Happy, Merry EVERYTHING! Part 2

Cheers to the 2nd part of the holidays...

I chose to use one of the loves of my life's 7th birthday to introduce you all to my FACE PAINTING business!!! My gorgeous goddaughter turned 7 in December and I promised her I'd be the "hired-help" aka paint faces!!!

I pre-sketched cute birthday theme cheek art for her: cupcakes, hearts, balloons, and other sweet designs any dainty young girl would love... but not my goddaughter! My courageous, girly/tomboy, wild, big-heart girl, wanted the green snake with the party hat! God, I love this girl!!! 

I really enjoy face painting... it is combination of everything I love! Having a teacher's heart with artistic hands, makes face painting something natural for me. I'm only sorry it hadn't occurred to me sooner! I hope this year brings me much more experience in this area!!! 

Then sometime after that... we posed for selfies, for our annual Christmas card, with our furry children... it looked a little something like this!!! 

 Elphaba & Holly

Pixar & Disney

The very next day, was our 4th Wedding Anniversary! How quickly time flies... In a long, crazy, jumbled day, we saw a movie, got matching tattoos, ate lunch, took a nap, and had a romantic dinner at The Rusty Pelican. 

 Don't you love my, "I'm-nervous-this-hurts-smile-it's-a-picture" face???

 Of course, my Boy always, calm, cool, and collective!

I love you my love, here's to 4 x's infinity more!!!

And the rest is the rest... Christmas Eve, or as we Cubans say, Noche Buena was at our house. A small home + a large amount of people = chaos/love We had a great time till the wee hours of the morning and had a slow and peaceful Christmas Day!

This pic makes me laugh... long story short... I asked Santa for the Naked 3 palette for Christmas... those who know, know that this item still can't be found on shelves (even less, last month)... but being the spoiled "little" girl that I am, Santa left one at our place and 2 at my dad's... the men in my life did good, too good! My mom didn't even bother (that's how difficult it is to get your hands on one of these), she got me another cool Urban Decay palette (thank God)! So, last week I returned one of the Naked 3 and the counter lady couldn't believe why someone would return it, since they hadn't had any in stock since they were released last month. She hesitantly placed it on the empty shelf.

New Year's in North Carolina!

Overall, we had a great end to 2013. I only hope that 2014 makes me feel richer and more spoiled than ever... not in money or material but in love, success, health, and above all happiness!

Imagine Being More Spoiled in 2014- Alexis

Merry, Happy EVERYTHING!!!

Like everybody else on the face of the earth... the holidays brought me- BUSY-NESS!!! 

Have you noticed that once a person gets married, there is, literally no time for anyone or anything... which is an oxymoron of sorts, because there's always someone or something to do! Confused??? Me too! My point is, it seems like everyday (including weekends) there's an important event, The Boy and I must attend... and of course that triples during the holiday season! That being said:

I hope everyone had a Happy "Thanksgivukkah" and a Merry Christmas... but most of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  

My holiday craziness started back in October, for Halloween.  As it has become tradition, The Boy and Girl are the hosts! (With pleasure, might I add?) Both sides of our family came to our house and we "tailgated" in the front yard: Candy, pizza, pasta, sweets, and trick-or-treating with the kiddies. We have a great, small, trick-or-treating neighborhood... I can't wait till we have our kids to take-along! I, of course, did some fun makeup on Manny (aka The Boy) and myself! 

Dia de los Muertos or Sugar Skull Makeup!

Mr. & Mrs. of course!

Then somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving, I went, with fellow makeup artist and friend Michelle Q., to the Make Up For Ever Pro Artistry Weekend!

 

This was a series of professional classes taught by Make Up Forever artists. We learned so much about the brand and its products. 

           

                                    

If I had to recommend my favorite product from that weekend it would be their Face & Body Liquid Foundation and their 12 Flash Color Case ... I went home with both... of course ALL their products are beautiful!!! The best thing about the brand is how easily they cater to beauty, fashion, film, theater, and everyday makeup, so seamlessly!

                

My model at the event... we were able to get hands on using all the products our hearts desired!!!  

                    

                                          

My friend Michelle and me!

So, this sums up the first half of my holiday season... I am very thankful for all these wonderful events and opportunities presenting themselves in my life! I hope that 2014 finds in it all up to my ears!!!

Imagine Happiness Up To Your Ears- Alexis

A Little Bit of Halloween!

What are you doing for Halloween???

Perhaps you will dress up as Mrs. Frankenstein... This is my lovely Halloween client, Alexandra! She asked for a sexy, feminine Frankenstein...

 But what she was most excited about, was the gash with pins holding it closed! I used liquid latex and shaped it on a cold metal surface. As it dried I created the cut within it and let it dry completely in the freezer... once it was done it was a perfect prosthetic appliance. I used spirit gum to glue it to her forehead and then dressed it was foundation and blood... and of course, pins!!!

Something easier???

How about a zombie? This is probably the simplest thing to do for a last minute costume... pale foundation, grey and brown eye shadows for shading everywhere you want to look gaunt and sucked in...

and a little bit of blood!!!

Even my boy got in on the action... I added white hair makeup to his beard, eyebrows, and hair roots.

 This picture makes me smile... he didn't know if he should look serious or not, so this face came out!!! LOL!

Tim Burton Movie???

This is my mysterious tortured young girl look... maybe she hasn't slept in a while, maybe she witnessed something horrible, or maybe in her world, she is a happy-go-lucky sunny gal!!!

 I don't think I'll ever get tired of Tim Burton's wild imagination... he will always inspire me!

Imagine it's almost Halloween- Alexis

What I've Been Up To & Halloween!!!

So here's what I've been up to lately...

I did makeup for the beautiful Yvette!!! She was attending a wedding on a boat... she gave me the go-ahead to do as I please.

 ::insert maniacal laugh::

I especially love how her eyes came out... from light inner eyelid to dark on the outside is really such a classic look for any gal or special occasion!

The natural colors I used, with a touch of greys, really made her eyes look deep and chestnutty :)

Thank you Yvette for letting me do your makeup, I hope you had a wonderful evening!!!

In September was my wonderful husband's 28th Birthday... 

We had a wonderful (little boy-style) park party and mini vacation at the beach, and on his actual birthday, family came to celebrate with us... wine & dining on South Beach! 

My lovely mother-in-law arrived from work and changed into a great royal blue top (My favorite color for her red hair and green eyes)... and I knew I had to do her makeup. She's not much of a "makeup-wearer" so she kept nervously telling me, "not too much color! What are you doing now? That's too dark! Can I see myself now?"... She couldn't sit still!!! But I told her to trust me... and she did.  

I'm a lucky lady, with extremely good-looking in-laws... She was a great canvas to enhance. She has great big eyelids to work with, and those big green eyes!!! I kept everything neutral, using browns and beiges... but because it was nighttime, I added a shimmery beige-white to her brow bone.  

 Her only request was, RED LIPS! And I agreed! Her light skin, and the royal blue top would mesh perfectly with a red pout!

Needless to say, she loved it and quickly shared herself on "Fayboo"... (that's Facebook for Cubans with accents)... She sparkled all night, and even my father-in-law saved these pics for his iPhone screen! 

This is the reason I love makeup so much! ALL WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL... and I love when a woman tells me they're not a makeup person... because the confidence they feel once they have it on is worth it-ALWAYS! I don't think of makeup as a mask or to cover natural beauty... it is an enhancer of that natural beauty and of the soul... if a woman feels beautiful, everyone around her will know she's beautiful!

With Halloween just 2 weeks away, I've been looking forward to sharing some makeup ideas...

I'm not sure exactly what this makeup is supposed to be, or if it is supposed to be anything at all, but I liked it a lot when I found it on Pinterest! This little "Pinsperation" reminded me of something a-la-Tim-Burton... a dark, maybe mystical creature, with a dark past! 

This look was fairly easy, and began as a traditional makeup look... foundation, concealer, setting powder... and pink eyeshadow- lots of PINK!!! I did a black smokey eye first and extended out toward my temples a bit... and then I went nuts with the pink. Pink on the brow bone, temples, cheekbones and hollows, and even a bit towards the upper bridge of my nose!

My favorite part was the lower lashes... I didn't have any fake lashes, so I just painted them on... gave the same effect without the same dollar! 

Overall, this look could be altered to any color or design above the brows... use makeup looks you find online as a guideline and always make them your own!

Imagine Happy Almost-Halloweens and Pretty Women- Alexis