Here are the results from a bridal make-up trial with beautiful Jess!! (Click to enlarge the pics).

For Jess' trial, we went for a subtle make-up look to bring out her naturally gorgeous features. The key steps to getting her make-up look were: i). slightly filling in her naturally gorgeous arches and ii). adding false lashes. With filled-in brows and falsies on, I only needed to use a minimal amount of eyeliner (mainly to hide the false eyelash band) to bring out her eyes while keeping the look 'natural'.

On a side note, I still really wish my own brows could grow back, but that's what I get for tweezing them in grade six! :)
Can't wait for Jess' Big Day in May...and the warmer temperatures that accompany that month! Hope everyone is having a safe and snowy weekend! :)

Check out some pics from the first wedding of 2010 featuring beautiful bride Chrisie! I had such a good time with Chrisie and her ladies during her Big Day in January....and I'm definitely looking forward to more girly good fun with all the upcoming weddings this year!

Thanks Chrisie for an awesome start to the year! xo

Meet lovely bride-to-be Amelia!! It's always so nice to finally meet a bride-to-be after all our email and phone interactions.... and many times you can get a good sense of the person you're interacting with via the way they write. Just like I thought from her emails, Amelia is an absolute sweetheart!! Leading up to our trial, I honestly hadn't laughed so hard in a long while that my sides actually hurt afterwards! lol! I know dolling this beauty up is going to be a relaxed and girly good time...and that's exactly how it should be on your Big Day! :)

Hair was done by the amazing hairstylist Suzie Choi! Suzie is such a sweetheart and an obvious talent at what she does. (Now if only some of her amazing skills would magically transfer to me via osmosis!) Be sure to join her fan page on Facebook to receive regular updates on her gorgeous work. I'm very excited to be working with Suzie numerous times this year, so you'll also be able to see some of her stuff here on artistrhi!

Be sure to also check out Amelia's engagement photos courtesy of talented photographer, Geehae Jeong. Just like I'll be working with Suzie frequently this year, Geehae will be the photographer for several weddings I'm doing make-up for! Geehae was also the talent behind capturing Hye-Rim's wedding (where Suzie did hair and I did the make-up!). Needless to say I'm excited to work with such a talented team once again!

So much to look forward to...thank you!

Amelia - have fun in Napa Valley! riiiiight. ;)

Riveting is MAC's rocker glam collection for Spring 2010. With heavy metal textures and vibrant loudmouth colours, Riveting is hardly a collection for the fading wallflower. For me, the most anticipated items of this collection have to be the matte nail polishes. It's honestly about time that a make-up powerhouse like MAC finally jumped the matte nail polish bandwagon (...or maybe it's a couple of seasons too late?!). Nail polishes in Studded Matte (think rocker glam silver sparkle but matte) and Wham, Bam Glam (a dark taupe) are definitely the most riveting pieces of this collection for me!

MAC Blush in Dirty Plum

I would have loved to have this blush on me for this shoot with Irem, but this sample came just a couple of days too late! Truth is, this is a lovely shade of plum, but hardly a shade of blush that most people can pull off in real life! Dirty Plum is a shade better suited to darker skin tones, unless of course your aim is to contour a la Grace Jones. :)

MAC's Riveting will be available as of February 18, 2010 at MAC stores and MAC counters.

They're back!!! E-shoots with Claudia Hung, that is!! :)

Check out Claud's gorgeous shots of newlyweds-to-be, Anna and Andrew. I've met with Anna and Andrew a couple of times now to do Anna's make-up, and they're such a cute AND fun pair. These pics were taken just this past weekend (on a cccold Sunday in February!), and you would never know the freezing temperatures from looking at the pics of these two!

Awesome job, guys - looking forward to the Big Day in March!! :)

Photo: Claudia Hung (www.claudiahungweddings.com)
Make-up: Rhia Amio (www.artistrhi.com)

The on-set of spring make-up collections usually signals a return to colour. As much as I love the drama of fall/winter make-up collections, I also love the bright pops of colour that go hand-in-hand with spring make-up.

Some of Spring 2010 top make-up trends include:
1. the 'no make-up' make-up look
2. bright pops of colour on the eyes (not pastel, but more vivid like turquoise, orange, pinks and violets)
3. orangey-red or mauve on the lips

Thankfully, I know I can always rely on MAC for gorgeous colour combinations no matter what the season. The latest sets from MAC's Spring Forecast are no exception - you're bound to find a colour to suit your mood and/or your spring wardrobe! With MAC's Spring Forecast, you can choose a nail polish, gloss or shadow (and more) from the colour sets of Coral, Pink, Yellow or Plum to keep you right on track with the season's top trends!

Some of the samples that came my way included:

MAC Eyeshadow in Nanogold

Nanogold is a pale creamy yellow eyeshadow with flecks of pink. This subtle shade makes a perfect complement for Spring's 2010 'no make-up' look. It adds just the right amout of shimmer to accentuate that au naturel 'no make-up' glow.

MAC Tinted Lipglass in Kumquat and Hush, Hush Rose

Kumquat, a frosty light tangerine gloss, also goes well with spring's 'no make-up' make-up look, but is also a great alternative to wearing the season's bold orangey-red lip trend. Pair this peach gloss with a coloured lid for a modernized Spring 2010 look.

Tinted Lipglass in Hush, Hush Rose is a gorgeous berry pink with pearl. Pair this gloss with a bold, winged-eye look for an alternate spring look that's still in tune with the season's trends!

Whatever your selection, there's definitely something for everyone in MAC's Spring Forecast. Of course, it's limited edition so get it before it's gone!

My latest Q&A on the wnetwork.com discusses what make-up to wear while working out.

Guilty as charged - I've been known to wear make-up to the gym (when I did go lol!), and I know I'm not the only one out there that did so! There are definitely some recommendations for make-up do's and don'ts at the gym - check out the Q&A to keep looking good during and after your work-out!

Check out my latest Q&A on the wnetwork on how to cover up acne with make-up! (You know we all do it!)

I know it's bad, and as much as I've resolved against it, I'll be probably be forever poking at my acne (likely until my hormones wear out!). Needless to say, I've had to find the products that truly work when it comes to covering up acne (at all its different stages...and when I've made it worse from picking at it)! Two of my favourite tried and test concealers (that also help me hide my bad habit of picking) are:

1. Vichy Dermablend Concealer
Vichy Dermablend Concealer is a full-coverage concealer that glides on to give opaque-can't-see-the-redness coverage. The creamy consistency dries to a matte finish, and has the right amount of stick to hold onto pimples that are in the early, oily stages of their span. It comes through for me where many other concealers have failed, and also makes my skin appear normal on those problematic days. Hello, love!

2. Stila Perfecting Concealer
Stila Perfecting Concealer is packed with pigment, meaning you only need a tiny dot size for full-on coverage. The initial application is a bit wet, but dries to a semi-matte finish. I find it ideal for use when the skin around the pimple is a bit dry (or in the healing stages) of its lifespan. Versus Vichy's Dermablend, Stila's doubles better as an undereye concealer, as it has more slip.

Of course, you'll find both concealers in my kit...you know, just in case :)

Hope for Haiti - Beauty Benefit Fundraiser in Toronto from Spencer Fu on Vimeo.

I'm very happy to report that our Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit last Sunday was an absolute success!! From the feedback from our participants and volunteers to the amount of money raised - everyone really came together to have a ton of beauty fun while giving to a very worthwhile cause.

Five hours later, a grand total of $2,354 was raised at the Beauty Benefit for the Canadian Red Cross...and with the Canadian government matching individual donations until Feb. 12th, that total doubled to $4,708 towards Haiti relief efforts. We were hoping to raise a base total of $1,500 with the fundraiser, but the day and everyone there really went above and beyond our expectations! Amazing!

Photos courtesy of Spencer Fu and Julie Isip

The success of the day would not have been possible without the generous efforts of all our volunteers. A huge, heartfelt thank you to our awesome volunteer crew (of make-up artists, hair stylists, photographers, family members, friends, significant others, a cupcake baker and a florist!) that all helped to pull the day off! We're missing some key peeps in the following shot, but here are some of the Hope for Haiti's gracious volunteers:

photo by Spencer Fu

The beginnings of the Beauty Benefit all started out as a simple tweet to which the response was overwhelming and inspiring! There were clearly many of us out there that wanted to find a way to somehow actively help Haiti, rather than just passively donate money. As creative types, we realized how fortunate and thankful we were to be able to do what we love, but to also have choice in doing so.

With the Beauty Benefit, our collective aim was to take action and share what we love to do with those in our local community, while also raising funds and awareness towards relief efforts in Haiti. Sometimes we can take a cue from the good intentions of children selling lemonade for charity on the neighbourhood street corner...and this Beauty Benefit was our way of 'selling lemonade' as adults. :)

My hope is that actions like this can demonstrate how each of us can each help our local and global community in our own different ways. Following the success of our Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit, I really hope that an event like this can become an annual affair for different worthwhile causes.

For more on the amazing people behind the event, check out below (click and enlarge):

Thank you for making the Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit a success!

See also:
Spencer Fu's blog post on Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit

Irem Harnak and Nicole rock! I'm really happy to have the chance to work with these talented beauties!

More pics from our shoot can be found at rhiaamio.com...enjoy! (I sure did!)

It's so good to be working with Nadia again. We always have a blast on set, and doing a shoot just gives me more time to hang out with a friend :)

Our last shoot together was back in November for our fairy tales set so as you can imagine I was excited to finally get back into the studio with her! Here are the results of our shoot with the lovely Emily Jane (Ford)....enjoy!
For some behind the scenes photos of the day, check out Nadia's blog!

Photography: Nadia Cheema
Make-up/Hair: Rhia Amio
Model: Emily Jane (Ford)

About a month back, I talked about make-up for headshots, and here are the results of Tina's photoshoot! She's such a gorgeous lady - totally didn't need my 'help' at all!! We did a couple of looks - one natural and one more sultry to show Tina's different sides. (A range of good shots is key to grabbing the eye of casting directors and landing those roles!)
See....she's versatile!

I love the range of shots that Tina's photographer, Ian Brown, took. Ian was a consummate pro, and an all-around great guy. From that first time meeting him and watching him work, it was easy to understand how he gets his shots. He has a real knack for putting people at ease in front of the camera, and in the end, the subject really shines through the photo...but with a beauty like Tina in front of the lens, we wouldn't expect anything less :)

Photography by Ian Brown
Make-up/Hair by Rhia Amio

What an amazing day!!! Thank you to everyone who came out to support the Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit. From our model participants to our sponsors to our Beauty and Photography Crew that shared their time and talent, the day would not have been such a success without the seriously overwhelming support. Numbers are still to be finalized, but with everyone's help, we were able to exceed fundraising expectations for the event!

Here are a few pics (more pics to come + post-party write-up from the awesome day):

Photography area (smile for your before and after pic!)

Raffle baskets were a hit all courtesy of our generous sponsors (Balmshell, Brill Communications, CoverFx, Cargo, Maggie Ng, Make-up Junkie, Mary Kay)

my 'desk'. this is when it's 'neat' :)

feelin' the beauty buzz

demos!

doing good is looking good :)

more demos!

mmmmmm......

so into cupcakes

Toronto the Good. Thank you.

Photos courtesy of Julie Isip :)

I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging in a while, but I assure you it's in the name of a great cause! We've had an amazing response from both participants and sponsors for our Hope for Haiti Beauty Benefit coming up this Sunday. Check out some of the donations we were able to round up for participants' gift bags and/or raffle items!

Coming together for a great cause is always the start of a beautiful thing...thank you everyone for the support!
....can't wait for Sunday!!! :)