This past year I find many of my favorite memories seem to include a particular group of artists, over and over again. This group of artists are talented, passionate, giving, knowledgeable, inspiring, and has etched a huge name in the forefront of the makeup industry. They are known as The Powder Group and they are headed up by founder Michael DeVellis with phenomenal talent James Vincent, right by his side. I am proud to once again be highlighted as a presenter for them at The LA Makeup Show February 28th and March 1st!

The Makeup Show LA

We invite you to join us for 2 days of fun in warm and sunny Los Angeles while networking, getting in advanced makeup education and taking in some outstanding “show specials” and deals from your favorite cosmetic lines and industry companies!

You can find me manning the WebPhotoMaster booth, both days, in between my presentations. This company is responsible for my personal portfolio website: KathyAragon.com. I will be their with artists Teena Hoffstetter and Heather Wilson, two other satisfied WebPhotoMaster clients helping to answer any questions and we can also take signups right on the spot! We will be holding a drawing to receive your own FREE self hosted online portfolio for an ENTIRE YEAR! Make sure to come by the booth to sign up and to take advantage of our “Show Only” specials too.

Sorry about the urgency folks. I have been so busy lately and haven’t been able to do a proper post but definitely plan on putting up some things as I’m getting ready to be snowed in for the next few days.  I had to come out of temporary hiding though to announce one of my “Kat’s Kit” spotlight products is on sale on HauteLook.com right now – for the next 71 hours!

I took a quick peek and they absolutely have my raved about SkinPrep FX at 40% off. They also have other amazing products ready to snatch up and an amazing sale price.  If you want to know what all my fuss is about,  check out my spotlight post on their product here.

Also, if you are not a member of HauteLook feel free to use my invite by clicking here.

Sign up is free. Happy Shopping!

Have you ever dreamed about interviewing the stars on the Red Carpet? Smashbox Cosmetics and Elle Magazine give you the chance to do just that! Just follow this link to submit your video and I look forward to seeing you in Hollywood!

Enter the Elle and Smashbox Cosmetics Contest here!

Tags: Corresondent contest, Elle Magazine, Hollywood, smashbox

I thank each and every one of you for entering the UNII Cosmetic Palette Giveaway through this post here.

The winner is, ELISA, comment #5 chosen by Random.org!

Congrats Elisa and email me at kathy@kathyaragon.com with you address and choice of color and we will get that off to you right away. (You can find the colors here)

Enjoy and I look forward to bringing everyone another giveaway very shortly!

For a long time now it has been common practice for freelance makeup artists to consolidate their makeup kits for no other reason than to lighten the load they have to lug around and to have everything as neat and organized as possible.

Those cute packages that may draw our eye to a particular product  may look harmless, but many of them grouped together give off some considerable weight, and ounces can seem like pounds when hauling a makeup kit. This is where magnetic palettes come in. There have been a number of palettes put on the market geared towards makeup artists that serve the purpose but skimp on the style department, but now UNII Cosmetics have come out with their own fun version for consumers and artists alike.

UNII Palette in Twilight

Is that an empty palette you ask? Why yes, it is! Not only is it empty, but it is magnetic, and it’s purpose is to cling on to the metal pans that lie within those pretty packages. This method is known as “depotting”. The metal pans that contain the makeup have a glue backing which adheres the product to the outer casing. Using techniques to warm up that glue loosen the pan, and voilà, the pan pops out and can then be stored onto a magnetic palette! The amount of product you can store in one palette depends on the size of the pan and palette itself, but there is no question…palettes are a great for consolidating your many products into one slim, easy to carry case.

Eve Pearl Magic Salmon Concealer Wheel

Ok, admit it, how many of you knew I would be posting about this particular product any day now? Many people that know my artistry in any way know that I am a “Salmon Concealer-a-holic” but it’s with good reason! For those of you not in the know about this dream product yet, let me have the honor of introducing you to one of my “Kat’s Kit” specialty items:
Eve Pearl’s Magic Salmon Concealer.

I first learned of salmon concealer when sitting in a workshop at the International Beauty Show years ago, before getting into freelance makeup full time. As the esthetician of my family’s spa, I was in gear to pick up some extra makeup education during my trip to the show. I sat in on an incredibly in depth and inspiring makeup class and it wasn’t until after I became a fan of the presenter that I realized she was 5 time Emmy Award winning makeup artist Eve Pearl herself. I would go to see her present every year and was amazed at all the new tricks I would learn each time I went. I also became very impressed with this special Salmon Concealer she talked about during the demo that just seemed to whisk away darkness under the eyes.  Every year I would vow to buy the salmon concealer by the end of the show day and every single year I would get back to her table to find the concealer was GONE. Snatched up. Sold out before I was able to get my own hands on some!

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a fantastic up and coming designer named Marti’ who has a knack for making classic fitted pieces for her self named collection. A good photographer friend, Josh Marks, had asked me to join him in shooting for her first look book along with another friend and model of ours Missy, of Q Models.

Marti’s pieces are meant to be classic, yet simple and sexy so we wanted Missy’s look to stand out a bit more in terms of hair and makeup. I opted to give Missy’s hair a mass of curls which form was almost bell like. We kept her eyes dark and simple with a winged liner, and used OCC Lip Tar in “Safety Orange” for the extra pop that this beautiful red head could pull off!

When I talked to Marti’ at our second shoot together yesterday, I found out the first look book was a success and the line is stirring up business while Missy’s look has become a signature one for the company. Here is a sample of some of the looks we did that day and to see all of the photos we did for the current season click here.

Copyright Josh Marks

Copyright Josh Marks

Yesterday we did another photo shoot to showcase many amazing new pieces Marti’ has added to her collection including leggings, draped skirts, and stunning dresses. At the end we decided to play a bit with the makeup and take out those oh so perfect curls to give Missy a more colorful statement.

Happy 2010 Everyone !!!!

I hope everyone is settled down from the Holidays and just as pumped as I am to start a whole new chapter for 2010! I have been busy so far in making some necessary changes and am ringing in the new year with a clean, uncluttered face lift to MakeupisArt.com. Trust me when I say I have already resolved to blogging on a regular schedule and have so many things up my sleeve I can not wait for you to see! I have a great feeling about this year and things have already been put in motion to make me feel that way.

Recently, our photography/makeup studio that we started a few years ago called Studio 400 had to close it’s doors suddenly at the end of  last year when our landlord we were subleasing from decided not to continue his lease. I searched diligently and came across another space in the same Lorton area the was twice the size of our last place, and was not a shared space. We asked more amazing talent to come on board and Studio 400 has opened again and has already been in action every day of the new year!