Too Dolly Warmest Wishes

It's almost Christmas! I have to say, it doesn't really feel like Christmas to me. Normally I'd be boarding a plane holding a suitcase filled with bikinis off to Mexico or something, and this year I'm stuck at home in the cold weather with family. Hah! 

This Christmas season I've found that a lot of people either love the holidays, or hate the holidays. There's not really an inbetween. Working cosmetic retail this time of year can either be great, or a death sentence. Some customers are just genuinely nice that you are willing to help their sorry butts out because they took way too long trying to find anything their significant other will like; while the other people don't even want you to look at them in fear you are trying to up-sell them with your brain waves.

My mom told me a good saying for the holiday season - "You Scrooge, You Lose!"

So that's my new holiday motto and I'm sticking to it. 

On another note about the holidays, I'm sure you can all relate with the 3+ dinner parties you are most likely to attend, this Christmas Eve my family is spending time with our good family friends. It will be an evening adventure of eating as much as you can, drinking almost that same amount in alcohol, and wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. Isn't it funny how ugly sweaters have now become trendy? It's kind of sad really, that you can't find an ugly enough sweater at a second hand store. With that, I decided to make my ugly sweater -and ugly it is! Except my mom said it's "cute". Probably because it's trendy. But seriously, it has cardinal's on the shoulders & it lights up. It's pretty... pretty gaudy. Bells and all.

Front

Back

So now that you know how crafty I am, you are probably sitting there jealous as ever, so I'll give you some tips on getting yourself ready for the holidays!

1. Don't put on make-up after enjoying a few beverages filled with holiday cheer.

2. If you are going to wear a festive hat at any time during the day, you will most likely have to keep it on until you go to bed due to the hat head you will now have.

3. Warm water in the shower is not actually good for your skin. Your body is not a car, it does not need to be warmed up in the morning. 

4. Scarves hide hickies, but so does a great concealer. (Do people still get hickies?)

and 5. If you really want to impress your guests with a fabulous Christmas up-do, just google image Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch.

Happy Holidays everyone!

xox Celina

New York City

How do you reward yourself? A shopping spree? A spa day? A vacation?

I think I was privilaged to have grown up in a family that encourages traveling. I noticed that my parents have the lifestyle that they work really hard and reward themselves by taking a trip. My sister is very much the same. She saves her money up to be able to go somewhere in the world as a treat to get away from the every day life. I guess I have followed in these footsteps as well. It's funny really, pretty much every year of my life I have always gone somewhere. Whether it be as simple as going to Regina for Thanksgiving, or as extravagant as Europe, or even as relaxing as all-inclusive Mexico for Christmas, I am always going somewhere at least once a year. 

I just got home from New York a couple days ago. A lovely Langley lady came along, and we met my sister in the Big Apple. We stayed in a great little apartment on the East side. We were crazy enough to be there for USA Thanksgiving, which involved seeing the Macy's Day Parade, as well as going to Macy's at midnight for Black Friday. Now, if you haven't been to New York before, this city is already crazy and never sleeps... try going on Black Friday. I thought I might die of heat exhaustion. Regardless, I still found a few great items & shopped, literally, until I dropped. If I can give you one piece of advice, wear great shoes. Or insoles. Or whatever it takes for you to be able to walk for 20 hours a day and still be able to get out of bed the next day to do it again. The food was pretty great. Try and find the biggest slice of hot fresh pizza possible, and eat it by folding it in half. Most memorable food of the trip? Either the Red Velvet Loaf with cream cheese icing, or the bagel I had after a night of drinking the city's finest $12 cocktails.

I went to New York when I was 16 with a theatre group, where I saw tons of Broadway and did pretty much every New York tour you could. But this time was completely different. From a Make-Up artist point of view, they have some of the biggest Sephora's, SoHo is a great place to shop for beauty & trendy items (but beware, it can get pretty pricey), I had never seen an actual Benefit store before, and the department stores all carry great lines of cosmetics too.

I had a busy busy week & now it's back to realtiy. I worked the John Casablancas booth yesterday at the Career Fair and did probably 40 smokey eyes on high school girls, and a handful of SFX on some high school boys. Tomorrow it's off to Vancouver for a little intern work on a video shoot set & let's not forget about working cosmetic retail at Christmas time.

I guess I should have remembered, New York is not time off, it is not a vacation - it is a trip. You come home from New York more tired than ever and basically need a vacation from going there, or at least a good foot massage. 

xox Celina

Crystal Award

Sparkle Sparkle!

On Thursday night, my loving parents and my mustache Movember faced boyfriend and I got dolled up and headed downtown Vancouver to the Villa Amata Ballroom for the John Casablancas Obsidian Fashion Show. The venue had an amazing view of Vancouver with Science World all lit up in the background. We grabbed our front row seats by the runway after taking a peak at the silent auction items, and then I made my way backstage to check-in to receive my award for Outstanding Achievement in my class. 

Tracy, Katie & I

It was great to see so many familiar faces & instructors. Before the awards, two girls went down the runway in the dark with light up hoola-hoops dancing around to dubstep music. They were really talented and put on a unique little show. While receiving my award on stage I was praying to myself that I wouldn't trip and fall in my sparkley shoes. I clutched on to my heavy crystal award with my name ever so nicely etched into it and enjoyed the rest of my evening, catching up with old friends and watching skinny girls trot down the runway in trendy clothes in John Fluevog shoes. Later my mom "won" some great items at the silent auction including Tim Horton's coffee, and some really cute hand-made jewlery. As we were leaving the snow was falling outside slowly covering Vancouver in a white blanket. It was a nice little evening indeed!

Mom & I with our Awards

xox Celina

Babiekins!

Yay!! I am so excited!! If you're a Too Dolly follower, you would have read a previous post of mine that mentioned doing make-up on the cutest little girls in the world! Well, I am pleased to announce that the beautiful photography of Rebecca Sehn has been featured on Babiekins Magazine!! How great is that? But wait, it gets better! These amazing little fairy photos have also been featured on Little Miss Heirlooms!

Thank you so much Rebecca for letting me be apart of this magical photoshoot. The three little girls Piper, Maya and Anna, were amazing little models!! Please visit Rebecca's blog!

xox Celina

Boo La La

A couple weeks ago I was offered a fun little job by a make-up artist friend of mine, Jenny Ruth (Let's Make Up). The costume shop in North Vancouver called Boo La La was doing new advertising photos for their Halloween Costumes. Along with 5 other make-up artists, I had the pleasure of dolling up some of the models.

It was a long busy day filled with so many hard workers buzzing around the shop. Dani Barnes Productions put all the styles & costumes together. It was fun to watch her at work, encouraging us to go crazy with the make-up on the traditional Hallowe'en looks.

I will soon have my photos & will post them when I can. Until then, I've been featured on their website as one of their artists. If you'd like to read it, click here!

What are you going to be for Hallowe'en?

Only 2 weeks until my Christmas!

xox

Celina

Miss B

I feel as though there are about to be some big changes in my life regarding work. Changes aren't always a bad thing, and I think people may end up being motivated to do better things with their lives because of the changes. 

Miss B herself

It just so happens that my manager at work has decided to leave. In a normal work environment this wouldn't be a big deal. But I don't work in a normal work environment. I don't have a normal job, and I for sure do not have a normal manager. Never in my life have I ever connected so well with woman in the workplace who has taught me so many things over the last 8 months. 

Her name is Belinda. It's impossible to describe this woman, you'd have to meet her to believe it. The first time I saw her I remember thinking I was looking at some sort of 5'3'' 1950's mirage. The best part about this, is it's a daily routine. There's not a moment in her life that she doesn't look glamorous. 

think pink

The first time I set foot in her home it was like walking on to a movie set. A pink bicycle with pink boxing gloves in the basket, surrounded by different pairs of high heels greeted me at the front door. A vintage hair salon blow dryer chair with a life size sock monkey under it was just around the corner which lead me into the tv room of red walls and leopard print couches. Marilyn Monroe and Fashion coffee book tables in the centre of the room, and a small martini bar in the corner. Not to mention little chiwawa's running around waiting patiently for you to drop some food on the floor for them. I sneaked a peak in her cozy bedroom and oggled at all of her jewelry and perfumes layed out across her vanity. Another hallway with a sewing machine lead me into a small costume shop where she sold clothes & vintage apparel. She sews, she bakes, she drives an old T-Bird to car shows, she has an amazing sense of humor, she's a mother of 2, she knows everything about cosmetics and the beauty industry, and she is the best manager I have ever had. It's no wonder she was able to put together a team of beauty experts (which I am so happy to be apart of) that have been chosen in the top 10 team finalists (& the only team finalist in BC) for the 2011 Cosmetics Outstanding Service Awards. 

It doesn't matter whether or not we win, it's the fact that she got us that far. 

mini B for a day

For my last official shift working with Belinda, I decided to pull a prank on her. When I got ready for work on Tuesday morning, I put on a black wig and styled it in a 1950's fashion, with the bangs curled in a loop down my forehead and put a big flower pin in the back - just the way Belinda does.

I filled in my eyebrows with a bit of an exaggerated arch, put on false eyelashes, drew on a cat eye, applied pink lipstick and lots of rosey blush to my cheeks - just the way Belinda does. I put on a highwaisted black pencil skirt with a lace slip underneath - just the way Belinda does.

the Dave that made a difference

And just as an added touch, I put on some big black framed glasses, and a tee shirt that says "What a difference a Dave makes" (Dave is her boyfriend)

When Belinda walked into work and saw her new coworker that was a mini version of heselfr (I named myself Celinda) she was overwhelmed with how funny I can be, and was truly amazed that I would want to be her for a day. I am sad to see Belinda go, but it won't be the last I see of her. The rug that she has swept some of her goals under has created too big of a bulg that she's tripped over one too many times. It's time for her to redecorate, and live her dreams.

Celinda & Belinda

xox Celina

School of Rock

Last week we had our Fall Gala at work!

All of us creative girls put our heads together and decided to give this Gala our all. We took advantage of the back to school time of year & our love for rock n roll and made a School of Rock Gala.

Each of us decided to go as a famous rock star for the day (funny how we all ended up dressing like men.. where are all the female rock stars?) I naturally took this opportunity to find a rock star with awesome trademark make-up to copy, and although KISS came in a close 2nd, I chose Davie Bowie.

I didn't quite commit to the slick back red hair as I have had some bad experiences with that "hair spray dye" so instead I gave myself some nasty makeshift dreadlocks. 

Then I took out my face paints and sparkles and voila!

I got a few funny looks, and lot of people thought I was crazy. I say, I'm not crazy, I'm just dedicated.

During my shift I ate Halloween candy, I learned how to play Guitar Hero, & watched my manager walk around dressed up as Slash. How many of you can say you have this much fun at work?

xox Celina

Summer Wrap Up

It's officially the last week of Summer & everyone is getting their last fill of sunshine in before Fall finally hits us like a ton of bricks. The weather may not have been amazing this year, but what an exciting summer I have had!! When Jennine Cook - Industry Liaison / Co-Director of the JCI Make-up Dept. told me:

 "Your first 3 months after Graduation will set the pace for the rest of your Make-Up Artistry career",

boy was she right! I have had so many opportunities this summer to express myself creatively and I couldn't be happier. It has been hard; as you can probably tell, I haven't had much time off (hence the randomly updated blog) but working my butt off has been worth it.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited along to a magical photoshoot with Portrait Photographer Rebecca Sehn. I trucked my kit into the middle of a field and made 3 beautiful little girls, ages 5, 3, and 2 into little fairies. It was so adorable to put blush and shimmer on their little chubby cheeks. I was a little bit worried because I have never worked on that young of a client before, but they were really great little girls. The 2 year old even helped me put her blush on (I let her hold my fluffy powder brush) and she scrunched her little face up because it tickled her! I am still waiting to see the final project and I can't wait to show everyone. Rebecca made their fairy costumes by hand and I'm more than positive she captured some beautiful images as the sun was setting. 

If you'd like to see the sneak peak Rebecca put on her blog, please check it out here!

xox Celina

JCI Tutorials

Hello Too Dolly readers!

I have to admit, I feel bad for not being able to update my blog as often as I did when I was in school. But at the same time, I don't feel bad because I have been SO BUSY with make-up!! It is incredibly rewarding to be finally doing what I love (oh, and it's exhausting too!) 

This summer I have been fortunate enough to not only save up some money and practice my make-up and hair styling skills at my two jobs, the Beauty Boutique in Shoppers and at Blo Blow Dry Bar, but I have also been apart of a couple weddings doing bridal and bridal party make-up, as well as a photoshoot or two, I worked the JCI booth applying special fx at Vancouver IMATS, and I also filmed two make-up tutorial videos for the JCInstitute YouTube site! Busy busy bee! And summer's not even close to being over yet!

I appreciate all of you who take the time to read about my make-up filled life, so now you can stop reading and take some time and WATCH a little sum sum! 

Here's my first JCInstitute tutorial for a Summer Neon Make-Up Trend! Super cute, I love how bright and fun this look is. 

And, just to be one step ahead, here is the 2nd JCInstitute tutorial for a Fall 2011 Make-Up Trend.

I kind of hate listening to myself talk, but I hope they are informative and fun to watch. And if anything, you can just have a good laugh at how I am now on YouTube.

Thanks friends!
xox
Celina

IMATS 2011

I am so excited!! I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in I.M.A.T.S (International Make-Up Artistry Trade Show) in Vancouver on Sunday July 24. I re-created my half angler fish half man special effects prosthetic make up at the John Casablancas booth. It was an amazing experience in a hectic environment and I am overwhelmed with joy to see I have been posted in an online article on the Vancouver Sun!!

Make-Up Artist Magazine also put up their re-cap video of Vancouver IMATS 2011 on their website. Take a look if you're interested in seeing more awesome make-up that was done that day. If you look carefully, you will see my little smile and my hot pink lipstick looking scared by an anglerfish man trying to bite me near the end of the video!

So much fun!

xox Celina

Harry Potter

I am so excited that Harry Potter 7 pt 2 is coming out this week!! Martin and I have our pre-bought tickets ready and we are probably going to be waiting in line for like 8 hours before the midnight showing. I still don't know what I'm going to wear, normally we dress up as characters, but this year we might go red carpet glam in honor of the final film. I've already watched all the red carpet highlights from the Premiere in London and I have fallen in love with Daniel Radcliffe even more. Wow. That's me for you. Spilling out my loser details all of the internet. But it could be worse, I could be a Twi-hard. (No offense to you Edward vs Jacob lovers)

In my excitement towards the final Harry Potter film, I have checked out some of the fun make-up and special effects facts about the movies! Please enjoy (but probably not nearly as much as I do):

~

- 250 body casts have been made of actors for deaths, petrifications and stunning spells.

- More than 200 creatures have been created for the Harry Potter film series. 

- The creature effects department sculpted all the Death Eater masks in a week and the prop team finished the masks, with each featuring an ornate individual pewter design. All of the actors that wore them had to have a life cast in cold alginate, which took 2.5 minutes to set. 

- Harry's infamous scar has been put on by makeup approx 5,800 times. This is not only on Daniel Radcliffe, who has had the scar applied approx 2,000 times, but also on his doubles and stunt doubles, all of whom wear the scar.

~

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3455827456/tt1201607

xox Celina

Just Sayin'

Tough day workin' the Beauty Boutique today.
I sold a lip gloss and a pregnancy test - let's hope she doesn't get the two mixed up!

xox Celina

Body Painting with Katie

In June I was very fortunate to be asked to work with Katie Sullivan. Katie is an amazing blonde bombshell with so many talents it's ridiculous. She grabbed her camera and put together an amazing group of models, make-up artists and hair stylist who all wanted to do some body painting and get some great shots for their portfolios.

In the basement of Gastown Tattoo Parlour around 7am, I set up my suitcase next to the plates of fruit Katie was so kind to supply us with, and after Jessica Brown finished braiding hair and plants to create a beautiful 'do, I body painted the lovely model Courtnay - the perfect young woman for this hippie flower child look.

I was fortunate enough to be able to two looks. I airbrushed the very energetic Alice as a circus cutie and dressed her up in some accessories to jazz her up! Hair stylist Amanda Veira completed the look with some curls and rolls in Alice's hair, then out to the spray painted alley way to capture these great shots!

Great work ladies! And so much fun!

xox Celina

Busy Bee

Too Dolly is always changing!

I added Slideshows and Services on my page! I am now in the real world - I have officially graduated from JCI (how exciting!) and I have a very busy summer ahead of me. I will be updating my page regularly so make sure to keep checking back! Thanks for all the love & support as I get my business booming!

Check out my work on my Photography slideshow!



xox Celina

Final Exam

What seemed like the longest and hardest day of my life, is finally over and I can breathe a sigh of relief (after a well deserved strawberry martini I might add). Today was my practical final exam. Weeks of sculpting and pouring gelatin moulds are over, and today I was put to the test of creating my monster of a final. I am lucky enough to have a boyfriend that let me use his face and body as my guinea pig and transform him into what is my creepiest work yet. I wanted to create something that scared me. My inspiration came from what I think it's the scariest place - the deep sea. We know more about outter space than we do about the depths of our Earth's ocean, and that creeps me out. A great example of a terrifying underwater creature that I can't even believe actually exists is the Angler Fish. If you've watched Finding Nemo, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say "the scary fish with the light bulb on it's head". They look like this:

I can't even begin to describe all the hard work that was put into this special effects makeup, all I can say is we had from 9:30am - 3:30pm to complete it. I'd like to add, as a side project, my awesome cousin let me into his denturist lab and together we created a really cool set of custom teeth for my exam. They really pulled the whole look together and I am so grateful they turned out even better than I had expected. My boyfriend also helped me out with the light fixture, he even made it turn on and off. Talk about WOW factor!

Latex bald cap
 Light & wires running underneath latex prosthetic piece
Gelatin custom prosthetic face piece.

Airbrush & hand painted
Bottom fake teeth made with sculpy
Custom upper set character teeth

 

Behold, half Man half Angler fish

xox Celina

networking ;)

Hey Craig,

I know you're probably reading this because we shared a very intimate moment at Deluxe restaurant. Here's the photo you asked to take with me. I hope the rest of your movie shooting goes well, and if you ever need a make-up artist, you know who to call.

xox Celina

Prosthetic Piece

I just realized how much work went into the movie Mrs. Doubtfire.

Over the past two weeks I have been working on an old age gelatin prosthetic piece. It all starts by Life Casting the person you are going to apply the piece to. This is Kelsey's face. We casted her face using alginate and plaster bandages. You lay still with your whole face covered, other than your nostrils so you can breathe. After it all sets (roughly 15-20 minutes on the face) you take it off and fill the casting with plaster, which gives you a solid impression of the face!

After pouring more plaster around the face mould (basically like a big plate around the face) you can begin sculpting your with clay which will look identical to how your piece turns out. Make sure to mark the hair line, because your piece can't go past it.

One you are happy with your clay sculpture, you create what is called "flashing" around it (so when you pour plaster on top, it will not stick to the face & plate, vaseline is used as the release), then plaster is poured over top, and once you crack open your two moulds, you now have a negative look at your sculpture.

Pour gelatin into this "bowl" of a face, lock your other face on top, and once that sets - you have your gelatin prosthetic piece.

Cut out the piece, apply it using pros-aid, witch hazel, bondo, latex, making sure to blend blend blend those edges!! Paint that piece up, add some eyebrows (I hand laid the eyebrows myself, using the same technique as when we laid beards) add a wig and check out my old lady Kelsey!

"Oh, sir. I saw it! Some angry member of the kitchen staff, Did you not tip them? Oh, the terrorists! They ran that way. It was a run-by fruiting. I'll get them sir. Don't worry." - Mrs Doubtfire

xox Celina

JCI - BYOB

On Sunday April 17th I was one of the lucky top students in my Make Up Artistry class to be able to participate in John Casablancas' BYOB - Build Your Own Book. It's a 1 day photoshoot which involves a hair student, a makeup student, a fashion student, a JCI model and a Vancouver photographer. As a group, you come up with 4 different looks for an editorial photoshoot. It's an awesome opportuity for creativity and a bonus - the top group's photos are published in String magazine. (still waiting to hear which out of the 6 groups won)

I was paired up with Rachel the fashion stylist and Laurie the hair stylist (I really wish I knew their last names), as well as JCI model Katina Small and photographer Budianto Nasrun. 

Our 4 looks were based on Greek Gods and Goddesses. Here they are!

Look 1: God of Time

Look 2: Goddess of Earth

Look 3: God of War

Look 4: God of Chaos

xox Celina