As seen in Philadelphia Magazine January 2012….

Beautiful Bride-to-be: Rachel Fendell

More blog-worthy engagement photos, this time of lovely Rachel Fendell and her fiancé Jonathan Satinsky who will be married on March 24th.  This pre-marital bliss was captured by the one and only Alison Conklin.

Love the dreamy quality of these pictures, and Rachel’s sparkling eyes.  Plus, you’ve got to love the enthusiasm for rainy day shoots, which, as you can see, really paid off.

What’s even more fun about this is that Rachel is good friends with Stacey Cutler, the bride-to-be featured in my previous post.  The two met through through mutual friends and have, according to Rachel, “been gabbing about our weddings for months.”  She refers to Stacey as “the Philly wedding expert.”

And if that’s not enough in common, Rachel and Stacey are both marrying a Jonathan.  Now that takes some planning!

Beautiful Bride-to-be: Stacey Cutler

Saw these engagements photos of my bride-to-be Stacey Cutler, taken by the phenomenal Mike Smith of Ash Imagery and had to share.   Stacey will marry Jonathan next May 12th at the Lake House Inn.

As often happens, Stacey scheduled her trial run on the day of her engagement shoot – smart!  This means she has the killer combination of brains AND beauty…

How ethereal and mood-appropriate can you get?  Mike captured the couple’s “high on love” moments perfectly….

On Red Lips: not for the faint of heart…

Photo: Marie Labbancz

The classic ruby lip: cosmetic counters and make-up aisles offer endless variations on the theme and beauty magazines reinvent the look each season to make it seem “new.”  I assert, however, as a make-up artist and avowed cosmetic voyeur, that women may want to rock red lipstick, they might even buy a tube or two, but they are not, for the most part, wearing it.

In the early 50’s when Revlon mad genius Charles Revson launched the crimson masterpieces “Cherries in the Snow” and “Fire and Ice”—both available to this day— most of the women who were inspired to buy the shades actually wore them.  Then again, this was a more formal era when hats, gloves and structured purses were standard in everyday fashion.

We now live in a world where flip flops are okay at the White House, and women, both young and old, can be seen at the mall in what appear to be jammies.  One might understand, therefore, why high maintenance red lips might make one feel a tad overdressed.

In spite of the marketing and the overwhelming selection, the fact is that not all of us look good in red lipstick, and this has less to do with the shape of the mouth or the skin tone and more about our personalities and how we feel about ourselves.   Vibrant lip color creates a strong personal statement that many of us are just not that comfortable making.   It takes confidence to pull off, for example, a classic matte red lip, and let’s face it; the beauty industry was not built on the backs of confident women.

Do you know a woman (hint) who doesn’t like having her picture taken?  “She” probably doesn’t feel comfortable in red lipstick either.  To “her,” red lips feel risky, unsettling and overly seductive.

Notes of encouragement: you can work on getting comfortable with a lip that shouts “Here I am!” by taking it out for short test drives.   Ground rules: if your skin has yellow undertones, then a warm red will work, while those of you with pink undertones will be better off with a blue-based shade.   Keep eye make-up to a minimum and cheeks soft.

Once in your fiery state, think about how you feel and note the reactions you get from others.  With practice and positive reinforcement, you might begin to grow into the woman you imagined you would like to be, the one wearing that perfect shade of red lipstick.

2011 Brides Philadelphia Editor’s Choice Award

I’m very honored to have received a 2011 Editor’s Choice Award by Brides Magazine Philadelphia.  According to the editors,”it’s a way for them to officially recognize the amazing, forward-thinking, art-creating, call-returning, trend-making wedding vendors who inspire and delight” them.  I’ll take it!

Beautiful Bride: Rebecca the Wedding Planner Gets Married

Once in a while, wedding professionals get to “cross the road” and be the client.  Case in point: Rebecca Richman (née Druckenmiller).  Rebecca is a top notch wedding planner for the Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants team and married her man Dan last March.

Rebecca could not have been more at ease (expected, considering, but you never know…!) as she was getting ready.  Because she’s beautiful to begin with, we kept the make-up soft to accessorize her incredible blue eyes and porcelain skin.

Of course, I was thrilled that Rebecca chose me to do her make-up, and even more thrilled that photographer Laura Eaton captured it all on film.

2011 Reader’s Choice: “Best Make-up Artist”, Main Line Media News

A Good Day with Fox29′s Jennaphr Frederick

On May 9th, Fox29′s spunky Jennaphr Frederick and crew visited my studio to help Good Day morning show viewers learn how to avoid common make-up mistakes.  We had a brilliant time together (Kerry Barrett was on air – I had done her make-up for a headshot a couple of years ago), and the segment turned out to be a great tutorial lash curling and applying DMK Foundation/Concealer (available at the studio).  Watch the video here….

Style Me Easter by Marie Labbancz for Beautiful Blooms

Happy to say that I did my first photo shoot at the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center the amazing photographer Marie Labbancz, and it wasn’t long before the lovely Easter-inspired photos were featured on Style Me Pretty.  Styling and floral by Maya and team from Beautiful Blooms and very chic hair by Claudia Seyler.  Adorable cake courtesy of Whipped Bakeshop.  Pretty paper by Loveleigh Invitiations.

We also did beauty shots for our delicately gorgeous models, Stephanie and Jamie and the results speak for themselves.  Truth be told, it was rather chilly that afternoon and both women were troopers.

You can see the full spread on Style Me Pretty….

Shoot at The Queen, Wilmington

I’ve been lucky to be involved in a some special photo shoots lately, at locations that were delightfully new to me.  Case in point: my day with photographer Laura Novak, Beka and Kimberly of Styled Creative, and others to highlight the beautiful bone structure of a grand and revitalized theater in Wilmington, DE, The Queen.  And I was thrilled that hairstylist Mike Rossmark was able to join us at the last minute.

All of the drama and textures of this unique venue make it an amazing backdrop for a wedding!  You can see more of these photos on Laura Novak’s blog.

Full credit goes to:

Photography: Laura Novak and Jason Thomas

Stylists: Styled Creative

Makeup: moi
Hair: Michael Rossmark
Gowns: Jennifer’s Bridal
Accessories: Houppette
Venue: Live at the Queen