay in the palette nice and the lid to the palette is also magnetic. I have done some looks with these shadows so I will put those looks up in a new post for you to look at. I don't know what the retail for them will be but I paid $38 for the whole palette. Not bad if you ask me. I want to buy more but I am having trouble finding where I can get more in the US right now.