MASTERED: The Val Garland School of Makeup

A few weeks ago after reading some posts on a makeup artist thread on Facebook I came across Mastered: The Val Garland School of Makeup.

Without giving a second thought – I’m fairly gungho in my approach to life, I try not to overthink things!… I applied to enrol. Places for the course, mentored by Val are limited and literally thousands of fellow makeup artists applied but after a few emails back and forth through the application process, I received my confirmation!

I cannot wait to start on this course and expand my creativity and skills in an area that’s notoriously difficult to crack. It’s a three month course and I look forward to sharing some moments from it in the months to come.

To say i’m excited, overwhelmed and grateful for the opportunity is an understatement. I really can’t wait to open up my creativity and get learning again – from one of the very best makeup artists Val Garland. Bring it on!

 

Val Garland School of Makeup

 

Loreal Colour Trophy 2015

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with a brilliant creative team to put forward some images for the L’oreal Colour Trophy in 2015.

I was asked by photographer Amanda Thomas to do the makeup, I have worked with Amanda before on various high end fashion and celebrity shoots and I love working with her as she nails it every time plus we share the same sense of humour which I think is always important!

The hair team was the wonderful Central Studio in Bristol. I have worked with Zoe, the salon manager before at a beautiful wedding in the Brecon Beacons so it was great to work with her again.

The male and female models were supplied by Gingersnap and both had incredibly strong looks. Of course the focus was on the hair and the makeup had to enhance yet not overtake the general look so the main thing you see in the image is the beautiful hair. The male model had simple grooming to go with his stunning Norwegian blond quiff. The female model had a face to die for and we wanted a smoky yet soft and striking look to go with her gorgeous new hair do. I got one behind the scenes shot – as it’s for a competition I couldn’t take too many snaps and give too much away!

I can’t wait to see if we get through to the next round!

http://amandathomasphotographer.co.uk/

http://www.lorealcolourtrophy.com/

http://central-studio.co.uk/

www.gingersnap.co.uk/

Top 50 Wedding Makeup Artists!

I was recently contacted by Go Hen and asked if I would object to being featured as one of their 50 top UK makeup artists.

I delightedly said “YES”, the article came out yesterday and looking through the list I am in very good company and feel honoured to be included with such talented artists such as Gemma Sutton, Kate Kelvin and Eve Ashby.

Well done to all those who feature on this lovely list of ladies!

http://www.gohen.com/blog/top-50-uk-wedding-make-up-artists/

http://www.ellehitchens.co.uk

Makeup action shots from www.belindamccarthy.co.uk

I recently did makeup for a lovely bride who was getting married at Batch Country House in Lympsham, near Weston Super Mare.
We all met at her house in the morning where I completed makeup for the bride, her mum and three bridesmaids.

The photograher was Belinda McCarthy – www.belindamccarthy.co.uk and she recently sent me these lovely shots of me doing my thing. Usually I am pulling a serious concentration face or a double chin but these one’s were very nice and I thought I would share them with you.

Also she has snapped my brush belt which is always a hit as people usually cannot believe the amount of makeup brushes I have! It’s a real pain to keep them clean believe me but it must be done! I use a baby shampoo to clean my brushes as it’s nice and gentle on the bristles and isn’t pricey and you can pick it up almost anywhere!

Anyway here are some of the behind the scenes shots from that mornings wedding

Bridal Shoot at Polpier House, Mevagissey

This post is coming to you from the warm and cosy Polpier House where I have been staying with the WED Magazine team on a shoot for their next Cornwall issue.

Polpier House overlooks Mevagissey Harbour or MEGA Vissey as my husband likes to call it. So aptly named as the view is quite MEGA!

The day before I arrived there was a winter styled shoot here and silver glitter has made it’s way onto all my kit as a reminder. I’m quite happy about that I would cover myself in silver glitter most days if possible.

Our theme for the shoot was natural, modern glamour and the photographer Ethan Eliot used all natural daylight throughout the shots to get a soft image. Bearing in mind it’s the end of October we had some classic Cornish sea mist roll in quite early on and the photographer was keen to use this to cinematic effect. We shot a lot outside when not raining – in the greenhouse, on the lawn, on the terrace and gravel pathways, it looked moody and atmospheric. We managed to get a shot of the view right at the end of the day when the mist slightly cleared.

The makeup was quite a softly blended eye with a strong graphic flicky liner, fresh skin and natural lips. I used a combination of MAC eyeshadows and Illamasqua gel liner on the eyes. Illamasqua Skin Base foundation and MAC Face & Body on the skin. The lips were naturally defined with a MAC Pro Longwear Lipstick – one of my favourites on real brides for it’s staying power. After lunch we added to makeup – more muted smokey shadow and lots of strong winged top liner, slightly more matte skin and a bright pink lip.

Hair was loosely pinned up to the side and we had a massive array of all things bling to accessorise hair and body. We changed headpieces and jewellery for each dress.

Polpier House in Mevagissey is a pretty epic venue for a wedding with a pool, tennis courts, snooker and ping pong tables, a kitchen fit for a queen and all her ladies in waiting – and their friends – and dogs, it’s HUGE! My personal highlight was the music setup, decks, a dancefloor and disco lights which gave us great amusement more than once!

I had the pleasure of staying in the Yellow room with a bath so deep I nearly disappeared in it and a sea view from both the bath and bed, perfect!

The shoot featured dresses from the bridal shops Amanda Kay and Lavender Rose County Cream.

The photographer was Ethan Eliot and styling was by Alice Timms.

Hair was by Sarah Hooper of Capella in Truro.

http://www.polpier.co.uk

http://www.ethanelliot.com/

http://www.alicetimms.com/

http://www.wedmagazine.co.uk/ 

http://www.ellehitchens.co.uk

Shoot for Vogue Italia (hopefully!)

On Tuesday I went to Bath to once again work with the incredible Zac Fennell (Great British Hairdresser finalist) from Artizan Hair on a shoot which we hope will be picked up by Italian Vogue!

The look we wanted was quite couture, lux and polished. The hair was quite dramatic, tight mini spirals brushed out to create texture and shape. It took them hours to do this on model Georgia’s hair – wrapping it around knitting needles to create the curls.

I created a dramatic but beautiful eye using Blacktrack Gel Liner buffed into the crease of the eye and brought to the contour by the nose. I then buffed Sketch eyeshadow over the top to create a soft plum wash and finished off the lid with Gold Mode pigment. The skin was highlighted and contoured with Bronzer and Luna Cream Colour Base. On the lips was a mix of Macroviolet Gel Liner and So Scarlet lipstick (all by MAC).

The clothes were supplied by Ted Baker.

Models were supplied by ShootDHS.

Jubilee photoshoot for Tres Chic Magazine

On Thursday I worked with Tres Chic magazine for a royal jubilee inspired photoshoot. The wonderful SHOOTDHS supplied the model Colleen and our other model was Sara from gingersnap.

We shot at Clevedon Hall which was a really stunning location and set the scene perfectly. We had all the clothes and props supplied by John Lewis and the models were styled by Emmeline Stevens.
Rob from Artizan did a fantastic job in the hair department and I did the makeup.

The photographer was CJ from Tres Chic and she wanted the makeup for Colleen to be quite Keira Knightley inspired with a smoky chocolate brown eye and nude lips. For Sara a more classic “no makeup” look with soft peachy cheeks.

It was a great day despite the weather and we had a lot of fun!

See my behind the scenes pics here: www.facebook.com/ellehitchensmakeup

Bridal Shoot for Artizan

I had such a lovely time shooting a bridal inspired shoot with Chris Alan and Artizan Hair in Bath. We mostly  shot at Widcombe church and then at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a wedding!

The makeup was Keira Knightly style smoky eyes with a vintage feel. The models were Sarah, Jess and Miles from Shoot DHS. Here are some behind the scenes pics from the day.

Cherry Blossom Boudoir

Visit the new Cherry Blossom Boudoir site, new and re-vamped! A photo shoot with Becky is a real treat!

 

http://www.cherryblossomboudoir.com/#/make-up-artist/

Noor & Dulcie Show at Bath Fashion Week

I’m really excited to be asked to work on the Mimi Noor and Hannah Dulcie show at Bath Fashion Week.

http://www.bathinfashion.co.uk/whats-on/thursday-29-march/dulcie-and-noor.html

Also news of working with Ted Baker coming soon….!