Beauty | By the Pool | Part 3

For the third and last interpretation of the concept ‘by the pool ’, we leave behind the indoor pool.

This time the scene takes place outside, on the private pool deck of a luxurious villa. The subject is leisurely sunbathing on a long chair. Effortless and chic, her natural beauty is highlighted by the warm sunlight, the water reflection and her silky hair flowing.

In reality the set-up was far less glamour. Useless to say that there was no pool in sight as it was all shot in my small living room. And to achieve this kind of lighting I asked Mia to lie down under a large transparent container filled with water. The light was directly pointing to her face filtered through the water swayed by Nichole.

Things are not always as they seem, but I love creating stories.

For the whole editorial story that interprets the theme by the pool you can view Part 1 and part 2

Creative team Model: Mia Brooks | HMUA: Nichole Lee | Photography @VivianePerenyi

Beauty | By the Pool | Part 2

Click through to see part 1 of this series.

For the second interpretation of the ‘by the pool’ concept, the subject is the girl next door who just came out of the swimmingpool after a lap or two. She’s heading to the changing room with her hair and skin wet and her natural beauty barely enhanced.

This series was part of the editorial publication Dreamingless | Issue 49

Creative team Model: Mia Brooks | HMUA: Nichole Lee | Photographer Viviane Perenyi

Beauty | Editorial | Unshakeable

For this editorial feature in issue 48 of Dreamingless magazine, I let Nichole, hair and makeup artist, tell you her approach, inspiration and how she built different compelling looks.

When I get the comp card of the model, that is when the initial inspiration start to form. I have a library of clippings and images that I keep on my phone that I like and might want to try out. What really stood out about Rocci when I saw her comp card and then in real life is her bone structure (especially her cheek bones and jawline). Which fit in really well with Viviane’s androgynous, moody vibe that she wanted to try out. I then draft out the look sequence. Normally going from minimal no-makeup look, building up to a dramatic look for practicality.

For Rocci, it was an obvious move to do a wing eyeliner to keep the angle sharp and strong. Sometimes what I had planned goes out the window as the day progresses and I like working with things that I am drawn to on the day. Rocci really looked amazing when she had an intense facial expression. Which meant I wanted to play with the shadows of her brows so the final look ended up being a electric blue smokey eye that emulated the 80’s power makeup. This then led to her with a match in her mouth, clenching her jawline and frowning as though she is James Dean out of Rebel without a cause (the coat collar up and all!). Her hair was slicked back to really emphasise her cheekbones and jawline. 

I like throwing visual and conceptual ideas at the model so that they can really embrace the overall feel that we are going for. Usually iconic Hollywood star or movie references tend to work.

The inspiration comes from the visual world that we live in, but ultimately, the subject that sits in front of me in the makeup chair determines my ultimate look.

Thank you Nichole for sharing your thought process.

Model: Rocci Smit

HMUA: Nichole Lee

Photographer: Viviane Perényi

Beauty | Webitorial

I was introduced to beauty photography after collaborating several times with makeup artist Nichole Lee. My main body of work was food and still-life then. As I wanted to broaden my photographic work and challenge myself, I initiated some creative portrait shoots. Those helped me getting acquainted to photograph people. 

And from there we started to shoot beauty. I had no idea what I was stepping into and it’s been a learning curve specially with retouching. I kept at it and have developed now a body of work I like and want to grow.

This is one of the first beauty shoots we did. The face of the model, Georgia, was so fitting for the different looks developed around the theme: Warm | Glowing | Dreamy.

The warmth was a constant through all the looks with natural, earthy tones. Glowing was interpreted as a subtle luminous and radiant look throughout. And dreamy was created with the use and play of a veil and bubbles on some of the looks.

Some of these shots have been featured online on Fen Hong Se magazine.

Model: Georgia Farthing HMU: Nichole Lee