A Recent Photoshoot w/ Photographer David Kafer

Here's a video trailer & a few shots from a photoshoot that we did recently with photographer David Kaefer in Santa Barbara.  For the photographer, his muse was not only our lovely model, Caitin, but also the Tadashi Dress.  Japanese designer, Tadashi Shoji is the mastermind behind the dress on our model. His close are elegant & yet playful. To check out more of his collections, please visit www.tadashishoji.com .

And here is the video trailer from the shoot & a couple shots ...

Here is a couple of behind the scenes shots before we got started...

 The crew setting up lights and ....well, the set of course.

This was our model, Kaitlin, she's gorgeous! 

 

 

Our photoshoot with Samuel Grant

Working on photoshoots is probably one of the best opportunities for us to be artists. On this particular photoshoot, his inspiration was to go for a "cold glam" look, without making the model look harsh.
Here is what we came up with ...

This next image is probably my personal favorite out of the shots....

Ashley did such an amazing job carving out the structure of her eyes and cheeks without overshadowing her natural features. 

As for the hair, I really wanted to do something different with texture. Instead of curling her hair, I wove it between a large pin and added heat. This created a textured "krinkle" in her hair and then I backcombed at the root, for added volume. 

Stay tuned for more of our work with Sam Grant.

We're Featured on Style Me Pretty

Photography by Jen Rodriguez

We're being featured on the Style Me Pretty Blog & website because of the amazing photographer, Jen Rodriguez and the way she captures a wedding moment. Go ahead a check out the blog with our shared client Siobhan , looking radiant as ever. 

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2011/08/02/foley-estates-vineyard-winery-wedding-by-jen-rodriguez-photography/

Working on model Giglianne Braga at the "If I Can Dream" House

When we first got the call from Christianne that we were going to be doing the make-up and hair for upcoming model, Giglianne Braga on "If I Can Dream", we were stoked for a couple reasons. First, we've worked with Christianne a couple times now and her work just truly speaks for itself. Secondly, we had only heard a little bit about the show, so when we went on the "If I Can Dream" website, we were blown away! The cameras in the house, the talent, being able to watch them LIVE? Just too cool.

So, we get to the house and meet Giglianne and she's just so down-to-earth and sweet, which always helps. The first look that we did on "Gig" was more of a sultry look.  For her make-up, Ashley did a smokey eye with a peacock-like pigment accompanied with browns. On her lips, she went with a nude-pink which really made her lips pop even more and bronzer on the cheeks.

For her hair, Christianne wanted something sexy that would showcase the length of her hair also. We decided to keep her hair down with a loose-wave throughout.

Here is a couple images of the first look :

For the second look, we knew she was going to be doing some shots with Ben Elliot, an upcoming actor also from the "If I Can Dream" Show, so it needed to be a little flirty and a little elegant.

So for her eyes, we kept the same color scheme, but decided to add some gloss texture to her eyelids for an awesome effect. For her hair, we pulled it up into a half-bun and wrapped a braid around it.

Here are some images from the second look :

  

We even had some extra time to do some of our famous "manscaping" on Ben for some of his headshots.

If you want to see more of the behind the scenes of this shoot, check out the episode on www.hulu.com and search the episode called " If I Can Scream". You see us toward the end of the show, hard at work. Be sure to check out more of Christianne's work at www.christiannetaylor.com and be sure to check out Giglianne and her rising success at www.ificandream.com.

'Tis the Wedding Season

It's now July 1st and this wedding season has been the busiest YET! Which is amazing, however, I need to keep you all updated with what we're doing and where. So please stay tuned because we're going to be uploading new photoshoots we've done, recent weddings we've done and so much more! 

-Christin

Featured Blog on the lovely Santa Barbara Wedding Guide

Mar 10th, 2010 | Liane

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Thank you to Christin and Ashley from Luna Bella Make-up Art for submitting this guest post.  We think it’s a brilliant idea for pampering the groom.
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“Manscaping”

By Christin Brown and Ashley Kelly
Co-Owners of LunaBella Make-up Art
Photos by Elizabeth Messina Photography

So, you’re getting ready for your big day and your bridesmaids are looking great, you’re looking glamorous and so is the rest of your bridal party. You may be overlooking someone who deserves some pampering as well – your other half, your mate, your groom. Your groom’s skin is just as important and let’s not forget that it’s his day too.

LBMA presents an amazing new feature to their extensive line of services, it’s called “Manscaping” – which is the art of making your husband’s skin presentable and camera-ready for your wedding day. Most of the time, grooms aren’t necessarily concerned about getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, or even getting a facial before the wedding. Now you can bring the spa experience to him, at your hotel, your home, or wherever you’re getting ready. The Manscaping service includes moisturizing and prepping the skin, reducing the appearance of dark circles underneath the eyes,  and also evening out the tone of the skin. We even take the step of using a matte gel on the face that will keep his skin matte and shine-free. It also includes hair styling and brow grooming. He will look as natural as the day you met him, but will remain camera-ready and confident throughout the evening.

One of our favorite Manscaping stories is with one of our favorite grooms, Mario. Mario is a bubbly guy that’s hilarious but not afraid to tell you how it is. Well, on their wedding day, we’re strolling up to their villa at the Biltmore and we’re excited to see then. They open the door, and….they’re completely sick!! Mario’s poor nose and surrounding areas were red, irritated and runny. We definitely had our work cut out for us, but rest assured knowing that he looked amazing afterward. We concealed the dark circles around his eyes from sleepless nights coughing and extremely reduced the redness around nose. We even took the added step of adding the color back into his skin with a little bronzing powder . . . and voila! Mario may not have felt 100%, but he sure did look like it.

Many of our Manscaping clients have said the following:

” All guys should do this on their wedding day. You can really see what a difference it made.”

“It feels like I’m not wearing anything at all.”

“Hmmm. I look good. ”

That last comment is always our favorite. Manscaping is an awesome way to give a little pampering to your soon-to-be hubby before showtime. So remember, you don’t have to take him to the spa, now you can bring the experience to him. His skin will look fabulous and it’s a great way to make him special on your wedding day.

Luna Bella Make-up Art will be presenting at the upcoming Santa Barbara Wedding Couture event on March 27th.  Tickets are available at a special price for SB Wedding Guide Brides and Grooms.

...The Final Shot...

Here is the final image from the previous blog post , shot by photographer Angelina Dorogi. Her work is always telling a story. It was really rainy that day and our model, Maggie, is super soaked at this point. It's such a beautiful black & white. Amazing job, Angelina !

Whipping Up Some Hair

So our beloved photographer, Angelina Dorogi, has us booked with her every Sunday for the next month & a half.  So we had a shoot this past Sunday with her. The inspiration for the shoot was set in the 1930s, a beautiful woman being stood up by her love at the train station. So for her makeup, she wanted classic but sultry eyes. It was raining that day and they were going to be shooting outside. So Angelina wanted to make sure that since her makeup would be rained on,  make sure it's extra gorgeous. 

Now as you know, when Ashley and I do a photo shoot, she's almost always doing the makeup and I'm doing the hair. So right when we got started, for the first 5 minutes, I was kinda blanking on what I was going to do. Then, I just dove in and started twisting my T3 Curling Iron in different directions, hoping that something cool would come of this. Piece by piece, the hairstyle started to come together until.....

Ta-Dah ! This swirly-doo came about and I'm kinda loving it. It's sort of like a cross between a finger-wave and pin-up style.  I really do hope that someone asks me to do this hairstyle for a wedding. How awesome would that look?

Doing make-up for the CEO of Carl's Jr. , Andy Puzder

It was raining really this past Tuesday in Santa Barbara and we'd actually planned to take our 1st day off in long time. It was all going as planned until we received a call on our business phone. It was one of our fellow make-up artists, Kirsten. Now, Kirsten is awesome for two main reasons : reason #1: she's down to earth and super fun to work along side and reason #2 : if she's unable to make a shoot or is already booked, she will sometimes pass us the referred work. Well, this time the referred work was for a video interview with the CEO of Carl's Jr., Andy Puzder. Ashley says "Andy is a really chill & laid back guy. He just let me work and that was great."  

 The shoot was actually held at the Carl's Jr. in Camarillo, Ca ( at Las Posas Rd & Daily Dr.). At first, we assumed that this shoot was going to be for a campaign. No, even better. The interview is being used for the hilarious and educational  HBO Show "Penn & Teller's Bulls**t. We'll be sure to watch that episode.

Ashley says "Andy is a really chill & laid back guy. He just let me work and that was great."  
Carl's Jr. is currently partnering up with the sexy Kim Kardashian, inspiring guys to eat healthier. I wonder why? PS....Kim, give us a call!

-Christin 

New Year , New You with LBMA

So every New Year, how many of us say that we wanna do "something different" with our looks? Ummm, yeah that's us all the time. From changing our hair color to changing our lipstick colors, we're always looking for something to spice ourselves up for the New Year. This year, we've already had clients book us for the "New Year,  New You" one-on-one's as well as our "Make-up Bag 101" class. 

This year, we're going to focus a lot more on our classes & lessons. This means more classes being offered, due to high demand, classes being offered more frequently, and more locations for them. 
We're definitely excited about this year and what we have in store for our clients, so for more information, check out our website for more of our features classes & private lessons at www.lunabellamakeupart.com. This year , let's try something new. 

LunaBella Make-up Art
(805) 450-7049
www.LBMAinc.com

...Photographer Ashley Hill...

When we first worked with Ashley Hill, it was with one of our favorite models ( don't think we have un-favorites lol ) Anna Lieberman, who's a rockstar. She's a chameleon ! On the first shoot we did with Ashley, it was like a fairytale-inspired shoot. You can actually view it on our website (she's pee-a-booing next to a tree and "wishes" are falling from the sky). For example, for this different shoot, Ashley Hill had this amazing idea on merging hi-fashion & darkness. She wanted her hair to be up, semi-wavy but really teased and messy. I love the idea already. 

For the make-up, she wanted a smokey eye, pale skin and skelton-like contouring. LOVE IT!!! She really wanted to pull the skelton out, so to speak. And we think that they shot is awesome. It's fashionable, kinda creepy, but still beautiful.

...Eun Ju & Jeff...

Eun- Ju called us one day looking for a second opinion , so we set up a trial run at her house. We were really excited to work with Eun-Ju because she had this amazingly thick, jet black hair, beautifully high cheekbones and nice full lips. We started her trial, just like any other; asking a couple questions about preferences : " what are your likes and dislikes about make-up/ hair?", "what look are we wanting to acheive?', etc.

With her make-up, she really wanted her eyes to be the main focus, so Ashley used a soft berry in the crease and a dark plum on the outer lid. Ashley made her eyes stand out more by applying individual lashes which are natural & custom tailored to Eun-Ju's eyes. Like many of the brides we work with, Eun-Ju wanted a pro long-wear lipcolor that wouldn't kiss off on her hubby to be.
I was really excited to work with Eun-Ju's hair for two reasons: 1.) the thickness 2.) I knew it would hold a curl damn good . At the time of the trial, she wanted something half-up/ half-down with a lot of curls. So, we did that and it looked quite nice. However, she was sure that her sister would approve of something up and told me " don't be suprised if we do an updo on the day-of" ;0) The funny thing is on the wedding day, we did the updo and it looked AMAZING! Her curls were springy and shiny. We used Kenra Perfecting Spray which kept her curls in place, with a flexible hold. After we put the feather hairpiece in, TA DAHHH! Eun-Ju looked amazing!

These amazing snapshots were taking by the AMAZING Tim Halberg of Halberg Photographers.  Tim is quite a Da Vinci at capturing these candid & "once in a lifetime" moments, especially with Eun Ju. Please check out his website at www.halbergphotographers.com. 

Working with Leisha Hailey from "The L Word" and stand-up comedian, Vicki Shaw

               (on the left: Leisha Hailey, on the right:Vicki Shaw)

When we first propositioned the amazing Tisha Floratos, VP of Travel with OLIVIA Vacations, we knew this was a gig we wanted BAD!! We wanted it so bad for a few reasons and here they are in no particular order.... Reason #1 : Working with OLIVIA Travel & Vacations is reason enough. Reason #2: Doing make-up & body art on a cruise ship going to Belize, Cozumel, Guatemala & Key West. And Reason #3: Doing Leisha Hailey & Vicki Shaw's make-up.

We've seen Leisha Hailey on "CSI: Las Vegas",  "Grey's Anatomy", and most popularly for the groundbreaking Showtime TV Series "The L Word" as "Alice". When we found out that we were going to be on the OLIVIA Halloween Caribbean Cruise, we freaked out because we knew what entertainers were going to be on board....like Leisha Hailey! So, we tried to do some kick-ass body art and make-up while on board, especially so the entertainers could represent our work. Well, one day on board, one of the OLIVIA directors approaches us and says " Hey ladies, we have some news for you....Leisha Hailey's manager wants to know if you'd be interested in doing Leisha's make-up before he hits the stage tonight for her interview...". We're like "UMMMM YEAAAA!!!" She was seriously the coolest , most down-to-earth chick, and 100% real. So glad that we got that opportunity to be her artists for the day. Leisha.....call us ! LOL .

Vicki Shaw, the other hot mama-blonde in the picture, is probably one of the funniest stand-up comedians today. With her southern belle accent and signature red-lip, we knew we had to coax her into letting us do her make-up too. She actually came up to our booth during our "Meet-n-Greet" and said (with her southern accent) "I heard that ya'll are the make-up ladies, is this true?" We gave her our room number, she showed up & we did her make-up ! SCORE ! We also did her make-up for her hilarious stand-up show on board as well as formal night. Vicki,  you're hilarious!

It was an amazing opportunity and cannot wait for the next!

LBMA featured on MyWeddingBlog.com

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Happy New Year & Happy Birthday to LunaBella Make-up Art !

It's pretty amazing. The end of a decade, begining of a New Year, a Blue Moon and the 1st Birthday of LBMA. It was just a year ago when Ashley and I decided to open LBMA down here and it was the best decision of our lives, so far ;0) So we're really excited about where this year can take us. Starting off with yesterday, we had a New Year's Eve wedding with our bride Meredith in Montecito, Ca. First, let me say that the estate was CRAZY GORGEOUS with it's view of the ocean....STOP, right?! Meredith, her sister & maid of honor , Nancy, and their 5 yr.old niece ( who was too damn cute, by the way) were just an absolute joy to be around. When we get those images, we'll definitely share them on here.

Today, New Years Day, we had Erica and Mario's wedding. We got them ready at The Four Seasons , The Biltmore in Montecito, Ca. These two are just such a comically-funny & sweet couple. We have an interesting story with their big day today, but we'll share it when we have their pictures.

Tomorrow, we have two weddings ; Ashley's wedding & Sarah's wedding! Super excited to be the team for both of these ladies and cannot wait!

We'll keep you updated , so stay tuned .

Getting Ready for 2010 . . .

Goodbye '09 and HELLO 2010 ! It's been quite a year with the new business and all. This year we were able to both leave our corperate jobs and pursue our dreams together as entrepreneurs.
We have done make-up & hair for photoshoots, weddings, quinceaneras, prom, bodyart taught classes, spoke to youth outreach groups, mentoring a high school girl that wants to be a makeup artist, worked fashion shows , hosted make-up parties at clubs, worked festivals at the univerisity and so, so, so much more. We truly just want to thank everyone that has supported us with this endevour. Without our supporters and clients, none of this would have been possible. We want to let you know that we will continue to deliver the best experience & service with LBMA. Watch how we're gonna grow in 2010 ! Here are a couple of photos of our 2009 work. Thanks and Happy New Years.




This is a shoot that we did with photographer Bryant Swanstrom, who is pretty awesome by the way. We did the make-up and hair for male model, Kevin, that's getting his ass kicked, including the blood on this shirt. We showed him who's boss ;0)


This was a cool shoot that we could in Los Angeles with photographer Shiloh King Strong.

Another shot from the shoot we did with Shiloh in LA. The shot to the right , we did this shoot in a desert in Cali. It was SUPER hot that day LOL!



Here are a couple of shots from one of our favorite weddings of 2009, Janell's wedding !


She's such a character! Congrats Janell ! Thanks for an amazing experience with you and your loved ones on your big day.


Please visit our website for more of our updated work at www.LBMAinc.com. Thanks for your support.

Janell's Wedding Preview...

Remember the cute couple Janell & R.J.? Well, this is the "Part2" of their romance. First, we fell in love with them during their engagement photos, where we did her make-up & hair. Well, this is the BIG day and here's just a preview of it ! Stay tuned and check back ! PS...the photography company is Ohana , check them out at www.sdohana.com.

...Introducing Dustin Damron...

When we first met or spoke with Dustin, we were actually referred from a photographer. Our first shoot with him , he told us about this idea that he's had for about a year and he has everything lined up for it. His idea is pretty rad..."Ice Queen". Not just any ice queen, but a sexy, high fashion spin on the Ice Queen image. He also takes it to the next level by setting up shop inside a HUGE freezer in Santa Barbara. Model Anna Lieberman really takes on this sexy but "cold-as-ice "character, which really made this shot.



Here are some more amazing pieces of Dustin's work that we've worked on with him.

For more of Dustin's amazing work, visit his website at www.dustindamron.com