Fall Back

Howdy Folks-

It's been a while since my last blog I know.   It took me a few months to re-adjust my life post wedding (no excuse, I know) The winding down of wedding season and the entrance of Fall is also part to blame, but it doesn't mean I can't share some oldies, goodies and even some inspiration.

So I'll start with some oldies that I missed posting in the tornado of planning my own wedding.

Enter Mr. and Mrs. Reverand Walter Thomas Jr.

This duo are old friends of mine and also heirs to the throne of the New Psalmist Baptist Church where Bishop Walter Scott Thomas Sr. is currently pastor.  Jarrett Thomas and I were dicipleship sisters for three years (can you believe it?) and during that time, engagement fever was hot and on the rise.  Her and Walter were among the first to kick it off.  After she told her tear-jerker proposal story she asked me if I would do a beat (ha ha) for their engagement shots and wedding makeup.  I was more than happy to oblige them as well as stay for a little art direction (another hidden talent).  Between us laughing about Walter's baby butter creme skin and why he even needed any makeup in the first place and his consistent struggle obeying my command to NOT kiss her until AFTER the shoot, we had a great time.   

The couple maried on August 1, 2009.  Wedding pics forthcoming ...Enjoy, happy fall and...

Ciao Bella!

Wendy Will~

Model Minister: Jenelle Thompson (Reprise)

The ever busy triple "M" (model/minister/mom) Jenelle Thompson called me up again and asked if I would mind doing her face for another photoshoot.  

Of course I said yes...

She's is one of my favorite faces.  Very exotic features like deep set eyes and high cheek bones that she must've gotten from her ethopian heritage.  (Just guessing)

I came in flustered from getting lost in Philly (I was  new to the city) but I beat her as fast as I could to make up for lost time (sad face).

I'm greatful she was easy to do.

For this shoot, she brought along some extra company.

Here's to the black family.

Ciao Bella!

Wendy~

Video Soul

A while ago a friend of a very well known friend called and asked me if I would be interested in doing makeup for a music video debut in NY.  "Hmmn lemme think..." I said.  Uh...yeah???   

Before I knew it I was packed and off to NY for an early morning shoot the next day. 

I woke up at the crack of dawn with no idea of what I was about to experience.  Subway trains, corner markets, walking through the bittercold  streets of New York (it was January) lugging tons of makeup and props for the shoot. It was what I had always dreamed of. lol

When we arrived to the location, which was a beautiful rustic brownstone, I immediately fell in love with New York. I watched as the videographers set up and tested their equipment. 

I was introduced to the "cast" and was directed to my place of set up. 

Once I was all set up, I said a quick prayer and seated the first person, who was actually the artist!

 That's right folks world renowned artist Siji was in my chair focused, determined and totally prepared to co-produce his video debut.

The video was set to premiere his first single"Yearning for Home" off of his new sophomore album entitled AdeSIJI.

The video's purpose was to capture images that reflected his nigerian roots...thus the title "yearning for home".  

He requested that I give everyone a very natural look and I did my best to oblige him and fought the urge to beat everyone out like it was a beyonce video. 

One subject who had never had makeup applied to his face before, was a little apprehensive until I continuously re-assured him that he would still look like himself and not malibu barbie.  We had a good laugh over it.

My friend Melani, (the hookup) who was a background singer for Siji and whom I've worked with many times before, was next up for application. She was an easy canvas. No fuss, and not worried about looking like barbie. Although she could've easily passed for some kind of barbie.  I kept her in neutrals.
There was one cast member/model who was absolutely gorgeous! She looked like the love child of Naomi Campbell and Lauryn Hill. There I was again... fighting the urge not to beat her out like a supermodel.
So I gave in a little bit.  I initially had her with a very pronounced dark lip but I got cracked on the knuckles by Siji, so I switched her to a light gloss.  I did get away with adding lashes but dang!  That dark lip woulda been fierce!

The rest of the cast piled into my chair one after another as they prepared to dance, play an instrument, sing, make jewelry or just make a cameo in the video.

All in all I made some new friends, gained some video shoot experience, ate the best NY chinese food I've ever had in my life and had a lot of fun. 

And here's the finished product... ENJOY!

[
SIJI - "Yearning For Home" Music Video from SIJI on Vimeo.

To find out more information about Siji go to http://www.sijimusic.com/.

Ciao Bella,

Wendy~

Sisterlove

"I never considered myself to be a popular girl in high school. I never really cared that much. I had dreams of becoming a professional dancer so I was too busy with rehearsals and performances to even think about being popular. My popularity came by happenstance.... rolling with GPP was like having the keys to the city. These girls had juice...and they knew how to use it."

(an excerpt from my new book, untitled)

Thoughts of high school are a nightmare to some and a cake walk for others, but for me, high school is where I met my female soul mates.  I'm pleased to introduce you to GPP (also known to me as "the homies").

What is GPP? Just a name we came up with after we all officially bonded.  It's not a sorority or a cult, but a friendship among eight African American females that was formed from familiarity and comradery. 

From homeroom to the courtroom and from proms to galas we've had a genuine friendship that has lasted for 20+ years.

Amazing isn't it? 

We've laughed together, cried together, partied together, traveled together and still get together (every month) to catch up and to

celebrate each others achievements whenever possible. 

Last year we decided to do a photoshoot to capture our love for one another and to challenge a dear friend who needed desperately to build her portfolio.

A challenge it was.  Not that the faces weren't easy to beat, it's just the labor of beating out six girls plus myself was hard on a sista.

I drew my inspiration from seven celebs:

Monica

Paula Patton 

Thandi Newton 

Kelis

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Nia Long  

Kerry Washington

  

Then I called up my favorite photographer Lakaye Mbah, who was thrilled to do the project, and got to beatin'.

There's actually a total of eight of us, but one decided to gracefully bow out of the shoot due to a special delivery :o)

And there you have it.

This post is dedicated to the seven beautiful ladies that I've come to know, appreciate and love. 

 Here's to you my sistas and to the next twenty....

Love Always,

Wendy~

Model Minister: Donald W. Williams II

What up Beau/Bellas!

I know it’s been a minute (again) but I’m back with a continuation of the series titled “model ministers”. This week I’m featuring the beaus!

I’ll have to admit…in the beginning of my adventures in makeup I was very intimidated, uneasy and downright petrified to apply makeup to a male face. My first thought? “Uh…where exactly do I put it?” I mean it’s not like you can match their eye shadow with the color of their tie. So I did some thinking and a little research and it finally dawned on me...using makeup on males is the same basic concept; its purpose is just to enhance what’s already there. I hadn’t gotten a male face since my days in makeup school which is why I jumped at the opportunity to do another. Enter Minister Donald Wesley Williams II.

I met Minister Williams back in 2006 during my choir member days at the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, where he worked as a musician (a drummer no less) One day he asked if I could hook him up for a photo shoot that would feature his likeness on a flyer for a young adult ministry event. Of course I said yes. He wanted the shoot to take place outdoors so I grabbed my case and tools, my Sony Cybershot and headed to a nearby lake. It was a beautiful spring day and I was sweating bullets giving art direction, doing touch ups and snapping away, hoping to get some good amateur shots of Mr. Williams in the sunlight (natural light is tricky if you didn’t know).

I applied a medium brown crème foundation and powder from the AJ Crimson line. I used a dark brown powder to shade in any sparse hairs on his face and a crème based studio stick concealer from MAC to cover any dark areas. I contoured his face with a darker powder to work with the shadows and finished the look using Kiel’ s lip balm #1 to add a bit of sheen to his lips...and voila!

All in all I think the shots turned out pretty good to say that I’m not a photographer.

Mr. Williams is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, a 2nd year grad student at Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, a professional drummer (he’s got credits on India Arie’s first album!) and a minister who has spoken at various churches across the nation. Mr. Williams is also a total bookworm/theological nerd whose favorite color is maroon and who can eat pretty much whatever he wants, do 10 sit ups and still have a six pack...urgh! 


How do I know this?

Why he’s my fiancé of course….

On June 6, 2010 my name will officially change to….you guessed it…. Wendy Williams. How about that?

Until next time folks…

Ciao Bella!

Model Minister: Cassandra Vincent

Have you ever met a person that you just clicked with immediately? No awkwardness, no cattiness, just and instant “CLICK”. Well this is what happened to me during my initial meeting with Ms. Cassandra Vincent. I met Cassandra on my first day of working for the wonderful institution, Johns Hopkins University, and found her to be friendly, spunky and vibrant and seriously focused on her destiny. We had a lot in common.

After a brief conversation I also learned that Ms. Vincent serves as coordinator for the Minority Health International Research Training Program (MHIRT) for Johns Hopkins University, is an active real estate agent for Long & Foster AND has the NERVE to be an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; serving at Restoration Ministries, Bible Believer's Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Yes…girlfriend is on the move! When she asked me to do her make up for an upcoming photo shoot, I jumped at the opportunity and couldn’t wait to get her face as my new canvas.

We decided that I would do her after work at Restoration where the shoot would take place. On the day of the shoot I had my all black attire on and poppin, my trusty filled-to-the rim make up case and my never leave home without it brush be…..uh…where is my?…DANG! I LEFT MY BRUSH BELT!! Ugh!

So I did what any good makeup artist would do in this situation (no I didn’t use my hands…although I thought about it) I went to Tar-Jay (Target) and bought a miniature travel brush set by Sonia Kashuk. To my surprise the brushes really got the job done.





The photographer and I teased Cassandra about being a Michelle Obama look alike. What do you think?

(I think it's in the eyes)

Needless to say we had a great time doing the shoot, in fact so much so that we were not looking forward to going back to work the next day. But hey…we looked at it as a step in the right direction.


For Cassandra’s look I chose a soft smoky eye using gradient shades of purple and a soft peach applied to her brow bone using my 88 shadow palette. I used M.A.C’s Blacktrack fluid line eye liner, Plushblack mascara and Breath of Plum powder blush. I finished her lips with M.A.C ‘s Vino lip liner, L’Oreal’s Color Juice lip gloss in Grape Soda (one of my all time favorites) and M.A.C.’s Lusterglass in Little VI.


Contact Cassandra at cassandrav@restorationministriesbbc.com for information about Restoration Ministries, her ministry, and upcoming speaking engagements. For home buying information contact her at CASSANDRA.VINCENT@Longandfoster.com.




Ciao Bellas!

Don't Call it a Comeback!

What up Beau Bellas!
I know what you’re thinking...but hey I’ve been on a major hiatus (finishing up my MBA) and now I’m back feeling refreshed, reenergized and inspired to share my latest and greatest projects with you.


In the midst of my team assignments, dealings with nutty professors and all night term paper compositions, I managed to squeeze in a few “beats” believe it or not.


Side bar***For those of you that are not familiar, the term “beat” is jargon for applying make up to a face (thus the blog title “Beauty and the Beat”). I’m not sure where the term originated from but you may catch me using it from time to time and I didn’t want anyone to mistake the term for physical violence. Seriously folks, I don’t need the drama. ***


(Back to our regularly scheduled program…)


My latest project was the most challenging but also the most fun by far. I teamed up with photographer du jour, Lakaye Mbah (my partner in crime), and beat the faces of six people who are near and dear to my heart….my girlfriends! (Affectionately known to me as GPP) We laughed, we chatted about old times (we’ve all been tight since high school) and coached each other on while I broke my back and a sweat beating them out like they were supermodels. It was hard but definitely worth it as we all enjoyed getting together and acting like we were 17 again. I’ll be featuring each one of them separately with products used as well as showcasing some of the group shots for your enjoyment.

Here’s a sneak peek…






Don’t we look like a new reality TV show? lol


Anyways, in the meantime I’ll continue on with my previous series entitled “Model Ministers”.

Stay tuned…

Ciao Bellas~