Ballroom Romance

In October of 2013, I collaborated with Elyse Alexandria Holmes on an inspiration shoot (she did the pictures, I did hair and makeup:). The inspiration? Ballroom Dance. Turns out that she has some family on a world renowned Ballroom Dance Team and they let the two of us have some fun. At the time, I had never met Elyse but I loved her business name. I mean, what sounds more dreamy and perfect than Elyse Alexandria Photography? I don't know what it is but I love, love, love it. In fact, I'm seriously considering naming one of my girls that! Anyway, if you haven't seen her work, jump over to her website because you will not be sorry. She has a gift that so many people don't have. Everything she does is gorgeous! And, we collaborated for the New Years Eve shoot, which is also gorgeous.

Who thinks to stick two Ballroom dancers, who are madly in love (they are actually married!), and put them in the Utah mountains and photograph them? Elyse does.

Who knows how to make her models look stunning? Elyse does.

Who knows how to perfect the lighting and create gorgeous images? Elyse does.

And who knows how to work it behind the camera? Elyse does! I just can't get over these pictures. The models were perfect, the venues were so creative, I had a BLAST with her hair and makeup and his hair. So. Fun. I hope you guys love them as much as I do! Thanks for reading:)

Happy New Years!

I recently had the opportunity to work with a number of amazingly talented people to get this New Years Eve Engagement Party photographed. I was blessed to work on two of the three female models and two of the three male models. My awesome co-worker Kali Wengreen from Relik Salon took care of the third beautiful model and Brittney Evanson assisted me on the hair. Can I tell you how wonderful it is to have an assistant? I do all (I guess most now) of my work solo and I love it but it was a definite plus to have such a cute assistant working alongside me. There were also two photographers involved in shooting. This first set of pictures come from Breanna McKendrick.

Beautiful, right? And isn't this couple killer good looking? Now, here is where I was going to post the pictures that the talented Elyse Alexandria did but I can't seem to save her pictures to my computer so I guess I'll just call it a "Sneak Peak." I am not technology savvy :) However, all of this amazing work was published on Love + Wander where you can all enjoy viewing photos from both of these talented women. and all others involved. Happy New Years! Let's start it off great and finish it great :)

Credits and contact information:

Photographers: Elyse Alexandria Photography &Breanna Mckendrick Photography
Hair stylists/makeup artists: Lisa Frehner, @Kali Walgreen, Brittney Evanson
Models: Kristi Peterson, Michael Peterson, Katherine Kab Yeeb Ellis, Austin Ellis, Hailey Spung, Taylor Adams
Wardrobe Stylists: Gentri Lee & Lauren Cooper
Floral Design: Flowers by Adrien
Cake: Sara Elizabeth - Custom Cakes & Sweets
Specialty Drinks: Zero Proof Mocktails

Venue: Castle Park Utah

 — with Breanna Meldrum McKendrick, Lisa Frehner, Katherine Kab Yeeb Ellis,Hailey Spung, Gentri Trinnaman and Elyse Alexandria Holmes at Castle Park Utah. 

I Spoiled Myself This Week

Normally, all my free time is dedicated to my baby and my husband. Not a bad thing at all but I was feeling way outdated with my look. After all, it has been a year since my friend did a melt on my hair, when I was prego with my baby and when Lora Grady took these lovelies for me.

Lora is now located in Seattle and if you want her to do your pictures for anything, check out her website Lora Grady Photography. Also, great news for her, she is currently one of the 15 best photographers according to Le Magnifique Blog. I was so spoiled to have her take pictures for me! 

Oh, and the amazingly talented Lindsey Jacobson from Metropolitan salon did that wonderful melt. 

Anyway, that has been a year gone. Eventually, I took my melt to red on the ends and I loved that for a bit but I was still dark. Even though I have been doing hair for 7 years, I have never ventured to do anything drastic because I have loved my natural color. 

This last week, I asked Mallory Villagomez from Relik Salon in American Fork to do the Sam Brocato SuperSilk smoothing treatment on my hair. I thought if my hair wasn't so poofy and frizzy that I would like it more. Especially if that meant that my hair would be easier to do, and with kids, who doesn't want that? Lets be honest, even if you don't have kids, who doesn't want an easier hair do?

Also, I am not a very photogenic person really so don't look at the face. Just the hair :) 

Pretty amazing right? Keep in mind that for both pictures, I tipped my head upside down and blow dried my hair. I didn't use a flat iron in either picture either. That, my friends, is the magic of SuperSilk. And now you can see my red melt :)

After Mallory did this, I loved not having to flat iron my hair! I still had a wave but no frizz and no poofiness. Seriously, why did I wait so stinking long to do this? I feel every woman deserves to pamper themselves, me included. I loved it and I still love it. However, I wanted something more. I knew I needed a trim and then I was thinking about a color... I LOVE red hair. I wish it grew out of my head. So, I decided to go all red. My hairstylish Trish did it. She used to work with me at Metropolitan and at Relik but she is now a full time nurse. However, I rent her basement so while the kiddo was asleep, we had ourselves a great time!

I am not normally a "selfie" taker but I could name off a handful of people that would be pretty upset unless I posted a picture of my new hair for the world to see. I am so happy with the results and I plan on keeping it a good long time. I'm sure that I will miss the brown eventually, but for now, I am finally happy with my hair. And it has been a while since I have been happy with it!

Moral of the story? If you need a boost, do something completely different with your hair. A good hairstylist can recommend looks that will work for you. It can be dramatic, or it can be subtle but we can change how we see ourselves when we have new hair. 

Veteran's Day

I had the opportunity to work on a photo shoot with the amazingly talented Morgan Slade from http://www.morgansladephotography.com/.  She wanted to do a military based photo shoot to honor those that are serving our country, those who have served and those that will serve in the future.

Seriously, aren't they are gorgeous couple? I am so proud to be an American and I'm so eternally grateful for all the millions of service men and women for everything they do and the sacrifices that they make. 

I also need to express how grateful I am to their families as well. As a wife and a mother, I cannot imagine how hard it would be to send my husband away, not knowing for sure when he will come back or even if he will come back. I can't imagine sending away my child to somewhere I know that I cannot do anything, besides pray (and pray a lot) to protect them.

We are all in debt to all those wonderful people that protect our lives and our freedom. Veterans deserve so much more than what we give them but for most of them, a simple "Thank you for your wonderful sacrifice and service" would suffice. They gladly served and would do it again if they were able. 

What does the flag mean to you? I have fond memories of putting my hand over my heart and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance-I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I so wish that this was still recited in every school, from every person. It is so important to remember what the Flag means and everything that has been given to protect it. 

This Veteran's Day, and everyday from here on out, thank those service men and women that have done so much for us. Show them how grateful you are. Show them how much it means to you. They will recognize your sincerity and remember that they fight for people like you and people like me. 

Photo Credits

Event Planning: Cake for Two http://www.cakefor2.com
Bouquet and hair piece: Jen's Bowdacious Bowshttp://www.etsy.com/shop/jensbowdaciousbows
Hair and Make-UP: Lisa Frehner lisafrehnerhair.blogspot.com
Wedding Dress: Danielle's Bridal danielles-bridal-slc.com
Jewelry: You Name it by Sarah: https://www.etsy.com/shop/YouNameItbySarah?ref=si_shop
Photography: Morgan Slade Morgan Slade Photographywww.morgansladephotograpy.com/wp
Videography: Amber Green www.agreendesign.com

Favor for a Friend

I have known many amazing women in my life, one of them being Kenna. I actually know her because she was one of my older sister's best friends through highschool. My sister and I are good friends now but it wasn't always that way. I was the annoying younger sister that tried to hang out with the older sister and all her friends. Now, I am her awesome younger sister that does a fabulous job on her hair (now that I'm thinking about it, maybe she is using me...? Kidding!). Anyway, Kenna was always amazingly kind and encouraged my sister to let me come and be a part of their group. She has a natural gift to be kind and loving to everyone around her. Now that we are all grown up, she has blossomed into an amazing photographer, wife and mother to a sweet little boy. We all face trials and challenges, but I can't imagine the pain that her and her husband go through along with tons of other couples. Sweet Kenna and her husband cannot have their own children. They have been blessed with one little boy and they are now looking forward to adding another bundle of Joy to their family. This post is meant to help them in their search and hopefully find a sweet girl that is looking for loving parents to fill her baby's needs. Please take the time to read and share her profile.
itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/28991941/ourMessage.jsf

Pixie Haircuts

As a stylist, I often hear people say that they think they don't have the right face shape for a Pixie haircut-it's too fat, too long, sharp features ect... I'm sure this thought has crossed your minds as well. I am here to tell you that anyone can pull off the pixie do! Not everyone has to have long, luscious hair :) I have done both and everything in between so I can attest that I had as much fun with my short Pixie as I have with my long locks. I put together some illustrations so that you can all see and I will explain each one. I have to say though, I am no artist in Paint so I hope everyone can see my vision here. A lot of people have a mix of shapes as well so just follow the basic rules I will explain here.

Oval:

       Hair- The ideal face shape. We all want it but not a lot of us have it. A Pixie haircut can be super short, longer, spiky, textured, relaxed... Pretty much, this person can do whatever they want to do and the haircut will flatter them. 

       Makeup- Pick a feature to play with. Bold eyes and nude lips with light pink cheeks or bold lip with simple eyes and pink cheeks. 

Round: 

          Hair- These people feel like they have full cheeks and for this reason they feel like a Pixie haircut will make them look fat. Not true!!!!! I wish I could pound this into everybody. We are way to hard on ourselves. If you want to try a Pixie haircut, you want a cut to avoid volume/anything too puffy on the sides. However, you want lots of volume on the top. I suggest taking the sides super short and keeping the top longer to get the right look.This will help create and illusion of a more slender face. I also suggest a cut that will frame the face to soften the roundness. 

         Makeup- Play with those beautiful cheeks of yours! Flaunt them and love them. You can't hide them, so embrace them. Pick a blush that will work well with your skin tone. I recommend Biofond Blush by Gerda Spillmann. 

Oblong:

        Hair- Go for less volume on the top, which will give you and even longer face, and more fullness on the sides. For your face shape, you want a fringe that will cover most of the forehead. You can choose a straight across, textured fringe or a swoop. Just make sure that you have it. 

        Makeup- Bold eyes look amazing with this kind of haircut. Keep the cheeks and lips soft.

Heart:

        Hair- Fringe is the key for this Pixie. I recommend a soft, short, textured fringe. This will help soften the widest part of your face. You could do it super short on top or longer with more volume. The goal here is to camouflage the widest part of your face, the forehead

       Makeup- Strong eyebrows are beautiful when you have a shorter fringe. It will help bring out your eyes, and with a soft, pink lip, you will be ready to tackle the day.

 Square:
        Hair- Your goal is to keep some hair around the face to soften the sharpness of your features. Asymmetrical is my favorite for this. Not to mention that it is super sexy! Volume is good for you because it will also help to soften your face. I like a heavy fringe going into the asymmetrical side as well. There is just something classy about it.
       Makeup- I love a dark smokey eye for this look. Play it up!

Rectangle:

        Hair- I recommend hair around the face again and less volume on top. A longer fringe that sweeps one way and then frames the face the opposite way is preferable. Hair should stay in front of the ears to help frame the face. 

        Makeup- Keep attention to your eyes again but don't do them too heavy. Accentuating your brows will help them stand out. 

Diamond:

        Hair- Also known as the inverted triangle, I suggest a longer pixie do for this face shape with a swoop fringe and lots of hair coming forward. This will help with the wide top and is very flattering for a pointy chin as well. You don't need too much volume but you want a happy medium. 

        Makeup-Highlighter around your eyes and cheeks will bring out their prominence and make your eyes pop. 

Triangle:

         Hair- Fringe across the forehead is highly recommended for this face shape to create a wider forehead to match the broad chin a little closer. Volume is recommended as well. I like a thicker fringe but it can also be more textured. 

        Makeup- Lips! Play them up and show them off.

Keep in mind that most of us have a mix of face shapes so this is meant to be more of a guide as to how your hair should look with different Pixie haircuts. I hope this helped you realize that anyone can pull it off and love it. However, if you have long hair right now, make sure you really want a short hairdo before really committing. It can be scary but it is a ton of fun! Here is a picture of me when I had a fun Pixie do. 

I will admit that I didn't think I could pull it off because of my nice, full cheeks but I ended up loving it. I still felt feminine and it took less time to get ready. I'm sure I'll go back to it one day, especially since all my hair is falling out after this cute baby of mine:)