Pages

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

...Angelina has done it again...

Working with Angelina is always a treat. She always has this story in her mind as to what and how she wants for a shot to look. In doing that, her work is always very vivid & strong and we love that about her. Now that she's back from her work & travels in Europe, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with her as soon as we could. For this shoot, we worked with model Ashley Russell aka Skinny and man, did she deliver, like always. Angelina made it specific to us that she really wanted for Skinny to look different, so we went with textured-out , dark brown hair. Especially because she's a blonde, we were really able to switch around and contour her features. For her make-up , Ashley ( the make-up artist ;) used smokey brown on her lid and a dark brown for her brows. She also contoured her nose, cheekbones and under the jaw to really accentuate her features. For hair, remembering Skinny's hair color is blonde and really short right now. So, I definitely went the route of extra hair and in dark brown. Using extra hair or extensions give me the added effect and this shoot was no exception. For more of Angelina's outstanding work or to book with her , contact her at www.angelinadorogi.com .

...Working with Robb Klassen...


When we first met Robb, we had arranged to meet at a local coffeehouse in Santa Barbara and go over a shoot idea he'd been working on. If you've ever met Robb, you first notice how tall he is. The 2nd thing you notice is how real, genuine and down-to-earth he is. So when he said he wanted us to work with him on this idea that he's had for a long time, we knew we had to jump on the opportunity. The shoot was titled "Ruby Sky" and he paints the story for you.


Of course, these are only a few shots from this amazing shoot. So check out more of this images at www.robbklassen.com . Stay tuned for more of our work with Robb.

...Kelly & Scott...


We knew that we were truly meant to do Kelly's wedding because of a funny situation over the phone. So, we received a inquiry-call from a "Kelly" sometime in April about her wedding on Aug. 15th. She was real sweet, we answered all of her questions, but after our great conversation, she didn't call back. However, something told us to just keep "Kelly's" name on the board for Aug.15th, just in case. Three-months later, we receive a call from a bride-to-be, ironically also named Kelly, wondering if we were still unbooked for her wedding date, which also happens to be...yup...Aug. 15th. Now, that happends all the time, but we had to explain to her; "On our board, we do have another bride-to-be pending on that date ....a Kelly also." She laughs and says, "Oh my gosh, that's me!!! I called you guys a couple months back and I was calling to see if you were still available and you still have my name on your board!!". It was HILARIOUS! We all instantly hit it off, booked her wedding date OFFICIALLY and did her wedding trial the following week. If you've even been around Kelly or know her, then you know how amazingly loving, funny and how real she is. We were so blessed to have not only been her make-up & hair team, but to have met her family and friends. Kelly, you are truly a beautiful bride.
These amazing shots were taken by the well-known Mary Jane of Mary Jane Photography here in Santa Barbara. Mary Jane is unreal at capturing these priceless & candid moments on such an enchanted day. Mary Jane , you ROCK! To capture some of your priceless moments, check out www.maryjaneweddings.com.


For Kelly's make-up, Ashley first did one eye completely using warm colors like golds and browns. Then she did her other eye, using a different pallet of colors like plums. This is great because Kelly gets to see herself in two different colors and she can decide which path she wants to take. She really wanted for her eyes to pop and her skin to just look glowy and soft. Ashley knocked it outta the park!
For Kelly's hair, when we originally did her trial , we went with something more like a wave in her hair which we both liked. However, after her wearing it a bit, she really wanted to go with something more down to earth, how she would usually look with just a little "oomph". We decided to go with a non-constructive swept-look, half-up/ half-down, with just a little bump at the end of her hair. Just ....Kelly.....beautiful.




We also did the make-up and hair for all of the bridesmaids including Kelly's beautiful and HILARIOUS mom! Come visit us mom!



This was a real treat for us to be a part of Kelly's production team for this immense celebration. Congrats to you kids...Kelly & Scott.

...Colors & Amanda Bailard...

Whenever we work with Amanda Bailard, photographer here in Santa Barbara, we know two things : 1) we know that whatever ideas that we have, she wants to make them vivid & come alive and 2) is that Amanda is gonna bust out some music and we're grooving when we work with her. We have now done over 5 shoots with her and she always delivers.



This first image is one of our favorites in working with Amanda. We wanted to do a "rag-doll" shoot, where we section-off parts of the body and use different colors and lines to create a "patchwork look". Body art unlike regular make-up application requires a lot more attention to detail, steady-hands and a lot of stepping back to look at the full picture. This mini-project took us just under 2 and 1/2 hours to do, front and back. Our model was Rosine E, she's such a sweetheart and a great model from France.


With this image below, we had a real cool time pulling this together. Amanda instructed that she wanted the model to be "stark-white" with a huge ink-splatter on her eye. WOW! Ashley and I are like "okay...ink-splatter...we got this" but it really came out cool. First, Ashley painted her all white with MAC chroma cake to give that opaque base. Then, by hand, Ashley sketches out this "ink-splatter" on and around her eye, which looks awesome! She also added a couple more random ink-splatters to make it look as if she was really hit with a splatter of ...well, ink. She's given a cupid-lip to really ad drama to the mouth. For her hair, Amanda wanted a bun at the top of her head....but I really wanted to challenge myself. So I ask Amanda if it's alright if I give her a bun but with a twist. So, I started with the bun but instead of it laying flat down, I propped it upright. I also left a lot of the models own hair out and I used a "prop" and wrapped her hair around it. It kinda created a samurai look, which we liked, then finished with the chop sticks thru the hair. Oh, and yes, we really did make her brows and fake lashes "corvette-red". HOT!
Check out more of Amanda Bailard's work at www.amandabailard.com. Her images and saturation will blow your mind!

...Photographer Mattia Balsamini...

Working with photographer Mattia Balsamini has been a real treat. We love that he loves to push the envelope while keeping a very regal elegance to his work. We've already done a couple of shoots with him and the way he shoots a woman is quite nice. So here is a shot of our most recent shoot with him. Check this out, this girl isn't even a model and she worked it!
Mattia wanted like the "dots" idea over half of her face and then he says " Can we do white dots or would that be too crazy?" So we rolled with the white and it came out awesome! For her hair, we kinda went with a romantic updo, not too constricted but also away from her face. Ahhhh, and the lighting?! Love it !

Check out more of Mattia's work at www.mattiabalsamini.com.

...Introducing the amazing, Angelina Dorogi...

ATTENTION :This blog contains some brief nudity in the form of art. Please the artists involved that made this shoot possible. Thank you.
When we met Angelina, we knew that we were all just going to be a great team. From the first shoot, we remember her saying " See, that's why I love you guys; I can just tell you random words and you can formulate it into an amazing look!". One of our most memorable and favorite shoots that we've done with Angelina so far was the "Dark" shoot we did with a fierce model known as "Skinny". We she gave us the idea for this shoot, we knew that it was going to be dark, dramatic and people would remember it. For her make-up, Angelina really wanted , like we said, "something dark, but mysteriously beautiful". So Ashley literally did black on her eyes, but sketched it down to the inside-corner of her eye, giving that dimension to her eyes. Ashley really carved her cheekbones out by no only using bronzer, but by also using a grey tone to create a deeper contour. On her lips, we didn't wanna go traditional at all, so Ashley decided to do a "bitten-lip" but with this smoky grey-plum. That created a totally different look on her lips, especially because Ashley focused on the middle of her lip versus the whole lip.For her hair, Angelina wanted something so different from the norm, so we went out and bought extra hair & styrofoam. Why styro? You'll see. So, because Angelina wanted her hair to be completely up & they had to drive to the location after make-up & hair we're done, I knew that it had to last. The end result was amazing!!! It was an intricate design of different colored hair spheres atop her head. Some of it was Skinny's hair and most was extention, but this shoot ROCKED OUR WORLD!!!


Please check out more of this shoot and her other outstanding work at www.angelinadorogi.com. She just got back from shooting in Europe but contact her if you wanna work with her. Also, if you wanna work with Skinny, you can contact her at www.modelmayhem.com/Ashleyolivera . This girl can work a shoot! Seriously!

...Chandra & Larry...



Meet Chandra. Chandra emailed us one day, all the way from Washington, D.C. wanting to book us for her big day. We were excited for two reasons; 1.) she was one of our first "out-of-state" residence clients and 2.) she was from our hometown of Oakland ;0) On her wedding day, we met the whole family and quickly felt a sense of home.

For Chandra's eyes, she really wanted a "natural bride" look with pop but without a lot of make-up. Ashley stuck to her guns and went with colors like "go", "amber lights" and "sketch" to give her eyes that pop.


On her lips, Ashley and Chandra played around with a few colors just to ensure she's happy .


Christin just finished doing her beautiful hazel eyes and is going in for the lips .





Chandra looked AMAZING on her day and the pictures came out unreal! The photography is by Cherry Thomas of By Cherry Photography . Visit her website to view more of Chandra & Larry's wedding day and for all her galleries.


...Anna & Martin's Engagement Photos.....







Anna found us simply by "googling : make-up artist in santa barbara" and she went with her instinct. We first met Anna when we did her trial, in which was for her engagement photos. During her trial, Anna was the one keeping us laughing.

Her quick humor and personable personality is what makes Anna truly an AWESOME bride-to-be. Before starting our trial, we ask a few questions, so we know what you're used to wearing vs.what look you want to acheive. Anna told us that she really doesn't wear anything on her face ( i.e., foundation) but she really wanted her eyes to pop. So for her foundation, Ashley went with a real sheer foundation called MAC Face & Body, to give her a nice coverage without too much. However, later for her wedding day, we opt for an even lighter solution with flawless results.....airbrush. Absolutely AMAZING...but we'll talk about that later. Or for more info , visit our website for our airbrush rates . On her eyes, Ashley went with a golds and rusts which made her bright blue eyes pop and of course, a pro long-wear that won't kiss-off on Martin.


Okay, so seriously, Anna has some nice THICK....I mean THICK hair. Beautiful wave to it and everything. So we definitely decided to play off her thick mane, add some serious curl to it and make it a romantically-touseled look. Her bangs weren't quite long enough at the time, so we simply pulled them back and pinned. I used Bumble & Bumble Flexible Spray in the purple can, which also smells GREAT by the way, and it gave us the hold and flexibility that we needed.

Stay tuned because we're posting Anna's wedding pictures up here soon!



Working with Ari and Jess Iverson


Ari Abramczyk is an alumni of Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Ca. When we first saw some of Ari's underwater work, we were blown away. Right then, we kinda put it out in the universe to work with her and she emailed us 2 weeks later. She wanted to know if we were available to work with her and designer Jess Iverson on a maternity wedding dress shoot. HELL YEAH!! The dresses are lovely and the concept is beautiful, so we did the make-up & hair.

For this look, Jess wanted the make-up to enhance the glow of the expecting bride. Shimmery golds and pinks on the eyes and mineralized powder on the cheekbones. For the lips, Ashley used a mauve-pink lipcolor in the MAC pro-longwear line.



This shoot was interesting because although you cannot tell at all, this was during the one of the biggest fires in Santa Barbara, the Jesusita Fire. It was like 4:00pm and it was 96*degrees. It was CRAZY!!! However, the shots came out great and it just looks like a nice sunny afternoon ( despite the black smoke & bright orange flames).


You can check out more of Jess' dresses at jessicaiverson.com and you can see more of Ari Abramczyk's work at www.eyesopenphoto.com.