Style Me Pretty Shoot in Denver

A few weeks ago I was part of something really exciting. You see, I’m a Makeup Artist who does a ton of weddings and I was chosen by the mega wedding site, Style Me Pretty to be one of their select vendors which is a pretty big deal since they hand pick all of their wedding vendors and recommend us to the throngs of brides who read their site religiously. Even if you aren’t planning a wedding, the site is a serious time trap where you can click around and just look at photos all day. It’s huge.

So on Style Me Pretty (SMP) they have what they call ‘inspiration boards,’ which are basically an array of photos using all aspects of a wedding from the dress to flowers and beyond that highlight a color palette, pattern, and theme. I teamed up with a group of fellow SMP wedding vendors in Denver to loosely re-create one of their inspiration boards- adding our own details and twists.

The shoot was captured beautifully by Colorado photographer James Christianson. You can see the full team responsible for every detail, along with the rest of the photos from the shoot here.

For our purposes though, let’s talk makeup. Our bride was gorgeous first of all which made my job easier. Her skin was beautiful, and it was fair. Really fair actually, which is the most difficult skin to work on because the makeup looks amplified against such a light palette and can easily go from subtle to waaay overboard in a snap. What I’ve learned over the years is to layer the color little by little and use smaller brushes to keep the color contained to the precise area you want. You can always add more, but muting color that’s too dark presents more of a challenge.

Since it’s against the laws of fashion to create a natural look on a stunning girl wearing a Vera Wang gown, I opted for eyes that said ‘sophisticated glamour’ which is the big sister to ‘smokey’ I suppose. It packs the same punch but looks more dressy and polished. I used hints of silver, with charcoal and neutral browns for her shadows and lined using black liner.

For her lashes, I used one of my favorite ones by Ardell, their 120 set that works on girls with larger eyes who already have a good amount of lashes so they aren’t overpowering and it doesn’t look like she’s auditioning for a drag show. They’re surprisingly subtle, especially after I curled her lashes into them and applied a few coats of mascara.

We were at the Daniel’s & Fisher building in Denver, which we call the Clocktower. The backside of the clock’s faces served as interior walls for one spacious floor in the building and throughout the day the sun’s light that passed through it changed the clock’s face into shades of white and buttery yellow. It served as a unique and romantic backdrop that played perfectly into our black and white palette.

Think pink. Using beige and neutrals wouldn’t give the pop that pink did for her lips and cheeks. Contrasting her coloring allowed for her features to really stand out. I’m using my go-to cheek brush here, NARS Yachiyo which I love for laying down the right amount of color and blending it in to perfection.

Thank you again to everyone who perfectly executed every detail of this shoot. It was a day that reminded me why I love my job.

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