The Modern Geisha

There is no look more profound for people with monolids than the "Geisha" look. With Doris' unique features, we managed to bring  the traditional Japanese look together with the progressive western fashion. The east and the west came together as one style to create an exotic, elegant, yet casual composition.

An old-fashioned and conventional geisha would be wearing substantial theater makeup. This necessitates the traditional pale skin with a heavy emphasis on vibrant pink eye shadows and a bold red lip. Black eyeliner would be used to hide double eyelids or emphasize the monolids. Heavily-filled in brows would then complete the look.

 

Model: Doris
Photography: Carmen

On the outfit and makeup (Carmen): 

Keeping with the theme, I chose a wrap dress to compliment D's figure.  I didn't want the outfit to be overcrowded with the floral designs so I decided to transform it into a top. By tucking the bottom into the shorts, the look seemed less ceremonial. I chose not to include any accessories in order to bring out the beautiful print of the dress, therefore plain tights were preferred. The bag and the shoes brought out the much needed warmth from the otherwise "cool" palette of colors.

Geishas have extremely pale, white skin, with exaggerated eye makeup, and red lips. Doris' complexion was just perfect for this look! To keep with tradition, eyeshadow was kept to a less intense. Light pink and light orange were used together with a light hand. This was to prevent it from overpowering the colours of the outfit. I decided to exaggerate the eyeliner, and have it thickened to emphasize her eyes. Blush was kept to a golden pink hue. As a finishing touch, I wanted the colour of the lips to be coral, as this would connect nicely.

On the hair and nails (Doris):
 Since the beginning, the trademark geisha hairstyle has always been a big bun adorned with traditional Japanese ornament strips. The level of skill required to replicate something even seemingly close is just not possible with the time we had. I would have been better off buying a wig. However, the bun I made looks all-too familiar and easily replicable. It's the infamous "messy bun" that has plagued us on tumblr and pinterest alike. After flipping my hair upside down, and securing the half ponytail, I began to pin random parts of my hair with bobby pins. To complete the look, pull out hair gently, from areas you want to "loosen" up and voila! You have yourself a messy bun.

 I was told by Carmen to make sure I kept my nails really simple (apparently I have a hard time doing so). Thus, I chose a blue-based grey. The nail color really blends in well, and I bet before you read this, it was not even noticed. :P Yes, I was as surprised as you were when I picked this up from Aldo a couple years ago. Having a rather decent selection of nail polishes was a nice surprise since they specialize in shoes afterall.


Face:
- skin79 super beblesh balm triple functions
- benefit the porefessional
- physicians formula gentle cover concealer stick
- benefit moonbeam
- estee lauder bronze goddess soft matte bronzer
- sleek makeup blush by 3 in lace

Eyes:
- etude house LUCIDarling fantastic gradation eyes in #8
- kanebo kate gel e/l in bk-1
- sephora luxe noir palette in gold

Lips:
- mac l/s in myth
- nyx l/s in orange soda
- sleek makeup blush by 3 in lace
- hyatt beauty l/g in 8

Nail:
- orly bonder basecoat
- aldo bauhaus architect
- poshe topcoat


Anyways, did you all have a good weekend? Maybe one day Carmen will post about her first day back to school on here so we can all have a good laugh. :) Until next time!

xx,
C&D

That Cool Girl

Here is our second editorial post! We had a bit more time this shoot so we were able to take more photos before the sun went down. We are loving this theme, the confident "cool" girl you may have seen on the streets. Read on for how you can re-create this look too.

Model: Carmen
Photgraphy: Doris

On the outfit and the hair curling (Doris):
Bronze, copper, black, taupe, and brown. The darker shades of fall, and one might even say it is border-line boring. However, the chic motorcycle jacket added attitude as well as a tailored look to C's small frame. The shorts were fun to work with because of the endless possibilities. I could have opted for a plainer tank, but I decided to risk it with a clashing crocodile print. The blouse was tucked in to give the illusion of an elongated torso. You could always opt for tights underneath the shorts, however I felt that if C wore black tights, there wouldn't be balance. Therefore, C decided to add some loose black ankle socks, which added height and wasn't too overpowering. The wedges and ring were one of the more eye-catching pieces. I really wanted to contrast the coppery bronze in the shorts, so I opted for a golden bag and a lighter blouse.

 I ended up curling C's hair with an Instyler curling iron. With hair a bit below shoulders, the curls ended up creating more texture to the overall look. If you want looser curls, you could brush out the curls.  Since C has thin hair, I mainly curled the hair away from the face for more volume. Unwashed hair for at least a day would hold curls a lot better than freshly washed hair. The natural oils help retain the curls easier as well as creating a small buffer from the heat.


On the hair styling, makeup and nails (Carmen): 
 The overall outfit has an unique edgy-girly look with a tomboyish twist. After D curled my hair, I decided to slick half my hair up to play on the tom-boy side of the look, and leave the other half down to give it that feminine vibe. I'm not exactly a very tall person, so to add to my height, more volume is emphasized at the crown.

To bring out the edginess, I decided to mainly focus on eyeliner. Following the natural lines of the eye with a gel liner, and extending it out a bit will elongate the eye. Finish off the line with a more defined "fish tail" flick will definitely give your eyes more character. Eyeshadow is kept to a minimum, but contouring and highlighting is a must. Lips are kept at a subtle hint of pink for that lady-like look.

The outfit contains very earthy shades which in turn, blend in with each other very well. To add some contrast and some color, I decided to have my nails painted in my favourite mint green and blue. Black and white designs are added so the nails can transition nicely with the colours of the outfit. Rhinestones are added for more dimension.


Face:
- garnier moisture rescue refreshing gel-cream
- laneige shimmer brightening multi base spf 41 pa++
- estee lauder bronze goddess soft matte bronzer
- kiko milano origami face palette

Eyes:
- garnier anti-dark circle eye roller
- kate kanebo reflect mirror eyes br-3
- kate kanebo gel e/l in bk-1
- bobbi brown e/s in steel
- estee lauder softsmudge e/p in black
- estee lauder magnascopic maximum volume mascara

Lips:
- tokyo milk sweet cream
- three custom color specialists l/g in mod 1960
- sephora l/g pencil in 3

Nails:
- rimmel london base coat top coat pro
- sally hansen mint sorbet
- essence you belong to me
- rimmel london black satin
- sally hansen disco ball
- no name white nail lacquer from korea


Keep a look-out for our next outfit posts.
Let us know if you guys want to see any specific styles. :)
Have a blessed week!

xx,
C & D