The Making of a Jojo Girl

As I mentioned (or ranted rather) before, I was in search of a second model for my shop. My advertising was very successful and I received a slew of interested young ladies. I narrowed down the choices and came up with a handful that I will be photo testing over the next month. I've decided to bring on several new girls with different looks and sizes - kind of an retro army of "Jojo Girls." Funny, that makes them sound like they will break out in choreographed Janet Jackson style moves in the studio! That way I can stylize hair and makeup more specifically to a period and shoot a dozen outfits in that era on one girl in one shot.

My first test was with the lovely Miss Kitteh. I attempted to document her transformation in the studio so you could see some before and after photos. I will give a brief tutorial for achieving her look. She has graciously agreed to this with the promise of universal fame and fortune. Well, perhaps just the promise of a monthly phone call to come back and model again. :-) We have decided to transform her into a look thats a cross between Bridget Bardot and Twiggy, so she can model some 60s fashions for me in her test shoot. I wanted to look to be a wearable nod to the 60s yet not completely over the top. We will primarily be using MAC products.

So here is Kitteh (pronounced Kitty)in the studio premakeup. I've prepped her face with MAC's "Fix +", "Strobe Cream" to brighten and moisturize, and then "Prep + Prime Skin Base to keep the makeup on. "

Using a flat foundation brush, I applied MAC "Studio Fix Fluid" foundation in NW20. Then with an eyeshadow brush, I've filled in her whole eyelid with a "Paint Pot" in Soft Ochre to give a nice base for the shadows we will be using. I've put some undereye concealer in the darkest part (crease)of the undereye and a little around the nostrils to blend.

So then we apply an all over wash of "Mylar" eyeshadow with a 213 fluff brush. Then I place "Aquadisiac" on the lid only starting at the outer corner and blending up and in.

Using a 219 pencil brush, I carefully line the crease with "Carbon," a black eyeshadow to give the eye some depth. The line is clean but not as heavily stylized as Twiggy's, because we want this look a little more wearable and not as theatrical. I pull the line out past the eyelid a bit and then backtrack to meet the corner of the eye.

I then do a light dusting of "Shroom" under the arch of the brow with a 224 tapered blending brush. I deposit a little in the inside corner of eye as well. I smudge directly into the lashline "Graphblack" black eyeliner.

Next comes a light sweep of black mascara on the upper and lower lids. I curl the upper lashes with an eyelash curler. Then we apply false lashes- I used Model 21 Fashion Lashes in "3m 28." I cut them into halves to make them easier to apply.

Using a small angle brush, I apply liquid eyeliner in "Blacktrack," starting high at the outer corner of the eye coming in towards the pupil. I go back and fill in from the upper line down to the lash line. Again curl the lashes to blend the natural into the false, and load up on very black mascara on the upper lashes.

Then I lined the waterline of her lower lid with a white pencil to make her big eyes look even larger. using a stiff angled brush, I filled in her browns with "Cork" eyeshadow. I applied "Prep + Prime Lip", lined with a nude pencil and then filled in the lip with "Viva Glam V." I put "Melba" blush on the apples of her cheeks. A quick dusting of "Blot Powder" and a spritz of "Fix +" sets the makeup and keeps it from looking to powdery.

Next stop, Hair. We did some backcombing and spraying and pulled her hair up into a Bardot-esque pony tail. Her hair was fine, so I think next time I will use rollers and some hair powder to get even more volume. Yes, thats my mom in the background. She is my resident hair teaser- since she lived through the 60s, she can tease hair like nobody's business!

So, here is a quick chart of the look I designed for Kitteh before she came.






And here is our lovely Miss Kitteh in her test shoot:

A close up of the makeup look.......

Congratulations, you've just become the next Jojo Girl!

Stay tuned for more models!

Smoke and Mirrors aka Aging Gracefully

“Women are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely.” Christian Dior

Lately I have been acutely aware of the unpleasant effects that go along with the natural aging process. I often feel like the face looking back in the mirror at me can't possibly be mine- I was supposed to be forever 30, right? Now at 40, I fear becoming a Blanche Dubios perpetually consumed with the effects of the lighting on her appearance...or worse yet, a Norma Desmond with little frownies pasted all over her face.

I was watching an old AMC documentary on the old-hollywood makeup dynasty, the Westmores, and they actually showed one of the sons giving a woman a facelift with tape and string through her hair. Yikes! Makes you wonder how the stars made due with the presurgical methods they had. Now everyone in Hollywood goes under the knife. Back then, the Westmores created and knew all the stars secrets for their ageless appearance and signature looks. Its was all smoke and mirrors and it seems to have been so through the ages.

So why should I feel so badly about my own aging since women have gone through this struggle since the dawn of time (or was it just since the dawn of the modern beauty industry as people typically used to die before 40?) Maybe its a loss of control, a recognition of your own mortality- you are not indestructable. I think part of the dilemma is deciding HOW do I want to handle this?

Do I want to fight it tooth and nail? I'm not sure I could handle someone injection botulinum toxin into my wrinkles, so I guess I'm gonna have to face this stoically yet gracefully. So that means investing in stock in Olay's Regenerist cream. But what about the hair, makeup and clothing? At some point will I look odd going about town in vintage? At what point are you too old to be funky? God help me if I end up like The Bravo housewives. They have cured me of the dillusion that you can pull off looking 30 at 50. So if we skip that approach, I guess that leaves us with the "personal style" method of aging gracefully.

Yes, I said Personal Style. My mother oozes it and she is well known by sight at our church. She is the only one in her choir of middle aged to elderly that can boast having fuschia hair. She wears whatever she damn well pleases including her studded black leather boots. She dutifully brings me about 5 fashion magazines a week to help me stay on top of the trends for my business. At the same time she can identify the manufacture year of just about any piece that comes through my shop. She can also singlehandedly whip up the most fabulous 5 minute bouffant ponytail on my long haired model. "I wore it this way for years, " she'll say with the rat comb in her teeth. I hope I'm half as cool as my mom when I'm her age (she just turned 70 last month.) I'd much rather look like her than wear the boring taupe Eileen Fisher knit sets that seem to creep into your closet after 40. Somehow I dont think they would go with all my ink.

After considering my limited options, I guess I will follow in the footsteps of my mom and all the other great beauties who did their best with smoke and mirrors and slathered on the night cream.... cheers to you all, ladies. At least I'm in good company!