#52 Meet Me the Fashion Stylist!

I have always harboured a secret desire to be a stylist and to be able to style people and outfits. I remember being quite religious about dressing up as a child and ensuring that my dolls looked just as hot as I did… Ok I will even confess to dressing up my dog who was called Elmo and was male btw…in my defence I was about 6 and thought Elmo must be feeling both sad and frustrated at not being able to wear any clothes (To say my mum was upset was an understatement although I think she was more upset at the fact that I had put one of my nicest Cinderella type dresses on Elmo rather than at the fact that I dressed him up in the first place)

Anyhu, the seeds of styling were sown but somewhere along the way into adulthood I didn’t really go into it – I seem to be a creative who loves/is good at quite a few things but doesn’t ever seem to focus properly on one thing in particular for long enough. I am trying to work on this problem and find out what I’m particularly good at/want to do. But this is another blog for another day……

Luckily for me Mr Lotions and Potions happens to be the best photographer in the world – yes I might be biased I know but he really is fantastic….its not his 9-5 although he wants it to be, but he is definitely making strides to get there. So back onto the subject of styling, over the last few months Mr Lotions and Potions has been working on building up his portfolio and gave me the opportunity to style the shoots – I was beyond excited but after I calmed down started to panic and think Oh My Gosh I’m not sure I can do this!! …but three shoots later I finally feel brave enough to share some images with you guys – what do you think?

The shoot was at the lovely Preston Court which was such a fantastic location for the shoot, the venue is also a beautiful setting for weddings, parties etc so if you are still looking for somewhere for your big day you should check it out. It was with the amazing photographer Mr Lotions and Potions also known as Asiko (who I will be doing a post on next week) the super talented makeup artist Becks Buki – you might remember an earlier bag spy with her. The fantastic designer Tanielle Lobo and Pauline and Natasha - great models from Oxygen Models and Me …..Stylist in training :-) Here are some images below – please note that they are not the finished or retouched images but are the ones I took during preps and when some of the shooting was taking place…but I don’t think my camera work was too bad – I must be picking up tips from Mr Lotions and  Potions…

It was such a blast working with so many talented people and everyone worked so well together - combining effort and energy to pull out a great shoot. Let me know what you guys think

P.s I apologise for the lack of paragraphs in the text - i kept putting them in and for some annoying reason blogger kept taking them out - 20 minutes later, I have given up and left it as is.

Xoxo

I was literally salivating over the amount of makeup - this was only a quarter of what Becks Buki had with her

Some of the clothes and shoes on my little rail - i felt so proud




ok a little fuzzy but hopefully you can see it

#29 Bag Spy: What's in your Bag?

Today’s bag spy is the very fabulous and talented Becks Buki who happens to be an amazing makeup artist and hair-stylist, so you can imagine how excited I was to get a chance to snoop in her makeup or rather luggage bag! I felt like a child in a candy shop. Being a makeup artist she has an amazing amount of makeup so this write up of her everyday essentials doesn’t even make a dent in the treasure trove of makeup goodies she has.

As mentioned she is also a fantastic hair-stylist - you can spot her handwork and trademark weaves anywhere when you see it – the hair is usually flowing with movement and framing your face nicely. Many of her clients have found her simply because they have stopped another client on the street somewhere and said ‘please please give me the name of your hairdresser’. Check out the bag spy below as well as a mini interview about her.

Bag Spy: What's In Your Bag - Becks Buki

First up in my makeup bag is Le Metier De Beauty Flawless Foundation in X1 – this brand is a cutting edge brand from the US with a cult following that recently launched in the UK at Liberty’s. I love this foundation because it contains a large amount of minerals and provides me with a dewy effect. I also like it because unlike a lot of other foundations it doesn’t change colour on your face halfway through the day and I think it’s a colour that would suit quite a few black women. If when using it I feel it looks a little light I tend to use a blusher around the edges of my face.

I love a blusher by Sleek called Sahara, it’s a bit of a terracotta shade and I think it’s fantastic. I feel it’s on the same level as Raisin by Mac and I tend to use it both as a blusher and on my eyelids and temple to brighten up my face/make me look more ‘alive’. I especially love the fact that unlike a lot of other powder blushers which tend to break up, the Sleek one doesn’t break.


My best and favourite mascara has to be Volume Effect by YSL! The shape of the wand helps to create amazing lashes; it combs through and mounts enough volume without looking caked on or spidery

For my eyebrows I use the browset called Showoff by Mac – it’s like a mascara but for eyebrows. I tend not to use a pencil as I don’t like to feel like i'm drawing on my eyebrows. I like Showoff because it tints my brows into a nice auburn/chestnut brown and I think it would suit most complexions.

I tend to use the same colour lipstick over and over again! I use Nars Belle De Jour lipstick which is a beige/pink shade. It doesn’t dry out my lips but instead is quite creamy and hydrating

I only use Lancôme lip glosses as I found that most other lip glosses seemed to dry out my lips – with the Lancôme lip-gloss I find that not only is it hydrating but even if used on top of lipstick, you don’t get that separating effect that other lipsticks can cause.

To define my face I use a blusher by Mac called Reed, which unfortunately has now been discontinued but they have a new one called Definitive, which is specifically for defining your face. I tend to contour the inner edges of my nose and up to the corner of my eyebrows and eyes – it makes my face look more chiselled, straight and defined.

If I ever want to use a concealer I use Laura Mercier’s Secret Camouflage SC6 – I only ever use it under my eyes and as a highlighter under my brows. I love that it comes in two shades so you use the lighter part first and then put the darker shade over it.

Tell me a bit about yourself

I’m a normal girl who is creative, loves fashion and loves/breathes makeup and hair. I love helping people look good and I find that makeup and hair is both a passion and an avenue for me to help people look their best.

Where would you like to be in the future?

I would love to start doing prosthetic makeup and to develop my own makeup line. I would also like to do more editorial work and continue working with bridal makeup.

How did you get into makeup and hair?

When I was younger around 11 or so my Dad used to work as a diplomat so I travelled a lot. I used to look at the hair of the people around me which tended to be long and flowy and then compare it to mine – I essentially had no hair as my hair was extremely short. I remember one day I decided to cut out strips of paper and tie it to my head and then I proceeded to go to school – In hindsight I don’t know what I was thinking but I do remember that from the looks of all the other girls they must have thought “what the hell! its like Bob Marley on steroids”

I then went on to boarding school and an aunt used to do my hair as a weave for the school term, however by the time the school holidays came round and I could go back to get it redone my hair would be looking really bad, untidy and doing the backwards slide. So finally one day I decided to sit in front of a mirror in my dormitory and I redid the weave myself – from there I just kept on practising and then started doing weaves and braids for family and friends.

My big break came when I did the Angie Stones style of weave for a few clients - word just spread about me and from there, I started getting regular phonecalls. My flatmate at the time also gave me a blade and I practised and developed my style of cutting weaves to give them the right amount of movement and style.

With makeup I enjoy painting which I think helped to develop my eye for blending and mixing colours. I have always had a passion for makeup but everything I have learnt and developed is self taught – I guess you could say it’s just a natural talent. I went to work for Mac for some time but then I felt my own work both in hair and makeup was growing so I left to concentrate on that full time and that’s how my brand Becks Buki was born

Do you have any make up tips?

I find that many women of colour have quite a bit of discoloration due to the melanin in their skin so its a good idea to mix a couple of foundations together to get your correct shade. I also find that we tend to have at least two different tones on our faces and are usually lighter in the middle and darker around the edges so to avoid that mask effect of using one tone on your face it’s a good idea to mix two different foundation shades. Use a lighter shade for the light part and a darker one for the dark part. You just have to remember to blend it properly so that it looks seamless and flawless.

When trying out foundation you should try it both on your jaw line which most people know about but also under your eyes.

So ladies there you have it – some juicy secrets and products from the fabulous Becks Buki (I’m hoping I can get her to give us a makeup tutorial soon) check out her website which will be up and running in September on http://www.becksbuki.com/

Xoxo