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.

I will also be teaching two Hands on Workshops at this year’s Makeup Show LA,  “Camera Ready Makeup” and now “Red Carpet Beauty” as well.

Red Carpet Beauty: Kathy Aragon
Sunday, Feb 28 – 10:00am – 12:30pm – Studio 1
Whether your work is with celebrities for award ceremonies or real women red carpet beauty will help you better understand and execute special event makeup.  Watch as Kathy reveals the secrets to long lasting makeup that will be flawless in photographs, video and in person and develop your own style for an award winning face.

Camera Ready Makeup: Kathy Aragon
Monday, March 1 – 2:15pm – 4:45pm – Studio 3
This event is designed to help you better understand the details that make a makeup camera ready. Kathy will take you through the techniques required to transform a makeup for photography and develop your editorial eye.  Learn the product and tools that can be used and share her personal procedures as well as explore the precision required for photographic applications.

and here are more details about all of the Hands on Workshops (different for Master Workshops):

Details
• Event Fee $125 per workshop
• Workshops are 2.5 hours
• Space is limited, first come first serve basis
• Participants will work on each other as models for all other workshops
• Models are available for an additional model fee if requested
• Makeup supplies provided
• Airbrush equipment provided
• Attendees should bring their own brushes
• Maximum 20 participants per event

To Register for the Workshops classes please email info@themakeupshow.com, make sure to list your full contact info as well as the class you are interested in. You will get a respond from us in 24 hours with the information regarding the class.

*presenters, topics and schedules subject to change.***************

So please act now while seats are almost filled up!

I really and truly look forward to meeting so many of you as well as giving great big hugs to old friends. Definitely make sure to come by and say “Hi!” at the WebPhotoMaster booth and hope to see you at the “Camera Ready Makeup” and “Red Carpet Beauty” workshops as well!

P.S. Feel free to add me on Twitter to follow all my LA Makeup Show updates and more: KatAragon

Tags: beauty education, california market center, camera ready makeup, James Vincent, Kathy Aragon, LA makeup show, makeup workshop, Michael DeVellis, red carpet makeup, the makeup show, webphotomaster

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.

Behind-the-scenes snapshot

Marti’s new collection will be online soon and I will make sure to make a follow up post on the new looks and her updated site as soon as they are up! I look forward to many more shoots with Marti’, Missy, Josh, and friends in the near future.

Update: Josh has let me have a little sneak peek of one of yesterday’s fun shots. Enjoy!

Photo by Josh Marks; Hair and Makeup by Kathy Aragon

Tags: Featured, Hair and Makeup, josh marks, Kathy Aragon, look book, marti company, missy purvis, occ lip tar

Lots has happened since my last string of posts on my beloved blog, so I have a lot of catching you up to do! One great opportunity my husband, Luis Aragon, and I had was to do a beauty lip story for The Powder Group’s “On Makeup Magazine”.  Here is a behind the scenes look at what went down at Studio 400 in Washington D.C. for this shoot.

On Makeup Magazine Behind the Scenes from Kat Aragon on Vimeo.

Tags: "How-to" Makeup, beauty, Kathy Aragon, lips, luis aragon, on makeup magazine

I have been so far behind in posting but I definitely did want to get my readers what was promised and put up footage and photos. In this case I felt  pictures speak louder than words! Join me in a look at the backstage fun at ChoCheng @ Bryant Park for his A/W ‘09 showing.

Key Makeup Artist, Lottie, created a look of neutral toned shadows with doll pink cheeks, beautiful skin and lush lashes. It  is one that I have already adopted since the show and used on many different types of girls and I swear it looks good on every single person I try it on, including myself! 

The makeup team was sponsored by Face Atelier.

I hope you enjoy!

Tags: "How-to" Makeup, Bryant Park, ChoCheng, hair, Inside the tents, Kathy Aragon, lottie, New York Fashion Week, NYFW

I had the pleasure of working with Gretchen Mol this week for the Washington D.C. Premiere of her new movie “An American Affair” out tomorrow, the 27th of February.

Gretchen is a classic beauty that has a look reminiscent of the iconic roles she tends to play. She was Bettie Page in HBO’s “The Notorious Bettie Page”  and you may recognize her past role as Roxie Hart in Broadway’s “Chicago”. In her new movie she plays a character (a mistress possibly?) that has a relation to JFK in the time leading up to his assassination.

Regardless of the complex characters Gretchen tends to play, Gretchen herself is an amazingly down to earth, talented and beautiful actress as well as proud mother.

For her movie premiere I decided to add some waves into Gretchen’s naturally fine and curly hair. I included her input in the whole process and together we decided on a hair and makeup look that would set the right tone for the evening and would work with her classic Jason Wu dress, whom you may know as the designer of Michelle Obama’s Inaugural Ball gown.

I set her hair in medium sized pin curls while doing her makeup and when we released and lightly finger combed through the curls a form started to take place. I kept more of the formed curls in the front, left the hair pretty loose and carefree on the sides and pinned any extra length up in the back, allowing some of the hair to fall naturally out of the pins.

Hair and Makeup by Kathy Aragon for Gretchen Mol / Image courtesy of WireImage

For Gretchen’s makeup we did a soft neutral shadow with a black wing tipped liner. Her face was given a glow with a slight mix of Face Atelier’s Ultra Foundation mixed with a dab of Face Atelier’s Ultra Sheer foundation. I added a little smudged color under the eye, highlighted the cheekbones and opted for a soft pink over the cheek as she didn’t want to look too dramatic for this event. The lips were just a light sheer pink gloss over her natural rosy pigmented lips (lucky Gretchen!).

Hair and Makeup by Kathy Aragon for Gretchen Mol / Image courtesy of WireImage

I had a great time working with Gretchen and I wish her the best of luck with everything she does! I look forward to seeing more of her work and maybe, one day, we will get to see her in more iconic rolls. Let’s talk Marilyn Monroe!

Here is a video of the Movie Premiere After Party held by Washington Life Magazine.

WLTV World Premiere Screening “An American Affair” from Washington Life Magazine on Vimeo.

Tags: An American Affair, celebrity hair, celebrity makeup, DC Premiere, gretchen mol, hairstylist, Kathy Aragon, makeup artist, red carpet, the notorious bettie page

While in the process of putting a few random photos and videos up for friends to see and I figured my “Makeup is Art” readers were considered friends as well, right? I mean, in the past 3 1/2 weeks you have seen this blog from it’s first post ever to over 360+ dedicated subscribers, not to mention over 1,000’s of individual views, not a small feat being that my last blog had all of 13 loyal and awesome readers!

So for that, I thank you and consider you a friend!  Now that we are best of pals, I have decided to bring you some photos and very informal behind-the-scenes videos of the last shoot I did with my husband, photographer Luis Aragon this past weekend. This shoot was  for a handful of Elite’s NY runway girls.  NYC F/W09 Fashion Week is right around the corner so the girls  are getting their books geared up for those designer castings. We wish them the best of luck!

On another note, I am always in love with the wonderful clothes stylist David Widjaja  pulls for us on these shoots, including the infamous green Louis Vuitton dress Madonna is wearing on the front of Louis Vuitton’s website as we speak. Let’s see how fashion savvy my readers are. Let me know if you recognize anything. I know I had to be told 1/2 the time who designed what, but I’m getting there!

Photos by Luis Aragon
Hair/makeup by me: Kathy Aragon
Stylist: David Widjaja

Katrina Hunter/Elite by Luis Aragon

Jordan w/Elite by Luis Aragon

 

We stuck with a very natural makeup palette and hair look with just a pop of color on the lips or blush on some sets. The models, the legs, and the clothes, were the main focus so I wanted to keep thing fairly simple as to not compete with the overall look. I can not wait until Fashion Week rolls around and I will definitely put up more photos once the finals have been chosen.

Oh and one more video so I can feel like this post is more makeup/hair related…here is what my hair/makeup kit looks like when it spontaneously combusts by the last shot of the day, which ironically is of Angela Martini. The “Martini Shot” is an old Hollywood term used to describe, you guessed it, the last shot set up of the day!

P.S. If the videos aren’t showing up in the Feed Readers, I’m sorry. Just click on the title to head to my actual site. I just noticed it as I was checking through the other pages I follow. My bad!

Tags: "How-to" Makeup, david widjaja, elite models, Elite NY, fashion week, hair, Kathy Aragon, Louis Vuitton, luis aragon, nyc

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.

When first meeting Ted I instantly loved how polite and sweet he was and how easy it was to work with him. He completely worked around me and what I needed even after I was insisted that he be comfortable and in good spot  for him to work in. It was such a nice experience that I didn’t even mind the two video cameras taping me do makeup while he was doing hair. I truly had no ideal what a big star he was until his story started to unfold about his salon in NY and the new one he just opened in DC. When I asked him about the beautiful pink and brown boxed product  in front of him he proceeded to take out a few “Styling Hair Sheets”  wrapped in a shiny silver foil, embedded design, and his name on the front. He told me I could get his line at Target now and gave me some hair towelettes to try out in the future. Upon talking more about what they did and how I could use them for my own fine hair he then decided that his “Building Spray”  would work great for me followed by a blowdry and/or hot rollers and gave me a bottle of it to take home with me.  

He held himself in such a great manor and complimented everyone throughout the time we were there. It’s no wonder celebrities and his client’s alike  fall in love with him even before seeing the final result of the guaranteed gorgeous style!  Ted proceeded to give Amy an elegant hairstyle with a slightly off centered part with hair that swooped down both sides before cascading curls began to fall.

He told me he had just opened his new salon in the Washington D.C. metro area called Ted Gibson Salon & Hela Spa. It has already been visited by great celebrity names on the first day, like Anne Hathaway and Tatiana Ali.  He also told me how it sat atop of a Louis Vuitton store at The Collection in Chevy Chase, MD., only minutes away from downtown D.C. How much more fabulous can  you get?

Already, not even a week since we worked together I have heard Ted’s praises being sang repeatedly. While working on a model for Elite in NY yesterday I started taking out the Styling Sheets to use on her. When she saw them she shouted out and proclaimed “Ted Gibson! I love him! I just worked with him on an InStyle magazine shoot!”. It’s obvious you don’t have to be around him long to become completely smitten with the man, his talent, and with the fact he is living his dream out loud. I look forward to visiting his salon, trying out all of his haircare line at some point, and costaring with him on some random footage floating out there of us working together!

You can find Ted Gibson Salon & Hela Spa at  The Collection in Chevy Chase 5481 Wisconsin Avenue, Level 2 Chevy Chase, MD 20815 Contact: 301.951.4445

You can also find his complete haircare line at Target stores nationwide: Ted Gibson at Target as well as other select products at Sephora.

Tags: 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

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.

I decided to continue with more education and did every workshop and class I came across, but most importantly,  I just kept at makeup for years. It wasn’t hard to do because I loved doing it so much. A lot of what I learned to date has been learned through trial and error. I still learn so much on a regular basis from peer artists and even from the everyday woman who shares my love for finding that perfect (for now) product, look, or technique.

It has now been 9 years to the date of when I picked up my first set of makeup brushes and almost 6 years to the date that my line  “mia” makeup is art was created.

Cut to January 2009, where the electricity in the air is apparent in the Washington D.C. area. The feeling that there is an exciting new chapter around the corner is apparent. A new sense of passion seems to swell from the hearts around me.  My original passion in the makeup field got fueled by my “mia” makeup is art line and my passion now continues to be the makeup and hair work I am blessed to do on a full time basis. I now want to bring those two worlds together in some shape or form and that form seems to be taking place as this blog. I, too, am inspired to start a new chapter and am hoping this blog will be a good way to give back what I have learned through my endeavors.

My posts will be honest and about things I firmly believe in or am inspired by. That I can vouch for as it’s the least I can give to anyone putting time into reading this. I do, however, ask a favor of you.  Before my blog starts full speed ahead, I would love to get some feedback as to what type of topics you really look for in a beauty blog. I am open to all ideals and am confident that this blog will find it’s own footing fairly quickly.

I look forward to our time together!

xoxo,

Kat

Tags: beauty blog, hair stylist, Inspiration- "Makeup Is Art", Kathy Aragon, makeup artist, makeup blog