Diary of an MUA: DC to NYC...Here I come BET!

I look a mess, my excuse?  this was like the 8th or 9th hour!  LOL  One of my models using that good OCC lip tar!
Makeup - Shana Janelle using Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics | www.shanajanelle.com

Thank you to everyone for all the congratulations and well wishes it really means a lot.  I think I have said this before but I don't share whats going on to brag or boast.  If it were up to me I probably wouldn't say much at all and that is because sometimes people really are not happy for you...I wont get into that in this post but I WILL address it.

Those that are happy for me always ask for details about the things that I have done or will be doing and they want a play by play (looking at you Kesh!) and that is why I continue to blog, as sucky as I have been at it lately, because they want to know what I am doing and I love them for it.

That said, this past Wednesday I had the opportunity to work with the team of artists for BET's Rip the Runway.  I had a shoot the night before and as soon as I was done I hopped a Greyhound bus at 1:40a headed to NYC for my 8a call time.  Yes I was super sleepy but with Starbucks in hand and adrenaline pumping through my veins I was all set to go.

I arrived at the Hammerstein Ballroom at approximately 7:15a after walking from Port Authority thinking I was gonna be early and get to set up and chill, you know just take in my surroundings, snap a few behind the scenes pics of my area like I did with Fashion Week...not so.  Security stopped all of that.  Kindly told me I could wait outside until 8a.  Ok great.  Thankfully I was able to get to know one of my fellow artists for the day, Aaron and chat it up for the good 45 minutes we had to wait, well for him it was more like a full hour.

The rest of the team made their way and I can honestly say that everyone was super cool.  I have been blessed in that I have not met too many people in my journey who were stuck up *knocks on wood*.  There is always minor shade present but the good definitely outweighs the bad.  I impart the mindset of listening more than I talk when on set so that seems to work best.

Unfortunately, because the show doesn't air until March 21st at 10p I cant speak on much BUT little birdies on the internet have already leaked a good portion of the show so you didn't hear it from me but if you seek it, it will come. *smile*

Suffice it to say that pretty much everyone you may hear or see that was there, yes I did see them, pretty much face to face with all of them.  For a lot of the backstage taping I was there trying to run from the camera so if you look hard enough you will probably catch a glimpse of me zipping by to do touch-ups.

I did a LOT of touch-ups prior to the models hitting the runway but before I got whisked away to do that I worked with a few models who were absolutely beautiful physically and spiritually.  I believe one of them opens one of the scenes...again I cant say what scene BUT once it airs and I come across official pics I will either update this post or do a part two.

I had a blast and after we wrapped headed to my staple, Dallas BBQs, this time in Times Square (no crowds on Wednesday night hooray!) and had my fav fried shrimp and a pina colada (no extra shot or texas sized this time, I was too tired to add to it) with my new found friends Aaron and Lillybeth.  We did take a picture at the beginning of the day with most of the team and in my haste to clean up I didnt get the card of the artist who took the pic with her camera :(.  I hope to track her down for that.

After our 13 hour day and late dinner I made my way back to Port Authority to wait for Megabus to whisk me back to DC safe and sound and on Thursday I slept like a ROCK!  In fact I am still kinda catching up on sleep but it was so worth it and yes I would do it again.

I leave you with some images from my shoot from the night prior to my BET adventure.  I did makeup and hair for this one.

Thanks for reading!  :)

Makeup & Hair - Shana Janelle | www.shanajanelle.com

Makeup & Hair - Shana Janelle | www.shanajanelle.com

Makeup & Hair - Shana Janelle | www.shanajanelle.com
Photographer - Michael Woodward @ Studio 400

one of the final images, straight from the camera, photo editing free!
Makeup & Hair - Shana Janelle | www.shanajanelle.com

Diary of an MUA: Bridal Couture and Ballerinas

One of my dear hairstylist buddies asked me to shoot with her at the end of January.  Details of the shoot were given of course, you know the usual, how many models, the look, location, but I was not expecting the magic that I saw on set that day.

Only one image has been released to the public thus far (see above), including to those of us who worked on it...we were told by the photographers that something big is in the works for the release of the images.

There is also a behind the scenes video I got to see that hasn't been released either.  However, I wanted to share some of it with you all because I was very proud to have been a part of this shoot.  As SOON as I hear back on the images I will be sure to update.

one of the photogs took this one with her phone and yes thats my hand :)

Diary of an MUA-10-30-11

I had the opportunity to test with a photographer whose work I have admired for a while this past weekend.
I want more beauty images for my book so that's what we focused on for the most part.  Turns out I have worked with the model before so that was a plus. 
The shoot went very well so I hope to work with the photographer again.  Here are some behind the scenes images as well as a finished one.  I apologize for not having the slightest idea how to flip these images in this new blogger layout.  Oy vey...

I Wanna Be An MUA: Faces of Truth: Beauty Marathon

Are you a makeup artist in the D.M.V looking to expand your portfolio with QUALITY images?  Then it is a MUST that you participate in this event.  Visit Ajani's site to register.  Hope to see you there!

I Wanna Be An MUA: Kevin James Bennett edition-Part 1!

See how excited (and crazy) I look in this photo?  That excitement is genuine and is still present today as I think about all that I learned in the 'Perfect Portrait' workshop with the AMAZING Kevin James Bennett!

Now I am sure that all of you know who this gorgeous man is (he is my new boo as you can tell LOL) formerly of Make Up For Ever fame but he is so much more than that. 

I think I have said this before but every artist I have had the pleasure of learning from thus far - Billy B, Michael Devellis, Sam Fine, Eve Pearl, Orlando Santiago, Jon Hennessey, etc - have all been so down to earth, so willing to share their insider tips and just their story in general that it continues to push me forward in my craft because I feel that I am that way.  I dont have time for being stuck up.  We can all make it and be successful in this as long as we are not above learning, networking and leaving our egos at the door.  As KJB said this weekend "we are the hired help" but more on that later.

In this 2-day workshop day one was all about sitting down as a group (there were I think 11 of us) and getting to know each other, our backgrounds and where we want to go, how to make it in this area in particular but as an mua overall and refocusing/condensing our kits.  Today's post will be about getting to know the man behind the KJB fame.

Kevin was a performing arts major in college, if you have ever met him you can totally see why, he mostly focused on set design and upon graduation took a job in visual at Bloomingdales during its hey day.  After a while he was promoted to Manager of Cosmetics & Fragrance department where he learned that due to cross-marketing the mannequins were painted with actual makeup, this way the makeup company could get window advertising also.  Part of KJB's college curriculum was theatre makeup so because of this his manager said he was perfect to get the models all set for the windows, a lightbulb went off in Kevin's head and from there the makeup artist in him was born!

He has done just about all that a makeup artist can do in his/her career short of having their very own cosmetic line (don't count him out on that just yet since he has SO much product knowledge but right now since he is a "product whore" - his words, not mine, he isnt quite ready to take that leap).  He has done retail, his first trainer job was with Chanel cosmetics, from there he went to salon work, reality tv, soap operas, prime time tv where he did FX work, the list is extensive.  In his own words "if it didnt hurt me, I basically said yes."  I love him for that because that is me all the way!

Kevin told us that you have to "do something every single day to further your career" and that does not  necessarily mean something on set...

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we get a bit more into his advice for being successful in the industry.