“Looking though the window at life. You look amazing to me” is the title given to this photograph by the model, Kira Wilkinson. Kira and I shared a chalet whilst touring Jo-Burg with Madame Zingara and when she finally returned back from the UK I felt privileged to finally work with her on a test. I really love the ambiance of this photograph, the lighting, the reflections in the glass and the neutral colour palette. I hope to work with this team again soon!

Main Make-up ingredients: MAC: Face and Body in C6, brow-gel in clear,  eyeshadows in “brule”, “embark”, “cork” and “shroom”, technakohl liner in “graphblack”.

Pro Tip: When you’re applying your make-up with a clean, natural or matt look in mind use a non-reflective eye-shadow like MAC’s “brule” and then apply a colour like “shroom” (which is basically the same colour in a more reflective texture) in small doses under the arch of the brow or in-between the eyes on top of the bridge of the nose. Doing this helps to contour the face, draw attention to specific areas and sculpt the face – and the application of a non-shiny version of the colour first allows the eyeshadow to “dilute” making blending and subtelty easier.

Main Hair ingredients: OSIS “upload”, rollers and hairspray.

Photographer: Anton De Beer

Model: Kira Wilkinson

Make-Up: Samantha Kaye

Hair: Samantha Kaye

Stylist: Kira Wilkinson/ Nicky-Anne De Beer

Location: Houtkapperspoort, Constantia Nek

2009

Main Make-up Ingredients: MAC: Apply Strobe Cream – to give the skin radiance, the buff Studio Fix Fluid -( in my experience it’s the longest wearing of MAC’s foundations which makes it ideal for brides) into the skin with a stippling brush (I like the #187). Apply “Shroom” to the inner corners of the eye, “vanilla” under the brow bone, “French Grey” to the crease, “All that glitters” to the ball of the eye and “embark” along the lashline with an angle brush. Fuzz a little extra of embark into the outer edges of the crease. Gently exaggerate the line of the eye with “blacktrack” fluidline. Set the brows with clear brow gel, and then gently fill them in with an angle brush and an eyeshadow like “brun”, gently dust some “strada” (matt) blush under the cheekbone for contour, and dust a little “blushbaby” over the top of the cheek for s fresh glow. Dust over the entire face with Prep+Prime transparent finishing powder and then finish the lips with “Brick” lipliner and “Miss Dish” (satin) lipstick.

Hair How-To: Pull her hair into a loose french roll, fluf­fing the top and pulling “ran­dom strings” loose. Braid loose hair pie­ces and tuck them into the french twist, pull pie­ces around the head in orga­nic motions and fas­ten with two bobby pins in a cross. Set with hairspray.

Pho­to­grapher: Sally Mellish

Model: Marika Maliaris

Bou­quet: Elgin Roses

Hair and Make-up artist: Samantha Kaye

Cape Town

2009

My first shoot with Anton De Beer. We shot Bridal Boudoir looks at a guesthouse in Cape Town and it was lots of fun!

Main Make-Up ingredients: MAC studio sculpt foundation, MAC eyeshadow: “brule”, “shale”, “bronze”,”garcon grey”, “embark”. MAC pigments: “lily white”, “dazzleray”.PlushGlass “big kiss. “ ProLongLash mascara, YSL Touche Éclat.

Main Hair Ingredients: OSIS “upload and “magic”.

Photographer: Anton De Beer

Model: Samantha Laura Kaye

Make-up and Hair: Samantha Laura Kaye

Stylist: Nicky-Anne De Beer.

On Location in 2009

Kira Wil­kin­son is a South African Actress who I felt pri­vi­le­ged to work with. She has an amazing body, accompanied by a powerful face and powerful soul. She pulls off this shot fantastically!

Main Make-up ingre­dients: MAC: Face and Body in C6, brow-gel in clear, MAC eyeshadow in “brule”, “woodwinked” “embark”, “cork” and “shroom”, tech­na­kohl liner in “graph­black”.

Pro Tip: When you’re appl­ying your make-up with a “natu­ral  look” in mind – where you want to sulpt the face with colour (ie a light colour under the browbone) but without frosting or noticeable shimmer  in mind use a non-reflective eye-shadow like MAC’s “brule” and then apply a colour like “shroom” (which is basi­cally the same colour in a more reflec­tive tex­ture) in small doses under the arch of the brow or in-between the eyes or apply a dollop of “woodwinked” – (a veluxe pearl and especially shiny eye-shadow in a colour fairly neutral to people with tanned skin) to the center of the lids. Doing this helps to con­tour the face, draw atten­tion to spe­ci­fic areas and sculpt the face — and the appli­ca­tion of a non-shiny ver­sion of the colour first allows the eyesha­dow to “dilute” making blen­ding easier and turning the shimmer into “amazing” lighting or bone structure.

Main Hair ingre­dients: OSIS “upload”, rollers and hairspray.

Pho­to­grapher: Anton De Beer

Model: Kira Wilkinson

Make-Up: Samantha Kaye

Hair: Samantha Kaye

Sty­list: Kira Wilkinson/ Nicky-Anne De Beer

Loca­tion: Hout­kap­pers­poort, Cons­tan­tia Nek

2009