Friday, September 30, 2011

It's a wonderful town!

Hi Everyone,

Well I made it through class and my NYC vacation and am now back in the Lone Star state! It was an amazing time! I learned so much in my class, got to see a Broadway show every night and I got to meet some awesome people (& performers)! I will quickly go through all of it because there is a lot!

My class was amazing! I had such a great time and really gained a lot of confidence in myself as a make up artist. I discovered that I have been doing right all along with the way I approach make up (Less is more). Turns out it's how my instructor and guest instructors all approach make up. They are all extremely successful and great at what they do, so I will continue to do things the way that I feel is right (not what others think). My instructors all have some pretty incredible clients between them. Glamour, Playboy, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Avon, Saturday Night Live just to name a few and don't forget all about all the celebrities too! I'm not name dropping, I'm seriously impressed! When you come from a small town, New york and all of it's glitz seem so far away. But then you're dropped in right in the mix of things and your not quite sure how you got there. I'm just happy to have had the opportunity.

At the end of the week I got to have my own photo shoot and work with the most amazing photographer (and genuinely nice person), Gen Nishino.

He's so experienced and professional, but he has a way of making everyone around him feel at ease. He directed me on what to do and what to expect. I caught right on and we worked very well together. Did I mention he's hilarious? My model Bec was also such a pleasure to work with (and gorgeous hello?!).

I really clicked with her and Gen and we had a great time. I was so nervous, but when I saw the images of coming up on the screen, I couldn't believe it was my work. It looked so good (not bragging)! I was so worried that my model wouldn't be nice or would hate the makeup, but Bec was great! She is also a make up artist, so we bounced ideas and learned some new things from each other. One of the girls in the class asked if Bec was my sister. I said no that I had just met her an hour ago. The girl laughed and said we acted as if we had known each other for years! I honestly think that helped make the photos come out so great. I have to say the three of us made a pretty stellar team! I hope to one day get to work with both of them again.



That's all for now. I will write soon about all the Broadways shows I got to see and, the new love of my life, and my brief encounter with Daniel Radcliffe (aka Harry Potter)!

Stay fab!!
xoxo, Lacey

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Out of the ashes...

Hey Everyone,

See I told you I would blog again soon! This past weekend has been pretty insane actually, so I'm surprised I did. If you don't know, right now in Central Texas we are having horrible wildfires all over the area! The worst one is in Bastrop, TX and has already burned down over 600 homes and claimed four lives. My aunt lost both of her homes in Bastrop and my cousin and her husband lost their house and business in another wildfire. We have only had one minor fire in my area, but my family has all of our most precious belongings packed up and ready to go if we do have to evacuate anytime soon. It's all so very sad, but I thank God everyday minute of the day that my house has not been damaged and that I haven't lost any loved ones. If you are spiritual, please send prayers to Texas right now that we will get rain and that these fires will cease soon. If you aren't, just send positive thoughts. :) You can also donate to the Red Cross to help the victims and also to Austin Pets Alive! to help the animals affected by the fires!

In the midst of all this chaos and tragedy, I have some very exciting news that I almost feel guilty for. A few months ago I decided after being out of school for a couple of years, I needed a refresher course. I started looking for makeup courses and I found several, but unfortunately I do not have 3-12 months or thousands of dollars to attend some of the more advanced schools. After looking for quite some time, I found a great little makeup academy based out of Chicago & New York. The woman that runs the academy has been working in the industry for over 20 years and has worked with countless celebrities and magazines! She offers a lot of courses in both cities, but I decided on a 5-day makeup 101 class in New York from Sept. 19th-23rd.

Don't let the "101" fool you. I will be learning more advanced techniques too, but I think it's really important to re-learn all the of the basics to help yourself go farther in your career. You never stop learning, you never growing. Sometimes you need to put your ego aside and strip yourself down to the core to find your greatness. I will admit I am extremely nervous. It's been a long time since I've been in a class setting and there's the fear that you don't know as much as you think you do. The thing I have to remember is that classes and courses aren't to show what you know, but to learn what you don't.

I am really excited though. My whole family (sans my Nana, who lives with me.) and my boyfriend are coming with me. While I'm in class 8 hours a day, they'll be out sight seeing and then we'll meet in the evening to go see broadway shows! We haven't been to NY in a couple years, but there is so much to do there that we will find brand new things that we didn't get to do last time. I'm especially excited for New York style pizza!!

So I will keep you all up to date on my class and my adventures. We are leaving the 17th and we'll be back on the 24th. I want to try and vlog and blog while I'm up there, but I really doubt I'll have time. Regardless I will try!

If you have any questions or tutorial ideas, just let me know!

As always thank you for reading.

Remember stay fabulous!
xoxo, Lacey


To donate to Red Cross, please visit - http://www.centex.redcross.org

To donate to Austin Pets Alive!, please visit - http://www.austinpetsalive.org