I truly am a colour lover

It never crossed my mind that I might have a slight obsession with colour until I walked into Brigitte's salon room.
**(Brigitte is a french lady I met who needed a model for some revolutionary new eyelash enhancement technique - she basically sets your eyelashes so they are evenly spread out and curled up, almost like lash extensions but nothing is attached to your own lashes - have I confused you yet? have a look at this link -> http://www.makeup4ever.be/EN/our-procedures.html, scroll over the eye pics, how fabulous? I am super thrilled with the results!)**
Back to Brigitte's room, it's the cutest salon room I have even been pampered in. One wall had a lifesize Audrey Hepburn sticker on it, another had a beautiful mirror and ta daaa my favourite.....(the cellphone pic does the colours no justice)

I'm trying to learn French so was super excited when I saw it. It's in front of the bed and while Brigitte works her magic on your lashes you get to stare at the Eiffel tower and imagine being fed croissants by a handsome, dark haired, blue eyed Frenchman. And then it hit me. I didn't just see a cute wall sticker, I saw a wall sticker and my mind started rattling off nail polish colours like a quiz champion...
The wall wasn't light green, it was Mint Candy Apple...
The leaves on the right weren't grey, they were Chinchilly...
The leaves on the left and the chicken weren't green, they were Grassy Green...
The car wasn't dark green, it was Paper Chasing...
The tower and bird weren't maroon, they were Damsel in a Dress...
The clouds weren't light blue, they were Blanc with a few drops of Mesmerise and a splash of Manhattan...
*GASP* am I a nail polish addict too?! Oui, je suis!

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My favourite photo. Ever

I love this photo. Well, to be more precise I love what this photo is not. This photo is not of a doll-like girl crossing a busy New York street. No. This photo is of a real girl, really in South Africa. This photo is the genius of Seagram Pearce (I asked him what his name means, I was expecting a cool story, but according to him Seagram is just Seagram *shrug*). When people think of Photoshop they think of no wrinkles and big boobs, but this photo proves how phenomenal Photoshop can be. Photoshop is magic!

Seagram is a Cape Town based photographer and his work is simply amazing www.seagrampearce.com. He had a trip to JHB planned and was looking for makeup artists to work with. After seeing this taxi pic I would have given body parts to work with him! But boy oh boy was I nervous!!! I had pictured a fairly serious middle aged guy who would take one look at my work and shout 'I can't work like this! Off with your head!'

I was pleasantly surprised. How do they package so much talent in such a fresh young container? And he's funny, real funny. Just take a look at what he does on other shoots with famous people
Fun huh?

Here is a pic from the shoot I did with Seagram, it's not the best of the series but I just love Thabi's shoes so had to post this one!

Seagram, I still have some body parts I'm willing to part with, let me know when you're in JHB again :-)

DISCLAIMER: I had nothing to do with the taxi photo, I wasn't there when it was taken, I don't even know the model. I just love the photo. A lot.

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My best makeover

We were shooting a lingerie catalogue in Germiston (aaall abooaaard, passports and vaccination certificates please) and we spotted this girl in a bad part of town. She had nothing, barely a scrap of clothing....


Something had to be done. We had to help her. I rushed over and a couple of puffs and brush strokes later she was transformed! My best work yet!


Sometimes a little eyeshadow and nipples are all a girl needs.


Photographer: Natasha Andreoni www.natashaandreoni.com
Model: Catia Rodrigues
Lingerie: Sin-til-late www.sintillate.co.za

Model Movember

Most times when a model brings her boyfriend to a shoot it creates tension and really is counterproductive. However, on some rare occassions the boyfriend actually contributes to the shoot and makes himself useful. And on the rarest of occassions he lands up entertaining the makeup artist! Okay okay so maybe I forced him a little....here is good old Mark showing his support for Movember:



I take no responsibility for what happened next! What is it with boys and their obsession with fake things?



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It feels like the first time, every time

I remember the first day one of my pics was published, it felt like Christmas morning! Oh the excitement!

Fast forward a couple of years and you would think the excitement would have worn off by now...but every time I see another one of my pics published I feel the same thrill and sheer joy as I did the first time! Seeing my work out there really boosts my pride in my work and gets rid of any doubt I may have about my skill.

Many of the pics I have worked on are sold as stock photos, so it's not often that I know where the pics are being used and it's pure luck when I stumble upon them as was the case at the recent Photo & Film Expo. I was walking around at the expo when something caught my eye... I know that girl, oh my god, it's Joyce, it's Luba's pic, it's my makeup, it's in a big shiny book, no wait, it's in TWO shiny books!



Photographer: Luba V Nel
Model: Joyce Nkonyana
The staff at the Jetline stand must have thought I was a lunatic! I squealed with delight when I saw the pics!
Jetline man: "Mam, would you be interested in a photo book?"
Lunatic: "No! But please take a photo of your stand and mms it to me, I left my phone at our stand and I NEED a photo of this!"

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Our families suffer for our art

Makeup artists see the world as a blank canvas, a canvas begging for a splash of colour and a stroke of fabulousness. We love to add beauty to the world, if we had our way all ugly buildings would be demolished and replaced with giant size cupcake replicas complete with huge swirls of icing and a cherry on top big enough to be seen from space, the world would look like a platter of sparkly yumminess from space!

But alas, we share this world with accountants and other equally grayscale people so we search for canvases closer to home - I can hear the collective nod of boyfriends whose eyebrows have been plucked, sisters who have been forced to wear lipstick, brothers who have been pushed into metrosexuality, friends who are unsure of the blue eyeshadow painted on their eyelids.

Desire De Goede is especially guilty of this crime. Her husband can name a MAC shadow quicker than I can, with 100% accuracy. And he built her a fancy mirror with lights. When she's done with him I'll take him off her hands! They became parents to a gorgeous little boy this year, I know I know every time a makeup artist gives birth to a boy a fairy dies.... but he really is super cute and he too suffers for his mother's art...

"I found this little baby giraffe wondering around in my garden.....I'm going to keep him! Happy Halloween everyone!!"

I heart muas!

Mike loves me

I love being loved. The greatest compliment for me is when people I have worked with want to work with me again.

I did a shoot with Mike Mullane and had a blast! He has a great sense of humour, fab Irish accent and the funkiest shoes I have ever seen on a tog!


Mike really is great fun, he let us drink wine and play loud music. And he indulged the clown in me by letting me try take a pic of him running and jumping in the air... my phone's camera is a bit slow so Mike had to jump many times in the hopes that I would get the mid air shot. He jumped many, many times. I didn't get the shot but had a good laugh trying to get it!




I also got an awesome arty shot of Mike while he was shooting, yip I have skills.


I got this message from Mike today:
Hi Stavvie,
hope all is well.. looking forward to working with you again so much for Michelle's shoot... We really missed you at last weekends shoot with Ashley, your energy,mischief and freakin awesome makeup skills as well as the support and encouragement fuelled by several bottles of grape origin... :D
I have a shoot on the 13th of November at the same studio and would really really love you to come and play, work, be you...
Can you make it?
Mike :)

I love being loved!

Here's a pic from the shoot:


Model: Kerry Visser