yeg hair

Beachy Wave Tutorial

We first worked with Bree when she was modelling during the Kindle Workshop here in Edmonton and we were also set to do her hair and makeup for her wedding that happened this past summer. Bree is the kindest and most lovely person so when she asked us to collaborate on a tutorial for her new website we jumped at the chance to work with her again!! She legitimately has the most magical hair and it was so fun to watch Caitlyn create these beachy waves and then show how to easily transform your look with some fun hair accessories and tips. Head over to Bree’s site here to see the video tutorial!

Our 2018 in Review

Janna •

2018 was a really big year for Behind the Blush as our team grew with Caitlyn and Diane working on more weddings and projects with me! This past year was full of different beautiful destinations like Ireland, Tofino, Palm Springs, Los Angeles and of course the Rocky Mountains with so many amazing clients that I got to travel to with Nicole Ashley. Another high point of this year was being able to do the hair and makeup for both Kindle Workshops that Nicole Ashley and Ang from Myrtle and Moss put on to educate photographers. We also have to thank all of our local brides and clients here in our hometown of Edmonton for including us in their beautiful life events. This past year would not have been possible without the support of our clients, friends and family so thank you for following along on our journey! Photos by Nicole Ashley unless noted under the photo Photo by Laura Olsen during the Kindle Workshop Photo by Kayla Lovi during the Kindle Workshop Photos by Ang of Myrtle and Moss Photography Photos by Dianna Man and Makeup was done by Behind the Blush for Novelle Bridal Photo by Megan Kemshead Photos by Carlos Vicente Photos by Juan and Angie Photo by Katch Studios Photo by Sharon Litchfield Photos by Janine Rose during the second Kindle Workshop Photos from the Kindle Workshop round two held in Edmonton

Jillian + Joe – Frank Sinatra Estate Wedding in Palm Springs

Janna •

In November I had the honour of travelling to Palm Springs for Jillian and Joe’s wedding in the desert. Their wedding was so relaxed and so them right down to the pool party before starting to get their hair and makeup done. The wedding was hosted at the Frank Sinatra Estate and I had to pinch myself that I was getting to work and celebrate in such an iconic home. The day after we headed to Joshua Tree where we witnessed the most epic sunset. Nicole Ashley captured all these stunning photos and then Plaid Collar Films created this beautiful video showcasing Jillian and Joe’s wedding as well as the day after session. Photos by Nicole Ashley retouched with Nicole Ashley Presets Hair/makeup by Janna with Behind the Blush Video by Plaid Collar Films Planning by The Love Riot Decor by Jesi Haack Design Wedding Dress by Jenny Packham Bridal from White Toronto and veil by Sara Gabriel Veils Custom Suit by Atelier by Ensemble Wedding Venue: Frank Sinatra Estate

How to Tone Your Hair Extensions at Home

Janna •

Sometimes when you get blonde hair extensions you may want them to be a bit cooler/icier in tone or in my case I needed to transform the hair extensions from blonde to pastel pink. In this post, I wanted to cover how to tone the blonde extensions to get them cooler in tone and then also how to make them pastel. I received the clip in extensions from UniWigs and I have to say I was really impressed by how soft and thick the blonde extensions were all the way down to the ends. Over the years I have been styling hair I’ve seen good hair extensions and sub-par hair extensions and I can say with confidence that the clip in hair extensions by their company are very high quality. After you have the hair extensions toned to match your current hair colour following the steps below I highly recommend taking them with you to your next hair appointment to have your hairdresser blend them with your hair so that they look even more natural. We are going to be creating some more tutorials and videos on how to place your clip in extensions in your hair and how to style them so stay tuned! Blonde Steps: Order the whitest hair extensions you can find and in my case, I ordered the 24-inch White Blonde Human Hair Clip In Extensions in the shade G-613. ** It is really important to purchase real human hair instead of the synthetic or synthetic blend version because the real hair extensions will tone without issues and you can also heat style them. Fill a large bowl about 3/4 full of warm water. Add in 2-3 squirts of the Fanola No Yellow Shampoo into the water and swish the water around with your hand until it is all mixed in and you get the water a purple colour. Add the hair extensions into the bowl and submerge them in the water. Keep an eye on the hair extensions as they turn cool in tone very fast. It took me about 5 minutes of the hair being submerged to get the tone I wanted. Rinse the hair extensions under your tap and then add some conditioner to the ends and then rinse again. Add some hair oil and detangler if needed to the mid-lengths to ends of the hair extensions and gently brush them out. I usually prefer to leave…

Best Beauty Discoveries of 2017

Janna •

Looking back at what an amazing year 2017 was for us and our clients as we did in our year in review blog post here, had us thinking about what were the best beauty discoveries of the year. We decided to pick out the best of the best to share with all of you! Let us know what products made it to the top of your year last year as we are always looking for amazing products to use for our clients! Microneedling at Hemingway Medical Spa – We wrote our praises of our experience trying out Microneedling at Hemingway Medical Spa in Edmonton here and we had to include this service as one of our top discoveries of 2017. If you want to spend money pampering yourself while at the same time actually helping your skin improve then you should check out Microneedling! We found the effects to be long-lasting as the service helped improve our skin texture as well as fine lines. Don’t let the “needle” in the name of the service scare you as it feels more like a little suction cup going over your whole face. Try it out and then thank us in a month on the money well spent for your face health! Puff Me by Design Me – The first ever volumizing hair powder spray in a pump! Gone are the days of pouring too much hair dust powder as the new method of spraying out the powder makes it so much easier to control where the powder is going and you can even spray it into the lengths of your hair to have volumized curls. It is so perfect for all our traveling as it is in powder form and so light so we don’t have to lug around cans of texturizing sprays. Overnight Garden Mask by Pura Botanicals – Ever since picking this mask up at the RAAS opening at West Edmonton Mall my skin has been thanking me! This thick hydrating mask is geared towards those of us with problematic skin that tends to be oily and acne prone. After I wake up from putting on the mask the night before I find my skin to be tightened as well glowing. If you have a dryer skin type we’d recommend trying out the Overnight Mango Mask (antiaging) or the Overnight Watermelon Mask (super hydrating). We also love that this product is…

Alex + Farsai’s Brooklyn Engagement Session

Janna •

Alex and Farsai were in contact with Nicole to schedule a potential couples shoot in New York sometime in the spring of 2018 but little did Farsai know that Alex had been in contact with Nicole to do a surprise proposal of a lifetime! He had worked it out that Nicole and I would fly into New York in time to do a proposal on the rooftop where they had their first date in Brooklyn. He got her friends and their adorable puppy named Pretzel involved in the surprise proposal. The rooftop was decked out in cafe lighting and dozens of candles. Even the imminent threat of rain didn’t stop this romantic surprise that Nicole was able to capture. Of course, she said YES and they went off to celebrate their news with close friends. The next day I did Farsai’s hair and makeup before their engagement session started. Nicole captured their love story starting in their apartment with Pretzel and then we took off on a stroll to their favorite ice cream shop. Their session was highlighted by the beautiful fall colors and the epic New York scenery. We are just so thankful to have amazing clients who fly us out and include us on such momentous occasions. Congratulations to Alex and Farsai and we wish you all the happiness in the world!

Our 2017 in Review

Janna •

2017 brought so many adventures and changes for Behind the Blush and we wanted to take the time to thank each and every client, family member, friend and supporter that we have for helping make our year the best yet!! We got to expand our team to include Caitlyn and Diane and ended up traveling the world! Check out our 2017 year in review below and we cannot wait to see what 2018 holds for us. Our 2017 year started out with some boudoir beauties while working with Nicole Ashley We also started a monthly favorite series to share our product loves with everyone and do reviews on products that really wowed us. Check them out here for January, February, March Our good friend Suzanna asked to come speak at her school’s Career Day and we presented a talk on how we started our small business and followed our dreams to create Behind the Blush. This is selfie we took with Suz right after our talk! We worked with Lululemon again for one of their Ambassador Love shoots for Meg in her studio. Photo by Nicole Ashley Laurence and Oliver tied the knot in February. Photo by Woodland Photography Co In February we did a collaboration with Nicole Ashley to shoot some different beauty looks on the stunning Jaeda from Mode Models. You can check out all of the photos here! In February our good friends Ryan and Kristina welcomed their baby boy Jack into the world and we worked with Nicole Ashley on this newborn session. We’ve expanded to sell hair product on our site! Check out our shop here! The same day that we worked with Jaeda we also filmed a hair tutorial and you can see the full video for that here! In February we did a styled shoot with an amazing team and in May the shoot was featured on Artfully Wed. Check out the full post here! In March we worked with an amazing team of FaBLOOMosity, The Skinny, and Carmen Freemark to create some pastel magic on this kids styled shoot. See more images on our full blog posts here and here. Perhaps the most exciting news of 2017 for us was expanding our duo to a team of four to include Caitlyn and Diane! Photo by Nicole Ashley In April we also worked on this styled shoot that got featured in Green Wedding Shoes. We loved…

Red Rock with Nadja + Rolf

Janna •

It’s been over a month now since we met up with Nadja and Rolf who came from Switzerland to Las Vegas to celebrate their anniversary and to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival. If you’ve been following our social accounts then you know most of the story about how all four of us thankfully survived the deadliest shooting in US history. We don’t want to use this post to expand more on the experience except that our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims and that we hope to meet up with Nadja and Rolf in the future to create some new memories. We wanted to share the beautiful images and behind the scenes of the photo’s that Nicole was able to capture out in Red Rock. To see the full blog post visit Nicole Ashley’s site here.

January Favorites – Featuring Davines, Marc Jacobs and Nars

Janna •

We know we haven’t done any product reviews recently, so for 2017 we decided to make a goal of reviewing several products each month in monthly round up. Here are the products we’ve been loving this month! Davines Oi All in One Milk – The Davines Oi line has to be an all time favorite hair line from Davines. The Oi line consists of a shampoo, conditioner, oil, and the milk: a leave in conditioning spray that will change your life AND is perfect for any hair type, so we all win! This spray has to be one of the best leave in conditioners and detanglers on the market. Pros: detangles, it can be used on wet or dry hair, heat protecting, moisturizing and conditioning, also adds softness and a silky shine. This product is both Stef and Janna approved as we both use it and it’s even used on Stefanie’s two little girls to help comb through any unruly tangles. Bonus: Stef sells this wonder product at her salon! (Review by Stef) Marc Jacobs Beauty Le Marc Liquid Lip Creme – If you have been living under a rock you may not have noticed that the liquid lipstick tread has taken over the beauty industry with every brand from high end to drug store having a variation on the product. That’s why we wanted to do reviews of products to introduce people to new trends or products out there! Some liquid lipsticks are super drying on the lips (for example the Kat Von D ones) and require a lot of prep to make them look good. Marc Jacobs Beauty changed the game with their recent release of their Liquid Lip Creme. It goes on with more of a satin finish that eventually dries down but it doesn’t feel tight or drying on the lips at all. I bought the shade Slow Burn and have been wearing it almost daily. I would recommend this product for someone wanting to dip their toes in the liquid lipstick trend but want their lips to feel hydrated throughout the day. (review by Janna) Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer – I was always a fan of the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer so when I saw that Nars was going to release a new pot concealer to the family I knew I had to try it. I love the color selection of the Nars concealers as they…

Our 2016 in Review

Janna •

With the beginning of a new year we decided to start it off with a fresh new website! We don’t want to forget about 2016 so lets look back at a year of changes and adventures for us. Stefanie moved into her new house and built her in-home salon (she also just announced new full time hours and that she is taking on new clients!). We loved working with each and every client we had this year and getting to be a part of their big days. From engagement sessions, maternity sessions, elopements, weddings and styled shoots we could not have asked for more amazing clients to take us on their journey. We are so looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us!! What better way to celebrate the beginning of a new year than to look back on what made 2016 so special for us. Thank you to everyone who has supported us, our families, friends and clients have made 2016 an incredible year! We had no shortage of magical winter weddings this year and we loved how each bride styled their wedding for the winter season. This was our first wedding of the season! Makeup & Hair: Stefanie Carlson | Hair: Caitlyn Steinbrenner | Photography: Erin Walker Photography | Florals: Tickled Floral Makeup: Janna Huget | Photography: Tricia Victoria Photography | Florals: faBLOOMosity Hair: Stefanie Carlson | Makeup: Kristina Susnjara | Photography: Nicole Ashley Photography Who doesn’t love a Valentines Day wedding?? Hair and Makeup: Stefanie Carlson | Photography: Tulle and Tweed Photography We hosted our first Makeup Class of 2016 at the brand new faBLOOMosity location Lake Louise! Hair: Stefanie Carlson | Makeup: Janna Huget | Photography: Nicole Ashley Photography Here are some behind the scene photos from our trip to Lake Louise for their wedding Winter engagement session shot by Nicole Ashley. Hair and Makeup: Stefanie Carlson We sponsored Jada Hong for her Miss Universe competition by doing her hair and makeup for her photos for the Miss Universe website. Hair: Stefanie Carlson | Makeup: Janna Huget | Photography: ENV Photography Stef did Rachel’s hair and makeup for her amazing portrait session with Ampersand Grey We worked with an amazing team on this styled shoot called Love her but Keep her Wild. Check out the full shoot and credits here. Stefanie worked with Alyssa Lau on transforming her hair to the most amazing yellow color which she blogged…