sometimes I get to simply make people look like the best version of themselves onscreen, and this series is one of those times. Here we have chef and kitchen tester Amanda Haas showing us tricks for operating blenders and slow cookers, all while looking bright and appealing in her beautiful test kitchen. I had the pleasure of giving her a braid that she felt fabulous in, and setting off a flurry of Parisian excitement when I put her hair in a messy french twist while she made crepes.

Here we got to portray city people working in an interior design startup. I worked with the team over the course of two days, keeping the directors pleased with different outfits in keeping with the personalities of the characters, and maintaining fresh natural looks to reflect well on the happy story that Microsoft is telling. The challenge here was that each person needed a few different looks that weren’t too crisp looking, at one point they are all wearing an article from my own collection! Fun.

proactive is where I got the bulk of my training under makeup artist Andrea Kessel. They make many of these commercials in the bay area using people who have seen improvements when trying out their face care regime. On these shoots it isn't unusual to have eight people in a day in front of the camera. Andrea brought me on to specialize in hair and to assist with the makeup- I learned so much from her on these shoots about how to make people look amazing and glowing   without looking like they are caked in product. The lighting in these clips is especially phenomenal, but Andrea has a magic touch to make people sparkle, even when they are splashing water on their faces!

Lolly’s Locks required sensitivity towards women living with the cosmetic effects of chemotherapy- I delicately applied eyelashes to one woman who had lost hers, I carefully arranged wigs to look natural on all of them. The challenge here was making adjustments to the ladies without making them feel uncomfortable, because these are women who are not only not actors or models, but going through super difficult times with their health. I find myself well—suited for personal moments like this- it was a rewarding experience. 

The issue we had on this day was a model in need of a bang trim and having a bit of break-out on her cheeks. It was a challenge to quickly polish her up to look like her best self for the commercial, and style her bangs so that they stayed away from her eyes. It was a tough day, but in the end the commercial was effective. 

Horror movie makeup! This was extra-special fun where I worked for a fellow stylist who was directing her own short film. She wanted it to have the campy feel of an 80’s high school movie so we exaggerated the looks and had a lot of fun.For this I dealt with typical movie-making issues like continuity and character development, as well as rugged technical issues of tiny bathrooms and sweaty actors! Since this was primarily a local labor of love, the premier was extra fun and we all have the bond of producing something great together. 

Floome is a breathalizer that plugs into your smart phone. For this commercial I had the fun of making the main character appear sloppy drunk, the commercial hosts look 2nd rate, and the hunky actor look sweatily unattractive. It was a cartoonish feel where I really got to stretch my special effects makeup muscles. 

A black-and-white themed music video that had a small budget for some extravagant style, this was my chance to just focus on hair. I came up with a collection that utilized braiding to form a cage over the face, and cut sharp modern haircuts into wigs to create a look of diversified continuity. The dancers were all friends of the musician Taara Tati. Everyone felt honored to be involved in this project.