amanda

as promised, here are some shots from amanda's editorial look. i'm still perfecting my slick ponytail, which looks great in the photos but this is one style that looks simple enough but requires much attention. harem pants and necklace are courtesy of my wardrobe and the blazer is iris'. how i wish we could all walk around with nothing but a blazer on......everyone on the street would be so much more fierce! a round of applause to the sexylicious amanda. girl got it!

competitive and skilled, that is i....so naturally, skills competiton 2008

so here are shots from a time in my life i cherish very dearly. i competed in the province-wide skills competition in 2008 representing durham region in the secondary school level. you actually had to compete in regionals before making it to provincials but how do you compete when there are no competitors? thats right, i was the ONLY person who registered to compete in regionals. therefore, i technically was the "winner" by default and advanced to provincials, plus i got a medal out of it. i'd like to think that i was the most courageous and skilled one in durham region and that's why noone wanted to compete but there could have been millions of reasons for my lone success. i'm sticking with that one.

    we travelled to waterloo where we stayed for one night and got up at the crack of dawn the next day to get to the venue. this was a skills competition covering all technical skills such as floral arrangements, fashion/sewing, construction and the like. there were ALOT of people that day...it was nutso. for hairstyling, competitors were separated into secondary and post-secondary categories but our requirements were the same. we all had to do a woman's trendy cut, woman's evening updo and a mens trendy cut and style. i personally couldn't stand the fact that they used the word 'trendy' but who am i to make up names for these competitions. anyways, the first 4 photos is the cut i did, which i was very happy with but now that i look back on it, i could have done something more edgy and fierce. the next 2 is the updo i did, which i practiced repetitively, which was very mundane for someone who is a spontaneous, updo improviser. last 2 shots are of me working on a 'bombage.' believe me when i say, NOBODY in that entire competition managed to do that style the way it should be. this style is the hardest thing i've ever had to do and for my mind to fathom. to this day, i still can't do it. more like, trying to learn how to do it was so frustrating and scarring that i haven't even attempted it after the competition. i butchered many mannequin heads in the process. all in all, this was a great learning experience and i had alot of fun doing it. i landed 7th place out of 30 competitors which is not too shabby at all. i'll definitely be competing in the bigger competitions when i get around to them. heads will definitely be flying then.

let's go way back, back into time...

these shots date back to 2008 when i was in grade 12.....listen to me talk like that was a long time ago lol. this is what i did to train for my provincial skills competition....basically updos day and night. lots of frustration but lots of dedication as well. shout outs to marie agius who trained me throughout the months leading up to the competition. such an awesome woman and hairstylist:)

amanda, dawling

last tuesday, iris and i did an indian bridal and editorial look with the beautiful, amanda. amanda is a longtime friend of iris' and she also happens to be a very beautiful girl with bone structure to die for. amanda's hair was so cooperative and easy to work with. it curled with incredible ease and then straightened perfectly for the editorial look [which i will be posting when photos come in]. as for her outfit......i'm pretty sure she had a workout just wearing it cause those babies are not light. i don't know what made me think they were light and flowing cause my arm just about dislocated carrying it.....i kid i kid.

a coincidence?

i have officially had 4 shoots cancelled this winter due to sickness. can you believe it? i sure as hell can't.

just went with it

photographer: michelle kuan
makeup: vivienne lee
model: kristina quicho
stylist: emmanuelle salvador

this shoot was so unbelievably fabulous. i believe this was kristina's first shoot and this girl was looking so fierce for a first-timer. as for emmanuelle, his eye for colour and ability to pull together an outfit is amazing. in the first photo, he literally made the red tube top with a belt and button-down shirt. you deserve a standing ovation emmanuelle:) the shoot took place at uoft and we did hair and makeup right on the grass and benches. this goes to show that some spontaneous creativity with talented people goes a long way.

iris+cora

iris and i have officially launched our partnership fittingly name, IRIS + CORA. iris and i met back in july at a mutual friend's birthday party and our interests in the beauty industry led us to working friendship. we'll be offering combined hair and makeup services for anyone interested in photoshoots, weddings, engagements and/or advertising. our first major collaboration was at Simon Carter's launch of his menswear line at TipTop Tailors in yorkdale mall. the 2 male models pictured with us are Adam Varga [left] and Liron Lashevsky [right]. well-respected businessmen from toronto as well as rick campanelli from ET Canada were invited to the event to model Simon Carter's suits. that is Simon Carter himself in the very faboosh silver jacket [center]. so look out for iris and i as we plan to do it really big in 2011. check out our facebook page, IRIS + CORA and be sure to tell everyone and their mama about us!

yes that's patrycja with a 'J'

Photographer: Gerald Law
Makeup: Temi-Marie Shobowale
Model: Patrycja Buchner

this is the first time i worked with the beautiful patrycja <-- thats the polish way of spelling it. gerald law is a talented young photographer fresh out of UofT who happens to recognize my sister who graduated in the same year and same program as he did and has worked with people I've worked with previously...another small world moment. temi is a very talented up and coming makeup artist who brought along chris reign who shot a video for this shoot. check it out here--> http://www.lookslikereign.blogspot.com/
chris is also an acquaintance of my good friend, alex ordanis who's also a very talented videographer....again, another small world moment.
    this was one of those shoots where everything just flowed smoothly, mainly cause the entire team just clicked. *SNAP*

a note on professionalism

so michelle had 2 fabulous shoots planned for today and yesterday and just our luck, none of them happened. i'm particularly bothered by the fact that today's shoot didn't happen cause the model decided to not show up and she also failed to call or text michelle that she wasn't gonna make it. before this happened, i was aware that some models actually do this but when it actually happened to me, i didn't realize that it would bother me so much. i'm all one for being professional and to think that i would just completely flop on a shoot without notifying anyone is absolutely beyond me. its actually mind-boggingly ludicrous to me. the whole entire day i was trying to imagine what could possibly be going through that model's head to think its actually ok to just not attend a shoot that she clearly confirmed for the night before. does she not care or realize that her lack of professionalism affects the way people perceive her? the point is, professionalism and courtesy goes A LONG way in this industry. everybody knows everybody and first impressions last forever. don't forget it. it applies to everyone regardless of what u do.

a spur of the moment

photographer: Michelle Kuan
makeup: Vivienne Lee
model: Nabz Zion

 initially i couldn't help out with this shoot but i just so happened to bump into Michelle and Nabz that day and they decided to start early so i ended up doing nabz's hair in the welcome kiosk of the ryerson management building. some spontaneous art for ya

emily & iris

photographer: stephen o young
makeup: vivienne lee
model #1: emily highfash law
model #2: iris wang

first 2 photos are of emily, another asian [other than moi ;)] with legit looking short hair ...a rare find in my opinion. to my surprise, i managed to get her hair [which is permed] into some nice finger waves, with the help of bobby pins and l'oreal's indestructible studio gel. i was so happy with the turnout. this girl looks so fab in her photos. the 3rd photo is iris who also modelled for the white noise fashion show at ryerson<-small world moment. she is living proof of how fantabolous my new curling iron is. girl had some NICE hair

no ordinary walk in the park

photographer: Michelle Kuan
makeup: Sheilah Claybourne
model: Krysten Palser

one of my favourite shoots so far. a feminine look inspired by the romantic era. styling krysten's hair for this shoot gave me chills and those flowers were the icing on the cake. i take a look at these shots every once in a while and i'm awestruck everytime. highfashion@highpark

androGENIUS

Photographer: Michelle Kuan
Makeup: Sheilah Claybourne
Wardrobe Stylist: Amarsana Gendunova
Model: Sandra Vadasz

this is the first shoot Michelle and I collaborated on. hair and makeup was done right in the middle of the distillery district and we got some amazing shots before we got kicked out for not having a permit. we ended up shooting on the side of an old factory with the most beautiful, weathered walls. rainy&cold, fierce & bold.