WORKING WITH CELEBRITY MAKEUP ARTIST: DEBRA MACKI

DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO TITLE THIS EXCEPT

F R E A K I N G   A W E S O M E

I was a lucky girl to be invited to work on a shoot with this BOMB-ASS team...

Hair: ME.  Yay.  Hopefully we all know that I'm pretty cool by now.

Wardrobe Styling: Fran Collazo, the best in Boston.

Model: Jennie Ross, Maggie, Inc. model.

Photo: Dawn Kingston, 'nuff said.

Makeup: Debra Macki, Celebrity Make-up Artist.  Let's just copy and paste her credits below so you can try to understand.

Debra Macki Biography/Credentials:

-She lives in both Los Angeles, CA & Salem, MA and spends a lot of time in NYC.

-She has been working internationally as a makeup artist for 23 years.

-Celebrity Makeup Artist
-Beauty Editor for Your Beauty Industry Magazine
-Style Editor for Jamn945.com and Kiss108.com
-Represented by Lily Artist Management
-Debra teaches 6 sold out classes for makeup artists per year in the following cities: Boston, New York, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, and London.
-Clients include: Rihanna, Cyndi Lauper, Ke$ha, Jenny McCarthy, Maria Menounos, Kathie Lee Gifford, Idina Menzel, People Magazine, Al Gore, Christopher Lloyd, Dr. Oz, Kris Williams from Ghost Hunters, Snooki from Jersey Shore, Nina Sky, Cherish, Miss USA & Miss Teen USA, Karina Pasian, Monica Seles, Shontelle, Roshumba..
-Debra Macki has been featured in Vogue, Seventeen Magazine, Redbook, Boston Magazine, The London Times, Woman's World, O Magazine (Oprah), Good Housekeeping, Popstar Magazine, Quick and Simple Magazine, Girl's Life, Bop, Playgirl, beautyworlds.com, Modern Bride, Teen, Seventeen, Makeup Artist Magazine, The Knot, the San Diego Union Tribune and on The Early Show on CBS.
-Debra has interviewed the following celebrities about their style for Jam'n 94.5 and Kiss 108: Lady Gaga, Fergie, Keri Hilson, Katy Perry, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, The Black Eyed Peas, Cassie, 50 Cent, Ne-Yo, Boys Like Girls, David Archuletta, Jesse McCartney, Brody Jenner, Ryan Leslie, Mario, Wyclef, Jay Sean, Pitbull, The-Dream, and many more.

First of all, I WANT THAT CLIENT LIST... Ok, on with the photo shoot...

L O O K   O N E  (above)

I can't stress enough how much I love to do fun hair, and if and when you give me freedom to play on a photo shoot, there is NO WAY IN HELL you're gonna get "Plain Jane."  For this look, I curled and pinned Jennie's hair in a high messy updo, leaving a chunk of hair out on each side behind her ear.  Using extensions to add to those chunks, I did a regular, simple three-strand braid on each side, and then proceeded to cross them over each other in the front, slightly on her forehead, to create almost like a headband or hat look.  After everything was placed, I just used my fingertips to gently pull out pieces of hair to make a loose, soft, final look.

L O O K   T W O  (above)

I think this look ended up being my favorite, and so easy to do!  Hair is already curled.  I placed two, sleek-to-the-head ponytails: one on the back/right side of her head, one on the top/left.  split the pony tails and clip extension hair in the center/base of pony tails.  Place curls and pin!  Again, it's kind of hat-looking!

L O O K   T H R E E  (above)

For this look, I kind of created a french twist on the very top of Jennie's head.  Kind of random, but hey, I thought it'd be cool at the time.  With the curls rolled into the inside, it gave it a cool different "twist" on the classic french twist.  I also left some pieces out on her right side that I braided and pinned down for some extra detail.

L O O K   F O U R  (above) 

"Oh she's wearing a hood for this look!"  Yay, my dream as a hair dresser!  Let's just do her makeup all fancy while we're at it and then throw some huge sunglasses on her face!  Great idea!  Anyway, did what I could do.  Curled, down, big, tease, texture, hairspray. Woo hoo. At least the other three looks were fun to do and I was pretty satisfied thus far. ;-)

Credits:

Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)

Makeup: Debra Macki, Celebrity Makeup Artist

Wardrobe: Fran Collazo

Model: Jennie Ross

Photo: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

FAVORITE MODEL AWARD GOES TO...

A B S O L U T E L Y   A D O R E   H E R

I have had the pleasure of working with Kelsey Sidell several times.  She's a student at UMass Lowell, and model for Maggie, Inc.  Honestly, my vocabulary is pretty basic and I can't think of enough amazing words to describe this girl.  Not only is she a crazy talented model, she's a sweet, fun, and smart person.  I am completely impressed by her all around, every time I work with her.

At this photo shoot, we met Kelsey at her apartment, and unfortunately the makeup artist wasn't able to make it, with hardly any notice.  Did that phase this young lady?  Nope, she did her own!  Kelsey has pretty fine, flat hair, and we wanted big hair for this look.  I used my half-inch curling iron and set her entire head of hair in little, tiny, clipped up curls.  When I took the set out and teased it a little bit, BAM!  AFRO.  Just what we wanted.

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: Kelsey Sidell
Model: Kelsey Sidell
Photos: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

THE COLOR RUN = HAIR ETCHING

M E E T   L U K E

The Color Run was such a blast! It was a 5k Race that happened in major cities all over the country... The "Boston" one was held here in Amesbury, Massachusetts! I ran it on Sunday with my fellow hair stylist Jessica, and my hair model here, Luke. EIGHT THOUSAND PEOPLE ran it with us on Sunday, after another FIFTEEN THOUSAND had already ran it on Saturday. It was so cool at the start of the race to just see a whole sea of people dressed up in white. Well if you don't know me by now, I like to stand out! So with my hair, I already do, but I thought I'd one-up it by etching "The Color Run" into Luke's hair for some extra attention!



Luke's hair after the race- everybody freaking LOVED it!

Luke, Jessica, and I after the 5k Color Run race. The color stayed in my hair for WEEKS!

MY MOM IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL

M E E T   T H E   D I S T R I C T   G O V E R N O R

My mom, Terri Kidder, has been a part of Rotary International for about ten years. Her home club is in Amesbury, Massachusetts. This year, she became District Governor, which is a HUGE deal. For her inauguration night, we wanted to do an upstyle that fit the occasion. We all know that I like my funky, edgy styles, but I swear I can do classy too! I did a play on the classic french twist- I just kept it softer, not so perfectly molded/sculpted, gave some height on top, left some soft peices around her face, and added some detail on the side. I was so proud to see her and her hair speaking in front of everyone that night! Congratulations, Mom!

My Aunt Cathy, Aunt Sue, Grammie, Mom, myself, and brother Daniel at the inauguration.

THE FADED GINGER

M E E T   A N N A   M I L L S

This photo was from the first photo shoot I did with model, Anna Mills. I'm not sure if she was 16 or 17 years old here. Just have to say- I LOVE this girl; she's fun and outgoing, and such a sweetheart. When I first saw her at the studio, let's just say her color wasn't very flattering. It was faded out and she had roots. And I know it doesn't look it here, but this girl's got some HAIR! It's thick and poofy with a ton of natural volume. And damaged. Oh yeah, and her bangs were WAY too long.

So! I flat ironed her hair and used hairsprays, serums, and gels to give her this ultra-sleek look. I then used my mini buzzers to give her a perfect, blunt, front bang. And who would have thought- after this photo came out, there were so many compliments on her hair color! I guess if you style it right and polish it off, even faded out color can look like it's on purpose!

Another shot.

Another shot from the same day, but hair was just

"slicked" back for this amazing makeup shot.

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: Teague Vivolo
Model: Anna Mills
Photo: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

HAIR CHALK PHOTO SHOOT

H A I R   C H A L K   P H O T O   S H O O T

I really hate hair chalk.  Boom, there, I said it. It's like the stupid feathers that were cool for about two months.  Thank GOD it has come and gone as fast as the summer we just had in New England. Granted, if you go on Pinterest, it does look pretty freaking cool, like any photo of anything on Pinterest.

That being said, YAY I WAS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A HAIR CHALK PHOTO SHOOT!  I did a little research and this is the type of chalk I decided was best to use:

 

Yeah. Good freaking suggestion.  I swear there is no combination of product that will help you color this girl's hair with these pastels.  You take the chalk to her hair, particles fall all over her shoulders, body, the floor, anywhere but onto the actual strands of hair.  But whatever, I pride myself in my hair improvising skills so there was only one thing left to do:

 

Chop up lines of hair chalk with my color key... DUH.  After doing this I was able to use some products on Karissa's hair to get some tackiness, and use a makeup brush to "fluff" the chalk onto her hair.  TA DA!  Hair chalk photo shoot.

I love behind the scene shots.  And Instagram.  And social media in general.

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: Kira Bourque
Model: Karissa Allberry
Photos: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

RED HEAD

M E E T   B E T H A N Y

Bethany is my client at Salon Aniu.  Doesn't this girl look beautiful in red?  I decided that I had done so many photo shoots where I just did the hair STYLING, so I wanted to use a client of mine that I had done the cut and color as well.  And why not Bethany, with her beautiful, long, vibrant red hair?  I wanted to do something totally out of the box.  Something where the HAIR was the focus, not the outfit. So here's what we came up with...

Yup.  Think I made the hair the focus.  See what happens when people tell me they just want it down and curled all the time?  I GO NUTS!

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: Kira Bourque
Model: Bethany Kolenda
Photo: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

SWEET PRINCESS BOWTIQUE

Photo by Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

M E E T   T H E   S W E E T   P R I N C E S S E S

My dear friend and client, Tamara Orkwis, has her own business- Sweet Princess Bowtique- where she makes adorable costumes and accessories for little kids. Check out her stuff here:

Blog: http://blog.sweetprincessbowtique.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SweetPrincessBowtique

Anyway, for Ellen Degeneres's 1500th show, Tammy rounded up ten first-grade girls, dolled them up in her beautiful tutu's and accessories, brought me in to do their hair, and put together this video for Ellen to the song, "Oh Ellen you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, HEY ELLEN!"

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS9LcM-66zU&feature=share

WORKING WITH NATURALLY CURLY BEAUTIES

T H E S E   A R E   S O M E   C U R L Y   G I R L I E S

ALEXIS

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: Teague Vivolo
Model: Alexis Mcilwain
Photo: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

This is Alexis (above).  Oh.My.God. her natural hair.  Wish I could take credit for the curls but they were all her.  I just teased the crap out of her roots to give her volume and used some product to give her a nice polished look.  To make my day more interesting, I styled her hair in a nice, high updo for the second part of her shoot, continuing to just use her natural curls.

CRYSTAL

Credits:
Hair: Liz Kidder (Me)
Makeup: 
Model:Crystal Gonzales
Photo: Dawn Kingston, 439 Photography

This is Crystal (above).  Again, she's a natural curly girl.  I polished off her girls with a little bit of the curling iron and some product to make her not so frizzy.  Hey, work smarter, not harder, right?  We also popped in some red extension pieces for some flair!