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Positano, Italy Elopement

This past May we were hired to travel across the ocean to Positano, Italy for an elopement! As many of you follow our blog posts, Facebook and Instagram we are sure you saw the sneak peeks and experiences that we had but no words can describe how amazing this little nook of the world is! We were lucky enough to all share an amazing villa which was only a short 15-minute walk to the main downtown/beach area of Positano. Maybe it was the time of year, but this place was seriously magic. The flowers were all in bloom, the weather was at a perfect mid 20’s (with no bugs) and it smelled like flowers and salt water everywhere you went! Our roles for this trip were basically to make Kim and Chris, our couple, feel little to no stress and we stepped up in more ways than our typical job roles would require. From helping with dinners, picking up greenery, decorating for the ceremony. We had the opportunity to do two days of shooting with the couple Kim and Chris for the wedding day and then the day after shoot in a boat! The wedding day was a very early morning as we started at 3:30 am for hair and makeup to have her dressed and prepped for sunrise. Chris also had some pampering, and their friends who joined us- Rob and Megan even snuck in for a quick men’s cut and hair/makeup styling before the ceremony later that evening. The beautiful thing about an elopement is the only rush or agenda at all as we are just working with Nicole to make sure we have the best light for the photos. We have been beyond blessed with the number of travel opportunities for weddings, elopements and engagement sessions and we are so excited to finally share all the images with you! Nicole Ashley, our dear friend, and amazing photographer has been a big reason for all of our success and shared even more photo’s over on her site.

If you are a beauty junky then you too may have heard of the Fenty Beauty range brought out by the beauty queen herself Rihanna this past Friday, or you want to read a review on some of the products before you shell out your hard earned cash. Some people may not be as up to date on all the beauty launches but this one was pretty significate to the beauty community for a few reasons! Instead of testing the waters by launching a few limited edition pieces, a la Kim Kardashian with KKW Beauty, a huge range was brought to over 1600 stores world wide as a permanent launch without giving any sneak peaks to beauty bloggers or magazines. The foundation color range alone rivals the range of MAC with 40 shades to suit skin tones from very light to dark with warm, neutral or cool undertones. The types of products she brought out are innovative in that she bypassed traditional blush, bronzer, or eye shadow powders by introducing a line with a soft matte primer, soft matte foundation, blot power, blot sheets, stick products called Match Stix that click together with magnets, a singular universal gloss and then several colors of highlighters. Packaging wise Rihanna killed it with the nude tones and geometric shapes. Many people have been commenting that she copied the KKW Beauty launch but production for these lines would have started months ago and I would just chalk that up to a coincidence. The products are also produced by the same lab that Kat Von D and Marc Jacobs Beauty are created in which stands to point out the higher quality of Fenty Beauty products and also that they are cruelty-free. From the products that I’ve tried, I noticed the foundation and Match Stix may suit people more of a combination to oily skin type vs someone with a drier skin type. The price range is just right also with nothing being over $45 CAD (the trio of Match Stixs come in at $67 or $31 individually). I also got a sample of the foundation and primer but didn’t find them to be anything to write home about for my super oily skin type as I found the matte finish didn’t last as long as my YSL All Hours foundation or the MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation when combined with my favorite Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer. Perhaps the…

Sometimes schedules and fate really work out in your favor as we ended up booking a second session when we were planning on being in Europe in May/June of this year. Kailey and Dave had Nicole and I fly out to Nice, France to shoot their engagement session in May after we finished the elopement in Italy that originally brought us out to Europe. You have to check out even more of the photos and their full love story here on Nicole’s site! I had been to Nice once before but I had forgotten how really beautiful and magical Nice really is. After I did Kailey’s hair and makeup and helped them decide what to wear we headed out to some of their favorite spots in Nice while Nicole captured their love. From eating gelato in the Old Town of Nice to swishing the perfect basket of flowers on a pebbled beach and then finishing the photos at sunset on a cliff by a light house. We couldn’t have asked for a better couple to work with and we are even more excited for their upcoming wedding in September!

Right now we are at our busiest with wedding season and traveling so much for work so we thought we would share some of our favorite products to get our hair styled quickly with the Apse Adorn hair accessories as well as the Davines OI products that have saved our hair and skin these past hot months! Apse Adorn Hair Accessories – Hayley from Apse Adorn was kind enough to send two of their amazing hair pieces in time for our trip to Europe and we haven’t stopped wearing them since!! Sometimes we have to get up super early for work and having stylish hair accessories makes styling our hair in a short time so much easier. I also really love this company because all the accessories are locally made and they donate 10% of all their profits to several non-profit organizations which you can read more about here. – Review by Janna Davines OI Range – I don’t know if it’s this summer heat or the lack of the humid European air but for whatever reason this summer all I feel is dry! I have switched up my routine since my hair, skin and nails have been so dry. I know I have talked about the Davines Oi Milk before, but today I’m talking about the entire Oi Range that includes a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, milk, oil and lotion. Maybe its the fact that Davines is an Italian born family owned company (or the amazing smell and hydrating characteristics) but the Oi family has been my jam this July! Here’s what they have to offer: OI Shampoo and Conditioner– Perfect for all hair types. Milky-smooth OI Shampoo and Conditioner is infused with nourishing Roucou Oil is the perfect daily shampoo and conditioner to maintain soft, shiny and voluminous hair. OI Body wash- Bubbles perfectly and smells amazing… with its natural active ingredients Glycerin and Roucou oil. OI All in one Milk– Read all about it in our January Favorites here. OI Oil– For anti-frizz and extra shine, perfect for all hair types and an amazing aid with Hot Head Hair extensions. OI Hand Balm – this special formulation protects skin from damage caused by sun, wind and cold with its long lasting hydration effect. – Review by Stef

As a second part to the styled shoot of Pastel Hair Magic we took two of our adorable kid models to create some fun hair looks to showcase some styles that could work amazingly for flower girls or junior bridesmaids. To see even more flower girl hair ideas, and a unicorn, check out our previous post here. To start with both of the girls hair was colored using Joico Color Intensity semi permanent direct deposit colors in purple and pink. On Jessica we curled her hair using the GHD creative curl wand and then did two dutch braids to meet in the back to almost create a half braided crown. We left the pieces out in the front to create that soft pretty look. For Juliane’s look we curled her hair also with the GHD wand and then twisted the front side section of hair onto itself and then added in the stunning tropical flowers from FaBLOOMosity. Both of these looks paired so perfectly with these The Skinny dresses that Erinn provided for the shoot! All photos by Carmen Freemark.

Whoever invented braids and braiding was seriously a hair god. We all have memories of when we first starting to braid. I remember as a young child when I finally could style my hair using braids and lived an entire year braiding pigtails with a very stylish bandanna, or zig-zag part. They were, are and always will be, cool! ….when done correctly! 😉 That’s why I wanted to write this post with some easy braiding tips, and it is the season of weddings, events and vacations- and a cute braid can amp up your look 10 fold! The options are truly endless when talking about braiding styles. You have the cornrow, the side braid, fishtail braid, 5 4 or 3 strand braid, french braid, upside-down braid, milkmaid braid, dutch braid… you get it! We have seen a rise in using braiding for up do’s for weddings. And pinterest really has expanded everyone’s ideas of just how many different types of hairstyles using braids there are. A braid really is the simplest way to amp up your everyday look. And let’s be honest- one of the easiest workout, post work-out or just greasy 3 day old hair fixes ever! Here are some easy ways to amp-up your braid with some braiding tips! Texture– Try adding some Davines “This is a Dry Texturizer” spray throughout your hair’s roots and ends before braiding. Even tension– When doing any dutch braids the key is even tension and equal hair portions in each section. This video is close up section on how to keep tension when braiding. The full tutorial is for our ” Braided Updo for Long Hair” and can be viewed on our Youtube channel. Volume– Try adding some volume to your roots before starting the braids. I recommend using something like Davines “This is a Texturizing Dust” powder and a back combing brush! If you can’t braid- please for the love of God don’t go back to the 1990’s where I remember purchasing my very own Conair quick braid tool… Instead? Practice! Or, better yet book yourself a private party with Janna and I for you and your closest girlfriends to get braided up, or even to get a lesson. Janna And I are always up for specializing a class or lesson that fits you- all you have to do is ask!

We are so excited to finally be able to share one of the three parts of our shoot day aimed to inspire some fun flower girl looks. Janine from FaBLOOMosity really outdid herself on this shoot day. I remember showing her a couple cute inspiration photos of a swing with some flowers and she transformed the idea into something out of this world. She came up with the most magical floral swing set for us to work with and even surprised us all by turning the pastel pony into a pastel unicorn! We all kept saying over and over again how cute the girls looked in the set. Erinn from The Skinny really pulled these little flower girl dresses out of nowhere! With a weeks notice for this shoot she was able to pull the most glorious flower girl tulle dresses that went so perfectly with the shoot. Carmen was the reason this whole third part of the shoot came together so perfectly. She somehow convinced her husband to create the amazing swing that Janine styled so perfectly, after clearing the spot a few times from the recent snow fall (thanks Alberta) picked up the ponies early that morning for me to come and color its hair (and then returned them after many hours of shooting), hosted us on her land, gave us snacks and wine and I don’t think stopped for a moment to breath until our light was gone! She really went above and beyond and the photos are proof of that! Janna and I really worked together as a team on this, and after I spent the afternoon coloring the little girls hair, she came right by my side and we did all the hair styling and makeup for a perfect flower girl look. This is definitely up there as one of our favorite styled shoots and we couldn’t be happier with how this turned out!!

I’d been following Tegan and Lindsay and their blog/instagram Treasure and Travels for years now and I’ve always loved their aesthetic and the different products they promoted. When they joined their Aunt to help with Pink House I knew I wanted to reach out to try and work with them and test their products out. The company was started by two sisters, Tracy and Karen, with the aim of bringing all natural products to women everywhere and when Tegan and Lindsay’s mom, Karen, passed after a battle with cancer they stepped in to help their Aunt Tracy with running the company. Their story and desire to bring natural products that are made with love and actually are amazing drew me in. As an artist and a beauty product junky I was drawn to their glow sticks and dry shampoo’s and they graciously sent out samples for us to try out on our European trip this past May and June. All the products were used and loved by all four of us ladies and I used all the glow stick shades to create a JLo glow on our bride Kim in Positano Italy as well as our engagement session client Kailey in Nice France. I loved how the glow sticks meshed with foundation and didn’t melt away after a long, humid and hot day shooting. I used the Copper shade as a bronzer/contour shade and then alternated between the Rose and Rose Gold shades for blush and lip color and then the shade Ice was the perfect highlight to layer under the powder highlight I brought to last all day. The dry shampoo comes in two shades Blondie and Hot Chocolate which worked out so perfect since half of the people were blondes and the other half were brunettes so we got to use both shades. The powder absorbed any and all grease and made our hair feel so fresh and clean even after having sweaty hair from walking up hundreds of stairs in Positano. Knowing their products have no harsh chemicals in them and lasted so well on so many skin types and skin tones I couldn’t recommend their products enough! We are going to be stocking their products very soon and in the meantime check out their online store here. ** the first two behind the scenes photos were shot by Nicole Ashley!

In the month of May the weather has started to heat up and we are also currently in Italy for an elopement we were hired for so we decided to share some of our favorite products to help beat the sun and heat! Supergoop Setting Mist SPF 50 – This setting mist is a life safer for anyone trying to reapply sunscreen throughout the day but is also wearing a full face of makeup. It has an SPF 50 rating and protects against UV rays while also keeping your face matte in the summer heat. The rosemary mint scent is also super refreshing when you are really hot. If you live in Canada you can pick it up at Anthropologie in their beauty section or if you live in the US you can get it at Sephora. – Review by Janna Davines Su Hair Milk– This hair product is what I always recommend to people going on a hot holiday! It’s a light weight leave-in treatment that protects hair color and also helps to keep your hair hydration during sun exposure. On a recent trip to Palm Springs Janna’s beautiful pastel pink locks were getting so sun bleached until she started using this product! Pastel is hard to maintain on a regular basis and when you add chlorine and sun bleaching you have nearly no hope of maintaining the perfect pastel or blonde until now! Thanks to the anti UV-A and UV-B filters your hair is protected and left feeling soft shiny and weightless. I also recommend wearing a hat to protect your hair even further and prevent any scalp/hair parting sun burns. – Review by Stef MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation – When I first tried this foundation I hated it but to be fair I tried it during the winter when my skin was much more dehydrated. Then when one of my friends who was getting married raved about this foundation I knew I had to give it another chance. I tested this foundation on my oily skin in the summer months and was blown away how it didn’t budge at all on my skin and was true to the waterproof claims. I have even jumped in a pool and my makeup stayed perfect because of this foundation. The best part about this foundation is that MAC just expanded this color range so there should be a shade for…

We recently attended an amazing event hosted by Kit and Ace featuring four different professionals in creative fields who have businesses that have them traveling a lot for work and that got us thinking of what our travel tips would be! For Behind the Blush, 2017 is the year of travel as we go across the globe to places like Montreal, Italy, Nice, Croatia, London, Banff, Jasper, Emerald Lake, Whitehorse, Vegas and Palm Springs! So we thought we would talk about some of the tips and tricks we we live by when traveling for work! When we are traveling for a clients wedding or any kind of hair and makeup booking we always have to check our bags. We have so many products that we bring along with us including liquids that make a carry on only nearly impossible. Any of our more fragile items of our kits like powders we bring in our carry on to ensure they end up at our destination without any damage. The amazing duo of Fieldwork Co. created the perfect carry on kit bag as it can convert from a messenger bag to a backpack and they customized the size to fit a small makeup kit bag. We couldn’t recommend them enough to create a bag or accessory for you! Pro Makeup Kit Packing Tips If you haven’t met your client yet have them send a photo of themselves as well as any inspiration photos of what kind of look they want. From there you can ask them what their skin type is and if they have any skin concerns and that should help you decide what to pack. If it is for a destination wedding with only one or two clients you can also ask your client to bring their own personal favorite foundation and concealer. I still bring a few foundation and concealer options that I can mix in case if I find maybe they got tanned while they’re on vacation. Primers: Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer and the Cane + Austin Prime and Protect Mattifying Primer with Broad Spectrum SPF 50. Foundations: MAC Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation in shades NW20 and NC35 (the shade that I am and then a darker more yellow toned one to mix with it). The MAC foundation was also featured in our May favorites post here. Cover FX Custom Cover Drops in N20 and G60 to mix in with…