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~

Model Minister: Jenelle Thompson

Greetings Bellas!

Thanks to a few good friends I am now able to present to you my first blog series which I lovingly title: Model Ministers. What? You thought ministers were supposed to be old and ugly? Well to the contrary, a lot of them are far from it. As a matter of fact a lot of the people in my close circle are young, educated saved, sanctified and very easy on the eyes. Take my very good friend Mrs. Jenelle Thompson (sorry fellas she's taken).

She not only ministers in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania/Delaware area, she's also...check this out...a REAL model! To add to this Jenelle also writes, acts, does runway modeling and runs....yep she runs around after this cute little fella quite often.

So who said you couldn't be a triple M? (minister-model-mom) There's nothing in the good book that says it's a sin to love the Lord AND be fabulous. In fact a good number of women in the Bible were just that (check out Ruth, Esther, Sarai/Sarah). Don't get me started.

So this series is dedicated to all my saved bellas who aren't ashamed of being holy and beautiful. Let it be an inspiration to you.

Until next time...

Ciao Bellas!

For Jenelle's look I applied Skin Flawless Oil Control Pressed Powder in #409 from the AJ Crimson line. I used a soft matte pink on the lid and a deep berry in the crease using my trusty 88 shadow make up palette. I then used Creme Color Truth Creme Eyeliner in black(L'Oreal) on her top lid and waterline followed by noisy black mascara(MAC). I warmed her cheeks with Sweet As Cocoa blush(MAC), lined her lips in Currant lip pencil(MAC) and applied Desire lipglass(MAC) to finish her look.



Contact Jenelle at Jenelle@jenellethemodel.com for modeling opportunities.

New Year, Old Looks

Happy New Year Beauties!

After an authoritative nudge from a very good friend, who believes in my work and opinion, I finally decided to take her advice and create my own blog. I'll be using this blog to give handy make up tips, chronicle my own make up adventures, and discuss what gives me inspiration.

That being said, let's get to it.


I was thinking about my New Year's resolutions. Yes, I know it's so cliche' and sometimes pointless but I like to think of it as setting yearly goals. I decided that one of mine would be to experiment with some new/old looks.

Over the holidays I had the pleasure of OD'ing on the makeup competition show on lifetime called "Blush". I watched every single episode back to back online (I missed majority of the show when it aired). Needless to say I was dumfounded by some of the talent on the show. My two favorites were Nolan (of course he's a beast) and the ever crazy, talented and quite odd Maxi. Anyway, one of the episodes that I liked the most was episode 3 where the artists had to create two different looks from two different decades on two models. I was particularly inspired by the 50's looks done by Farrah and Maxi. Both looks were very clean and beautiful and I noticed that the look often makes a revised comeback on the red carpet. Therefore, it could be a fun look to do for a gala (hint hint...inaugural ball) or an evening out on the town.

Here are some examples of my favorite 50's beauties:







Is this the real Dorothy or is this Halle? I think she resembles Halle quite a bit in this pic. This is a lovely and fairly simple look. No heavy eyeshadow or blush. Just a clean matte face, soft eyeliner, strong brows and I'm assuming a glorious red lip. Oh and how could I forget the LASHES!!! Beautiful...






Same idea here with Ms. Veronica Lake. There's a bit more arch in the brow and maybe a light matte shadow on the lid. A very soft blush and then BAM! Did someone order lips? Flawless.

How could we forget the sultry Ms. Greta Garbo. Her eyes were her signature look. Here again we have clean flawless matte skin, soft eyeliner, just a touch of blush and a red lip. This eyebrow looks more 20's to me but it worked well with her facial structure. Gorgeous.

The moral of the story? There's nothing new under the sun. In fact matte skin and strong brows are making quite the comeback in the 09'. Don't believe me? Do a little research. Either way it's make up...so have fun and experiment. I know I will.

Ciao Bella~