I pride myself in keeping my blog personal to my experiences and to reviews of things I have tried and come to love. I try not to report on a brand new product or company that is out unless I’ve tried it myself to give you my honest opinion on it. So, in having adapted this philosophy, it doesn’t surprise me when big news slips through my radar, but I am finding that news worth reporting somehow brings itself right into my face, such as with star stylist Ted Gibson!
During Inauguration Pre-ceremonies I had the pleasure to do makeup for Amy Brenneman, the beautiful actress from the show Private Practice. I came a bit early, chit chatted with her amazingly talented husband about how things have been in D.C. thus far while setting up and waiting for Amy to arrive. A few minutes later Amy came in with a hairstylist followed by two videographers. I figured she was going to be doing an interview of some sorts while getting ready. It turns out the two men were actually following the hairstylist, who introduced himself to me as Ted Gibson. The two men had been collecting footage of the events he was doing including an earlier shoot he had with Ted and Caroline Kennedy for Vanity Fair.
Posted in Industry News
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Tagged Amy Brenneman, celebrity hair, Chevy Chase MD, Hela spa. Washington DC, Inaugural Ball, Inaugural Hair, Kathy Aragon, makeup artist, Private Practice, Ted Gibson, Ted Gibson hair, Ted Gibson Salon
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On my most recent cover shoot for DC Modern Luxury Magazine, we decided a Brigitte Bardot-esque look for someone attending an upcoming Inauguration Ball would work perfectly with the stunning J. Mendel gown she was wearing. I immediately thought that Makeup Forever Cosmetics would fit the bill and the Ball! I wanted to give the skin a flawless look without too much shine while putting all the focus on the eyes.
DC Modern Luxury Cover/ "After Dark" Inaugurla issue. Makeup by me. Photo by Sota Dzine.
Here are the particular products I used for the shoot and how I used them:
I first used Makeup Forever’s HD Invisible Cover Foundation (in shade 115- Ivory) spot touched where needed. Mostly around the nose, under the eyes, and on the cheeks and around mouth. There are dozens of shades to pick from so there is a great chance one will match you exactly.
I then used Makeup Forever’s HD Microfinish Powder just in the T-Zone and only when needed.
Makeup Forever’s Powder Blush in Pearly Peach #153 went on the apples of cheeks.
Makeup Forever’s Eyeshadow in Black Matte was applied over entire lid, extending slightly past eye and blended out to create an almost oval “V’ like shape on the outer corner. I went ahead and brought down some of the shadow to the outer corner of the lower lash line. Blend like the dickens!
Natalie's NYFW S/S09 Showcard I did makeup/hair for.
It’s not that often you get to witness a friend’s career go skyrocketing to the moon within a few short years, but for Natalie Hockey, that is exactly what has happened. Natalie is a 16 year old model from Maryland who I met when she was 13 and just starting out in the modeling world. Her fresh and innocent look, perfect model stats, and polite demeanor definitely made her stand out in castings and made her an instant hit on the home turf jobs. It wasn’t long before Natalie was being represented in New York and traveling back and forth between castings, school, jobs, and events.
Cut to a few short years later and Natalie is now signed with one of the most profound top model agencies, IMG, and it’s hard to not notice her! She walked for NYFW S/S09 and got picked up by many designers to walk for their collection including Zac Posen and Rodarte! I even had the opportunity to bump into her backstage at the Cho Cheng show she modeled for that I worked on under makeup artist Lottie S. Her streak continued on as she was whisked away to Milan and then Paris Fashion Week directly after her first New York debut with IMG. On that whirlwind tour she got picked up to walk for many of the greats such as D&G ,Dolce and Gabanna, and Miu Miu, just to name a few!
CVS Essence of Beauty Wedges/ cvs.com
I wanted to thank each and every one of you who participated in my poll on the very first post. It has definitely shown me what you look for in this blog and I will try my best to deliver. With that being said, if it’s products you want to know about, it’s products you are going to get! Let me do you one better. I’ll start right in by recommending some of the cheapest items in my kit that don’t lack in the quality department, whatsoever. If that sounds good, let’s get started!
This first item was something I hadn’t originally planned to talk about right away since it is admittedly random but I ran into some funny odds yesterday during the Cabinet shoot and took it as a sign to confess my undying love for CVS’s Essence of Beauty Wedges.
As I was making up a lovely Cabinet member yesterday I was applying some foundation and blending it down with my favorite Essence of Beauty Wedges. She commented on how she liked the sponges and asked what kind they were as I didn’t have the bag out that showed the name. I told her “Believe it or not I only used CVS’s Essence of Beauty brand and have never been able to find a brand that compared to it in quality. I can be at a beauty supply store and decide not to buy sponges there and I’ll go ahead and make the extra run to CVS. I even pass up bulk prices for these things.”
I can’t stress enough how exciting a time it is to work in the Washington D.C. area! Sure it’s exciting in terms of the amazing and influential people one gets to meet throughout their time working here, but it’s also exciting in terms of not knowing what is on the schedule from one minute to the other. Those elements combined with random Presidential motorcades , having constant background checks to do makeup/hair on someone,and the obvious historical landmarks surrounding the entire area – one can’t help but be reminded just how amazing this city is.
Yesterday I had a scheduled photoshoot for a national publication that I have worked with a few time in the past. The topic of the photoshoot? The Women of Obama’s Cabinet. This shoot was very hard to pull off as President Elect Obama was actually in DC for the first time to have meetings with some of them on economic and domestic issues. Well, it what hard for that reason as well as the fact that they are major players in the Obama administration and definitely have their plates and schedules FULL.
I was assigned to go early to do makeup for a couple of the women involved in the photoshoot at a different location. They would be in the meeting with The President Elect right up until the time the photo would to be taken, not allowing them time to get ready on set. I went over to the address I was given thinking I may be heading to their house or apartment. Approaching the building I got stopped by security asking if I was looking to enter. If not I would have to go across the street. At this point, I realize I’m not at an apartment complex. 
From there it was X- Rays and Gates and Badges..Oh My!
When I started doing makeup full time, right around my “mia” makeup is art days, I looked to the internet to find many inspirations. I didn’t have to travel far to find one of my immediate favorites , Alex Abagiu.
I first ran into Alex more than four years ago on a popular pro makeup artist forum called “EmElle’s” that I frequented. I was so in awe of his work but even more in awe that someone with his talent and credibility gave back so willingly to the makeup community. The preciseness, cleanliness, and creativity of his work still comes through in every face he touches.
Elle/ Photo: Steven Eskey
Alex seemed to dissapear from the scene for a while and his website and his beautiful gallery of work went with him. I was devasted! I wrote EmElle and asked her about him and she reported back with a note she got from Alex mentioning he had been busy with his new role as one of L’Oreal’s lead artists in Romania!
When thinking of the first person to spotlight for this blog there wasn’t a more obvious choice than Alex. He was my original inspiration in the makeup field and years later his work has stood the test of time. His website is now back up with a fresh body of work and it’s just as immaculate as ever. Alexandru Abagiu shows that Makeup is indeed Art.
More of Alex’s work can be found at : Alexandru Abagiu
Welcome to my new baby of 2009!
My name is Kathy Aragon, or Kat for short, and I am a professional makeup artist and hairstylist in and around the DC Metropolitan area up to NY. My work ranges from doing hair/makeup for CNN and high society events to doing commercial and fashion editiorials for popular national magazines.
I started my relationship with the name “Makeup Is Art” after my first little girl, Mia, was born. She was an inspiration to me and when my family and I developed our makeup line we named it after her- “mia” makeup is art. After working on the line for a while I realized my passion started shifting from marketing with doing occasional makeup to wanting to be the creative artist behind the products I believed in. I didn’t want to go the route of using stock pictures for marketing as it didn’t feel genuine to me. I wanted to take the reign and start doing the photoshoots on my own. That is when the makeup bug hit me big time.
The instant gratification I got from creating something beautiful all the while lifting someone else’s spirits was addicting. After the bug hit, I realized I couldn’t do both sides of the job wholeheartedly. My heart just wasn’t in the paperwork anymore. That was when I decided to become a full time freelance makeup artist and retired the “mia” makeup is art line.
http://www.elevateartists.com
http://www.themakeupshow.com
http://www.kathyaragon.com
http://www.luisaragon.com