Professional Make Up by Katy Messer
You know when a wedding you’re working on is going to be shot by Julia Boggio it’s likely going to be incredible.
Even better when you meet the bride and she is a beautiful, petite angelic faced lady whose make-up style is right up your street!
Then, the e-mail comes that says You and Your Wedding want to feature it as their Bridal Beauty of the issue. Big smiles all round.
Katy x
This lovely bride Gayle was put in touch with me through her photographer Anna-Marie Stepney. We met in Spring and did her trial in her North London home. Gayle wanted a smoky eye look that wasn’t too heavy. Also a nice clean defined brow which is something I love to do anyway.
The make-up on the day was done on a super tight time schedule, what with the bride and all 3 bridesmaids having their hair done at a local salon. They had to come back in shifts, Gayle being last!
Each bridesmaid had totally different colouring so the makeup was tweaked to suit as and where needed but with a similarity in the style to tie it all together.
Katy x
I was approached by the lovely Amanda Ardley of Ardley Weddings in the summer of 2011 to discuss make-up with her client, the lovely Szilvia.
We met up a month or so later for a trial, Szilvia very certain that she wanted a barely there make-up look. We discussed how to achieve this whilst still having the required definition and enough colour to not leave her washed out and we came to a look that was beautiful, albeit a lot softer than I had recommended. But my main aim is ALWAYS to ensure the bride is happy, and she was.
On my arrival to the hotel room in November, Szilvia informs me that she has thought about it and with a bit of persuasion from her bridesmaids she wants to go a little stronger on the eyes. Cut to half way through the make-up and she asks me to actually do what I think is right. I love the trust that Brides put in me, even when it is at the very last minute!
As it happens, Szilvia was totally thrilled with it and I’m so glad. She looked beautiful.
The Bridesmaids were in a deep crimson shade so their make-up was a smoky eye in shades that worked with their colouring. I brought my make-up artist friend Helen Kalli with me to help me out as this was only 3 weeks after I’d had my c-section and I wasn’t at my strongest!
The lovely Fiona Kelly was the photographer for the day and has captured the getting ready stage wonderfully. I hope you enjoy.
Thanks for reading
Katy x
This was one of my last weddings before my maternity leave. I was due just over 1 month after this date so on the morning of the wedding I elegantly waddled in to this incredible venue, my husband in tow carrying all the heavy stuff, looking forward to seeing the lovely bride to be, Kate.
Upon my arrival I stumbled across the lively and excited groom Richard who was organising people in the foyer.
Richard is otherwise knows as FX Films and is superbly talented. A lovely couple, so well suited. There photos are by Lime Leaf Weddings
I love this make-up look and I am really happy that we got to see some shots of the make-up later in the day after the wedding breakfast. It just goes to show the longevity you get having it done professionally.
Thanks for reading. Please do leave a comment, my brides do check it and I’d love for Kate to see some loveliness
xxx
Just a quick post to show you some of the recent press coverage that I’ve had.
First up is a Carnival Shoot that was featured in the prestigious Wedding Magazine and was shot on Brighton Pier. This was a really fun shoot, exhausting as it was hot and we were up and down the pier like yo-yo’s but as always, totally worth it to be featured like this!
Secondly, a front cover! This is a shot from the Tantrums and Tiaras shoot last year and is one of my favourite shoots, shots and model.
Lastly, pop on over to the highly regarded make-up blog Make-up Advice Forum to see some advice I gave on how to rock the Gold shades here. Leave a comment if you want to add anything or ask any questions.
Until next time
Katy x
Camilla contacted me almost a year in advance of her wedding and we arranged a trial almost straight away. I loved the look we created for her, not too bridal, in fact quite defined and sexy!
The original job grew from being only Camilla and one other to eventually the whole family as one by one they all saw what they liked and booked their own trial.
Being a traditional Jewish wedding, Camilla would have spent the first part of the service with a veil over her face, so I gave the eyes that little extra intensity so that they still stayed clear and defined. I used approx. 10 individual Ardell lashes in short and medium on each eye.
Thanks for reading
Katy xx
This is the second instalment from the Brett Harkness Flash Workshop.
I worked on top of the look I did on her previously, which you can see in this post here.
This is where the wonders of photography really become apparent. It makes me wish I’d paid more attention during my Photography AS level classes! My concentration back then was horrendous, I’m pretty sure it had something to do with boys!
The look is exactly the same all the way through, a really exaggerated smokey winged look. See how different it can look with various edits and lighting?!
I wanted to make it a little more edgy and editorial rather than too ‘glamour’, so I cut into the inner nose line a little and swept the shadow and liner quite low. Again, the cheekbones were contoured, a little stronger than before, with no colour on the actual cheeks themselves.
I wanted to add a bit of colour to the lips instead of the usual nude lip that accompanies a strong eye, so I pressed a couple of layers of a rusty/bricky brown shade in and blotted any shine off.
Strip lashes by Ardell were placed on top of the natural lashes and an extra coat of mascara added to increase volume and definition. Brows were groomed, but not overly so.
I hope you like these!
Thanks for reading. Next up will be the looks from the second model at the same workshop.
Until then
Katy x
This is another Brett Harkness workshop I worked on. I have 3-4 different looks that I created within this day so I’m going to split up the posts, otherwise they end up too picture heavy and I want to focus on the individual looks.
This was the first look of the day – I was given pretty much free reign and decided on a nice sharp, dramatic flick. The model Kara has fantastically symmetrical features which always makes it easier to wing. And does she know how to give good face? Hell yes.
Product breakdown:
Face- Face atelier Ultra Foundation, Porcelain mixed with Zero Minus, Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage SC1, Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch 1 under the eyes. Set with Laura Mercier Trans Loose Powder.
Eyes- Yaby Brow Powder over Laura Mercier Brow Pencil, Kryolan Cake Liner between lashes, Clinique Gel Liner for flick, Laura Mercier Whiskey eyeshadow to contour (also used to contour the cheeks).
Lips – Model Co Nude Illusion Lip Pencil all over with a layer of blotted lipbalm on top.
Now I get asked all the time how to create the perfect winged liner so I’m going to cheat and let the fabulous Kenneth Soh tell you! He’s already covered this perfectly in his blogpost, check it out here.
More look from this shoot to come!
Thanks for reading
Katy x
I was asked back recently to provide the make-up on another Brett Harkness photography workshop. This one was Wedding Photography and was set in the beautiful venue Fanhams Hall Hotel in Ware, Hertfordshire. In fact, it is the same venue that I posted about recently, the wedding of my very good friend Caroline.
The model just had ‘one of those faces’ i.e. an absolute dream. I was asked to give her a slightly heavier than usual bridal look, so as to allow it to show up in the photographs. This is something I’m always aware of in my work, be it bridal photography, as in a model, or a real life bride. I strive to give enough definition to ensure the features are not lost but never sacrifice a good real, soft skin for a heavy base. The model Katie had great skin anyway so to cover it in heavy slap would be a sin!
I enhanced the eyes with a generous application of Ardell Individual lashes in a mixture of short and Medium.
These images are just superb and a huge testament to the immense talent that is Brett Harkness. I hope you enjoy!
To see another example of Brett’s work, check out this post here of a beautiful wedding in the Cotswolds, the gorgeous Jennie.
Thanks for reading
Katy x
The lovely Fiona contacted me back in November last year. We had quite a schedule to fit the trials into what with University courses and family visits from overseas but eventually, we met and it was so easy to create a look for her, she is really very beautiful already. With her wonderful skin tone and great features, I was even more conscious than usual to simply enhance and not over do it.
Fiona’s 2 sisters were her bridesmaids and all 3 of them had a family resemblance but quite differing skin tones. in order to correct any pigmentation or slightly grey undertones, I used the Face Atelier range of Ultra Foundations and their ‘Warmth’, a very lightweight colour corrector.
I kept all 3 make-ups very similar, only tweaking a shade here and there. To keep the shades very skin toned, I used lips and cheek products from the Une Beauty range. Their cream blushers and lip toned lip colours are superb for creating colour and warmth for all skin tones. Fiona’s eyes were finished off with 8 individual Ardell lashes on each eye, just enough to subtly fill out her lash line.
The venue was gorgeous and we were getting ready in one of the small cottages on site. However, this was tricky as there were hardly any windows so it was really dark! We were practically sat hanging out the front door. However, I’d rather do that than work in artificial light.
What a family eh?!
All photos taken by Leela Bennett, a fellow preggy, hence the bump shot.
I hope you enjoyed.
Katy x
