how to – Ann Street Studio

Soft Romantic Beauty with Butter London

April 30, 2014May 1, 2014Posted in BeautyTagged baby blue, beautiful, beauty, bridal, bride, butter london, butterlondon, Decorum Models, decorummodels, fashion, fashion editorial, feminine, gown, HLGroup HL Group, how to, joseph dimaggio, josephdimaggio, makeup, makeup tutorial, manicure, michaela, michaela l. bride, monique lhuillier, moniquelhuillier, morgan gates, morgangates, nails, phylicia Henry, phyliciahenry, tintype, tutorial4 Comments

It was a full studio of artists for this romantic shoot! From our tintype specialist Giles Clement to the excellent hairstyling of Joseph DiMaggio and our beautiful redheaded makeup artist Morgan Gates, with her kit full of Butter London, it was clear that beauty was going to be made. Here we offer you a sneak peek at some behind the scenes images, plus the how-to on our muse’s soft & dewy look and naturally nude nails…

Butter London is a company with something for everyone, their motto is no rules – inspired by Great Britain’s rock and rollers (check out the British slang names and cheeky definitions of each product!) they’re all about having fun with your look! Their fall collection launched with bold, bright colors, while their spring collection is more toned down and neutral.

One thing I love is how many of Butter London’s products are multi-use: blushes can also be used as lipsticks, cream eyeshadows can be highlighters – because they know the Butter London girl is on the go…and aren’t we all?

Soft and dreamy makeup…

Morgan suggests prepping the skin with Burt’s Bees Rosewater Toner, as a way to freshen and wake up your skin.

Moisturize the skin all over with Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre – it used to only be available overseas, but it’s now sold in the US! Morgan says it’s among her top products because it hydrates so well and makeup wears really nicely on top of it. Gently smooth on Lucas’s Papaw Ointment on any dry spots around the nose or on the lips. Finally, use Butter London Hydrating Balm to get extra moisture.

Smooth Makeup For Ever HD Foundation all over the face to perfect and smooth the skin. Anywhere you need extra coverage – under eyes, to cover any redness or dark spots – use Tarte’s Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. This creates a really smooth, natural feel instead of one color all over!

Blend a little bit of Naughty Biscuit Cheeky Cream Blush to define the cheekbones without getting excessively colorful.

On the lid, use Twigged Wink Eye Pencil, drawing close to the lash line and then using a small smudging brush to blend quickly (be careful, it dries fast!) blending quickly up to the lid. This creates a gradient up into the crease – and Morgan recommends Twigged because it brings out wonderful tones in everyone’s eyes!

Continue reading “Soft Romantic Beauty with Butter London” →

Bombshell Beauty

April 4, 2014April 7, 2014Posted in BeautyTagged ashlee glazer, ashleeglazer, beauty, beauty tutorial, bombshell, hair tutorial, how to, justin woods, justinwoods, kerastase, MAC, maggie geha, maggiegeha, makeup, nars, tips, tom ford, tomford, tutorial8 Comments

We had the privilege of working with some incredible artists on this shoot – not only Maggie herself, a talented and beautiful actress, but also Justin Woods, our hairstylist, and Ashlee Glazer, our makeup artist. They were kind enough to share their techniques so that you and I can get this bombshell beauty look…

How to get that “mack on me” makeup…

Ashlee took two eyeliners – MAC Teddy and MAC Coffee – and rubbed them all around the inner upper and lower water line and on the lid in a cat eye shape.

Ashlee blended the pencils together, creating a smooth, sexy shape that follows natural bone structure. Next, she used the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage palette, brushing the dark brown on first and closest to the lash line. She buffed up with the medium brown all the way into the crease, fanning out by the brow bone.

Taking the bronze color from the same palette and using the NARS #14 brush – “it’s like a pencil smudge brush” – Ashlee rubbed underneath the eye along the lower lash line, following the shape of the eye and eventually angling upward to meet the “V” of the cats-eye.

A spread of tools for making beauty!

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All about Lips

May 3, 2013May 6, 2013Posted in BeautyTagged beauty, Chelsa Skees, chelsaskees, hair and makeup, how to, make, make cosmetics, tutorial, we see beauty, weseebeauty9 Comments

I’ve been very inspired recently with old masters paintings: Vermeer, The Frick, and simplifying my beauty routine. When Chelsa & I discussed this we loved the idea of forgoing the dramatic eye and focusing only on a strong lip. No mascara! How fresh it looks to me; now her eyes remind me of all those souls in the beautiful paintings I’ve been lost in recently…

Here’s a step by step tutorial using MAKE cosmetics to get the look!

Step 1: Brush Alabaster all over the lid, but not quite to the eyebrow.

Continue reading “All about Lips” →

Berry Romantic

May 2, 2013May 3, 2013Posted in BeautyTagged beauty, chelsa, Chelsa Skees, chelsaskees, how to, howto, make cosmetics, makeup, makeup how to, tutorial, we see beauty, weseebeauty11 Comments

Every time I’m out and about in the city these days I’m looking for colors of spring, anything to erase the grey memories of winter. My beautiful friend Chelsa (who was also running in the marathon in Boston that day and was receiving her medal when the bombs went off) came by the studio to be my springtime muse. A palette of pinks, something soft and pretty, a reminder of how delicate we are like the flowers that bloom.

Here’s a step by step tutorial using MAKE cosmetics to get the look!

Step 1: Sweep Santa Fe all the way over the eyelid, but not quite to the brow.

Continue reading “Berry Romantic” →

All PERMED up!

November 10, 2011Posted in UncategorizedTagged bumble, Bumble and Bumble, hair, hair and makeup, how to, Perm1 Comment

Last month I did something I’ve wanted to do my entire life: Get my hair permed. I’ll admit, the process takes a long time, it smells and you can’t wash your hair for 3 days (sexy) BUT… being able to step off the plane in Paris with still perfectly curled voluminous hair made it worth every second. I love not having to fight humidity, to know that when I go to bed in rollers it will hold the style throughout the next day. I’ll be going back to Bumble and Bumble for a touch up in a few months… and do I even need to say that I love going to the salon ala 1940s housewife?

The Before:

The Process:

The After:

A little bit of this and a little bit of that then I go to bed in these and wake up with Marilyn sized hair and it actually, for the first time in my life, holds all day long!

Beauty secrets revealed. Done.

Thanks Kelly for helping with photos and thanks to Bumble and Bumble for the AMAZING job! xo

Shooting the Brownie’ B

May 31, 2011Posted in UncategorizedTagged black and white, brownie, DIY, how to, kodak, tmax, vintage cameraLeave a comment

You’ve seen them in nostalga stores, on tables at flea markets or even in your grandparent’s attic: little box cameras from byegone days like the Kodak Brownie-

Super easy to use, all you need is some 620 film!

Open the camera back, pull the winding nob out to release the film container from the box camera:

Put your film in the holder at the top, pull out just enough to wrap around the container and feed into the existing empty film spool on the bottom, put film container back into camera box and push the winding nob back in so we can advance the film:

Close the back of the box and wind until you see “1” in the back window and you’re ready to shoot!

Follow the exposure chart on the side of the camera to know what settings to use. For the example photo at the bottom, a very dark cloudy day, a used setting “40”:

How the film came out– The view of the Hudson River from West Point Military Academy:

Soft & Romantic

March 15, 2011Posted in UncategorizedTagged beauty, Caroline Ventura, cup of Jo, fashion, hair, hair how to, how to, Joanna GoddardLeave a comment

Vintage inspired hair with modern ease! After shooting this hair how-to by model turned jewelry designer Caroline for Cup of Jo this became my go-to weekend hair! Less than 5 mins effort & your ready for love in the afternoon–

The visual aid step by step:

Caroline’s Directions:

1. This style is so easy, it’s laughable. Day-old hair is best (which is true for most hairstyles, since it’s easier to work with hair that has a little dirt in it).

2. Divide your hair into three equal parts and quickly spray each section with a little hairspray to help give it hold. Let the hairspray set for a couple seconds, and then lightly comb it out.

3. Take the section on your right side, and twist your hair all the way down to the end. You want to twist counter-clockwise, toward your face. Wrap the right section in on itself, just like you’re making a little bun. Let some of the hair stick out, it’s ok (you don’t want them to look like Princess Leia buns).

4. Pin the right bun in place. I like to use these mini bobby pins, since they’re easier to hide and they’re coated in rubber so they hold your hair better.

5. Next, twist the middle section clockwise and pin. Then twist the left section clockwise and pin.

6. Spray the three buns with a little more hairspray, and you’re done!

***Three Twisted Buns for Cup of Jo, Caroline’s shirt is from Cardigan, and her lipstick is Covergirl Outlast Lipstain in Wild Berry. Thank you Joanna & Caroline for a fun & easy beauty shoot!

March 11, 2010August 14, 2012Posted in UncategorizedTagged flavor of the month, how to, videoLeave a comment

I had some requests for a how-to on my Flavor of the Month for March’s hair– the impressionist painting ‘do. So this is it. It’s my first attempt at a how-to, I learned a lot so the next one will be even better.

The play-by-play:

I have super straight boring hair so I have to curl it (hot rollers, iron, pin curls, whatever) so it’ll form better. If you have wavy or curly hair then you can omit that step.
I tease the crown on the upper back of my head to give it a little ‘ummph’ and the sides of my head to make it easier to form.
twist and pin the sides over your ears first with the front of your hair
roll up the hair in the back and pinning into place (this is really easy with curled hair)
Spray in place!
I pull the hair a little on the top back crown up just for a little more volume after everything is pinned into place.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)