Work Experience; Runway Shows and a Photoshoot

Some of the work experience me and Zoe have done over the past 6 months. Since we decided we wanted to pursue makeup as a career, my friend Zoe Scheltema and I have been trying to gain as much experience working with different designers, photographers and Senior Makeup artists as possible. We have worked with some stunning models and really intriguing concepts and up and coming fashion designers.


Last November we very excitedly accepted an opportunity to do the makeup for a runway show for Kama Scretching, a first year student Whitecliffe School of Design. We went to school with Kama and she is a really cool chick with an amazing talent! Her collection centered around exploring her Native American ancestry, with her garments featuring a lot of leather, deep red and bold orange hues. What was so exciting about working with her was that she chose a really strong, contrasting makeup look that you don't often see on New Zealand runways. The Photographer was Nikau Hindin.

Our Next runway show was in March, with small boutique label Lopsey, founded by Lana Lopesi, another incredibly talented young designer from the Auckland Girls Grammar School class of '09. Lana was debuting her A/W12 collection "Revolt of the Cool Cat" at the Basement as part of the New Zealand Fashion Festival. This was a really exciting experience for us to be part of the New Zealand fashion scene with an established label. The photographer was a familiar face in Nikau Hindin!

After that came an opportunity through SRA to work with one of the contestants from this years Miss World  New Zealand Pageant. This was a completely new experience and as you will see a very different style of makeup compared to the runway looks we had been doing. We worked with a beautiful young woman named Monique Martin-Nathan and spent the day on location at the Wrights Water Gardens in Patumahoe. It was totally like a mini road trip! Monique has a lot of different makeup changes throughout the day to correspond with the different sections of the pageant.

Casual wear first up

Then swimwear...

Cocktail and Black Cocktail wear. Her Black Cocktail wear dress was an awesome wrap dress from Pearl!

Next was the Evening wear section featuring a very vampy lip created using Media lipstick from M.A.C

Lastly, my most recent work experience has been assisting my tutor Sam on a photo shoot with photographer Damien Nikora at White Studios in Mt Eden. This was the first photoshoot I had even even been on let alone assisted on so I was really nervous and excited, which made it difficult to keep a steady hand! We created two looks each on two very beautiful models and it was amazing to see how the girls just transformed when we changed their makeup from a natural to a more editorial look. Damien was a very relaxed and supportive photographer to work with, and his passion for his craft was absolutely evident in his work. Unfortunately I haven't seen the photos yet, so all I can leave you with is this quick behind the scenes shot from on set.