EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it...by Cathi Singh

Hello IMPO readers and subscribers! I wanted to let you in on some very exciting news that our very own Melissa Street has been keeping secret until recently.

Melissa and her very good friend and professional colleague, Kim Greene, have combined forces to form a new company called Greene Street Beauty. This duo brings 40 years of experience in the beauty industry to consumers, students and professionals via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.

Currently, Greene Street Beauty is “under construction” while forming their first beauty app for both the iPhone and Android, which will be available in 2013. In the meantime, these ladies are bringing their knowledge of the film and television industry, proper makeup application, as well as providing support to students by filming tutorials and how-to videos for their YouTube Channel.

In order to get the word out about this new venture, Greene Street Beauty is running a contest on their YouTube Channel right now for all subscribers – please see the video below and make sure to subscribe in order to be entered! Also, make sure to “Like” their Facebook page because a little bird told me that another contest is forming over there too!

But, let’s give you a little bit of background info on both Melissa and Kim, just in case you are scratching your heads and asking yourself, “Who are these ladies?”

Melissa Street has been a freelance makeup and FX artist in the film, television, print and live event industry for the past 20 years. She attended the acclaimed makeup school, Joe Blasco in Los Angeles, California, and as luck would have it she would be mentored by the late, great Stan Winston, who gave her the opportunity to apprentice in his lab and help out on some big blockbuster movies that became iconic films – Terminator, Aliens and Invaders from Mars!

In 1992 Melissa moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where she worked on several live shows at the MGM Grand and Monte Carlo Hotels, as well as other live productions and music videos. There she met an amazing makeup artist, Jim Sacca, who took Melissa under his wing and helped form her career by giving her the opportunity to work with the incredible James Earl Jones.

In 2001, she relocated back to Southern California and began to form and build relationships within the freelance production community. Melissa would spend the next 12 years working hard to expand her business Epic Makeup, which now serves clients such as NBC, CNN, CBS, Food Network, Telemundo, E!News, ESPN, HBO and Comcast to name just a few.

She has worked with celebrities from Ron Howard, Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, Jeff Bridges and Suzanne Somers to famous musicians like Carlos Santana, Foreigner, Kenny Loggins and Chris Ledoux to comics like Carrot Top and Louie Anderson.

Currently, Melissa works on national and local commercials, non-union films and television shows, YouTube web series, industrials, corporate videos, news media productions and live theater. She also co-owns InPoint Productions, owns and writes for this blog, as well as her industry blog, Epic Makeup and she has her own personal YouTube Channel.

Kim Greene is first and foremost a “filmmaker!” She has been Union Makeup Department Head on some of the biggest and most memorable films of the century, including Terminator Salvation, Anchorman, Superbad, Charlie’s Angels, The Wedding Singer, Scream 4, The Three Stooges, The Green Hornet, This is 40 and the soon to be released Identity Thief, to name just a few.

Her IMDB credits read like a “who’s who” in the film industry and she has been a personal makeup artist to Woody Harrelson, Drew Barrymore, Christina Applegate and Neve Campbell.

Kim began her career by studying under Vincent Kehoe, who was among one of the best makeup artists of his time, as well as an author and teacher. Mr. Kehoe would help Kim development the foundation for her skill set and prepare her for a tremendously successful makeup career. She would then move forward to meeting and working directly with Ron Berkley, who was so impressed with her that he brought her on to the Black and White music video set with Michael Jackson.

Kim is also an innovative entrepreneur and developed a very successful line of cosmetic bags both for the professional and consumer. The Kim Greene Line was originally formed because she realized there was a need within the professional makeup artist community for sturdy, easy to clean and comfortable to wear set and actor bags used to store and transport makeup from the trailer to the set for touch ups during filming.

There was nothing available at the time that wasn’t heavy, canvas and dark, which when you combine those three elements make it difficult for an artist to find the makeup or tools that they need efficiently. She became so frustrated with the bags that were on the market that she set out to change the standards.

Today, almost every professional makeup artist in the film and television industry uses The Kim Greene Line of bags at work everyday and they have helped many other Department Head’s keep organized even on the most hectic sets, like American Idol! Her bag line is great for travel and can easily fit inside your carryon luggage and because the bags are "clear" passing through TSA with those 3 ounce liquid bottles is a breeze!

When Kim is not on a film or television set, she teaches at professional makeup schools, writes incredibly informative blog posts on Kim Greene’s Tips from the Set and films tutorials for her personal YouTube Channel. She has also been a guest judge on season 2 of the SyFy Network’s makeup artist show, FaceOff, hosted by McKenzie Westmore.

So as you can see, these two are really the Dynamic Duo of the makeup world (I’m just not sure which one is Batman and which one is Robin). Together they hope that their passion to educate the public about the beauty industry is welcomed with open arms.

I hope that you take the time and opportunity to subscribe to their YouTube Channel, interact by sending them a comment, suggestion or question and “Like” their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. They are always willing to reach out and answer your most pressing beauty questions and help ease your frustrations, so give then a shout!

Get Organized!

We spend hundreds, if not thousands organizing our homes, from our closets to our kitchen cabinets, buying containers and pouches of every size, shape and color to make our life more streamlined. We always want more items in less space. So why wouldn’t we apply the same tactics to our professional makeup kits or personal beauty bags?

As freelance makeup artists, we are constantly lugging an “everything kit” with us to be prepared for each client’s needs and last minute changes. Carrying a full makeup and hair kit, as well as a set chair, tools and disposables, magically transform our cars into our everyday makeup trailer! 

We refer to ourselves as makeup pack mules, but we don’t like to make three trips to the car to unload our equipment at each job. So, when Z Palettes entered our lives, even the Pro's chiropractor was overjoyed!

Z Palettes are magnetic makeup palettes with a clear window lids, designed to consolidate your bulky compacts and individual eyeshadows and blushers after depotting. Instead of carrying six separate powder foundations, the Pros can depot them and place them all in ONE Z Palette, see them all at one time and stack them easily in our Pro kits.

As for consumers, they are perfect for those beauty junkies or jet set gals (or guys) on the go who want to bring a variety of makeup with them in order to be ready for any occasion! You can have all your colors right at your finger tips and not stuffed in a drawer, upside down so you can read the names of the colors on the labels! It truly is the one product that has streamlined our Pro kits and made working on the fly easier and much more efficient. If you are a collector of makeup products then the Z Palette is perfect for you!

The palettes also make it easier to disinfect and sanitize our products after each use. We recommend using Beauty So Clean spray; just line up your palettes, give them all a good spray, let dry and viola! They are ready for your next makeup look!

Z Palette creator Zena Shteysel originally launched her line with two sizes: the small square and large rectangular palette. Recently, she super-sized the large palette and gave us makeup artists the PRO Palette, which is slightly wider and longer, making it easy to fit full-sized blushes or eyeshadows...IN ONE PLACE! 

Her most recent addition, the DOME Palette, was created to accommodate the rounded mineral powder products on the market today. By making the palette deeper, the half dome powders have plenty of room without touching the lid. It also makes a great carrying case by holding several brushes with your products or a powder puff or two to keep set bags or personal makeup bags uncluttered.

Made with Eco friendly and recyclable materials, Z Palettes come in the iconic Black color and also now in more options like stripes with a nod to nautical flare, animal prints if your'e feeling sassy, and bold colors making them easier to find or color coordinate your makeup depending on your mood! 

Also, because some products do not have magnets attached after the depotting process, we recommend purchasing packets of round and square metal stickers from the Z Palette website ensuring that your favorite product's "pans" will adhere to the palette's magnet bottom.

If you want to consolidate lipsticks or concealers, we highly recommend purchasing the empty metal pans from Z Palette. 16 fit in a small palette, 50 in a large, and 60 in the PRO and DOME palette. The Pros love carrying our lipsticks and concealers this way because it’s easier to mix colors and customize shades. 

Z Palettes are available for purchase at Naimies Beauty Center, Nigels Beauty Emporium, Frends Beauty Supply in stores and online, as well as from many other vendors. Go to www.zpalette.com for more information. The Z Palette website also has an entire section dedicated to depotting your products, which the Pros have found to be very helpful. http://zpalette.com/content/how-to-depot/ 

Do it like a Pro this Halloween...

The Pros at IMPO love Halloween because it is the one holiday that you can become anyone or anything you want and you don’t have to buy any presents! Plus, the more original the costume the better, so now is the time to let your freak flag fly and think outside the box!

This post is going to be a little different because we won’t be giving you makeup how-to’s on characters we think you should be this season, but instead we will present you with a behind the scenes guide on where the Pro’s shop. We hope that this will help the consumer find just what they need to bring their Halloween visions to life!

If you are thinking of a total transformation, the type that even your own mother won’t recognize you, then we suggest either purchasing or renting a mask.

SPFX Masks – remember the scene in the movie Drive where Ryan Gosling takes a mask from the makeup trailer in order to disguise himself to kill the big mob boss? Well that mask was from SPFX! They specialize in both Realistic and Monster Silicone masks that will instantly transform you from human to horrible. By far these are the most convincing masks on the market today and they are the most comfortable to wear. They fit like a glove and allow your mouth to move naturally with the mask insuring extreme realism.

The Horror Dome – this company specializes in Latex masks that are affordable and high quality. Most are hand painted and hand “haired” for the ultimate in realism. If you are looking to really scare the crap out someone, this is your best bet! They also sell props, animatronics and costumes! The Pros particularly love the Crypt Keeper!

Are you on a smaller budget? No worries! Try your hand at using appliances, both silicone or latex, like the Pros do when needing to get the most bang for a producer’s buck!

The Scream Team – try your hand at actual FX Makeup application and get affordable foam latex appliances. These pieces were developed by award-winning FX Makeup Artists that are working in Hollywood today, so they know a thing or two about creating scary monsters. Just log on, pick your creature, purchase, then download the instructions and you are well on your way to a hauntingly great Halloween!

Cinema Secrets Woochie – you can still create an incredible character transformation using appliances from Woochie on the smallest budget and the good folks as Cinema Secrets have detailed videos with helpful hints in order to make application easy and last throughout the night! Cinema Secrets is a one-stop-shop for all things Halloween located in Burbank, California and they supply many film studios with makeup for big budget movies, but you don’t have to be a professional makeup artist to shop there. Cinema Secrets is open to the public and they have a great website with amazing customer service, so even if you live outside of Los Angeles you can still shop like a Pro!

Water-Melon Appliance Kit by Michael Davy – the Pros met Michael Davy at this summer’s IMATS in Los Angeles and we loved his realistic appliances so much that we stocked up immediately! So, if you are into really cool wounds then this is where you want to shop! These are so easy to apply and remove and Michael has included everything you need, even the blood, in every package!

Maybe you want to keep things simple or you are extremely artistic, then we suggest checking out face and body makeup and paints.

Kryolan Professional Make-up Supracolor and Aquacolor – for 66 years this makeup company has served the theater, film and television industry around the globe.  They manufacturer a variety of products for every aspect of makeup artistry you can possibly think of, but the Pros love using the Supracolor and Aquacolor palettes when we are feeling out of the box creative! These “paints” are safe for the skin and face and are so pigmented that a little goes a very long way. You can thin them down and make a wash of color or use them at their full potential. Basically, the sky is the limit!

MakeUpForEver Flash Palette – this 12 color, cream palette is amazing. The makeup combinations are endless, which means your creativity is endless. You can use the highly pigmented colors all over the body and face and you can mix them together to make custom foundation colors. Regardless of your level of artistry, this palette is fun to play with everyday!

Of course there are many types of face and body paints out on the market that you can purchase as individual colors instead of in palettes. Ben Nye, MAC, Joe Blasco, MakeUpForever and Kryolan all carry assortments that range in price, just give them a Google.

If you are looking for something super easy, but that packs a big punch then try some temporary tattoos!

TinsleyTransfers – chances are if you go to the movies, you have already seen TinsleyTransfers at work, because almost every major film and television actor portraying a character has worn these babies. They are the Pro’s secret weapons because they look very real on camera, but the folks at Tinsley also make really cool Gorywood tattoos that look like real injuries. You can pick up this product at Naimie’s Beauty Center in Valley Village, California or order them off their website. This beauty center is where all the Pros shop, but it is open to the public too. The staff at Naimie’s is very knowledgeable and can help you with the exact makeup you need. They also stock a variety of the products that we have mentioned in this post, including MakeUpForEver products.

If you still need some visual help on ideas for choosing a look this Halloween then we suggest getting online and searching images of professional makeup face charts. MAC, MakeUpForEver and others have several themes for Halloween that will help boost your creative thinking!

Hopefully, the information in this post gives you options on where to purchase professional grade makeup this Halloween and for a few inspirational ideas if you are having trouble deciding on what to be this year. Now you can avoid the cheap and sometimes disgusting makeup sold in mass marketed Halloween stores!

Have fun, create and be safe this Halloween!

*all photos are the work of other makeup artists.

Summer Dream = BB Cream

When summer really hits the last thing anyone feels like doing is putting on gobs of makeup! The current weather in your area may be unbearably hot and sticky, but you still want to look and feel amazing as you walk out the door to your job, a date or for a quick shopping trip.

The Pros had heard of the current trend called the BB Cream and at first we thought it was such a gimmick that we overlooked several samples sent to us to try. We thought the product would be just another tinted moisturizer with a few extra ingredients inside, so we tossed the samples in a bin and made a note that we would get to test out the product eventually.

Well…on a recent and very long layover at London’s Heathrow Airport, Pro MUA Melissa Street wandered into the Boots No7 store to pass a little time. While perusing the aisles she came across the No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream and remembered about the samples sitting in the “bin” back home. She noticed that several women waiting in line to check out had this cream in their baskets and since she had 5 hours to “kill” she figured it was time to get educated and started to play around with the testers.

Mel immediately discovered the difference between a BB Cream and a Tinted Moisturizer…it was not only the ingredients, it was the amount of coverage the cream provided. One thing that Mel personally disliked about using a tinted moisturizer was that the coverage was too light and she always felt the need to use a concealer on her over 40 skin.

Now, the main thing about a BB Cream is that it is a unique 3-1 formula – moisturizer, primer, SPF – all rolled into one while at the same time enhancing the skin with a tint of foundation. It is a multitasking product that eliminates the need to pile on massive skin prep as well as foundation.

Not all BB Creams are alike though…some provide a light or heavier SPF ranging from 15 to 45. Others have 5-1 ingredients by adding pearl pigments for a natural glow or minerals, antioxidants, vitamins, etc., to boost skin elasticity. Some have a matte effect on the skin and some massively hydrate. The bottom line is…the market is becoming saturated with BB Creams so how do you find the one that is right for you?

The Pros have now tested about 15 different BB Creams and have narrowed it down to 4 of our favorite. All provide different results and all of the following recommendations can be used on all skin types.

Boots No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream – this was the very first cream the Pros tried and we fell head over heals for the coverage! This product has a heavier coverage than a typical BB Cream. Contains an SPF of 15, it comes it two colors – Fair or Medium. Not a ton of range when it comes to skin tone, but the Medium color will work up to light Olive toned skin. Comes in 3 formulas: Normal/Dry, Normal/Oily or Dry/Very Dry. This product disguises imperfections and in some cases eliminates the need for a concealer. Blends beautifully on the skin by applying with a brush, sponge or fingers. Some formulas set more matte so wait about 5 minutes to let it settle into the skin before lightly powdering – you may find you do not need to powder at all!

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream SPF 35 – this product provides amazing medium coverage and can be applied under typical foundation or worn alone. It does eliminate large pores and controls oil. Contains an “optical pearl pigment” that helps give skin a glow eliminating looking too flat or too matte. The color range has 5 colors to choose from in Fair to Dark. We prefer to apply and blend this product with a stipple brush or Beauty Blender Sponge. This formulation is best for normal to dry skin or slightly oily textures (in the T-Zone) and great for more mature skin.

Embryolisse Complexion Illuminating Veil – BB Cream – SPF 20 – this cream is great for oily skin because it contains mineral powders that will help to mattify the skin and control oil throughout the day. Contains a potent moisturizer, hyaluronic acid and color-changing pigments, which mean one color for all! This product is universal and will change to match your skintone. The Pros have found that this product settles into the skin very matte so there is little need to powder. Provides a lighter coverage but still blurs pores and fine lines while concealing minor imperfections. We prefer to apply this product with our fingers or a stipple brush.

Senna Cosmetics Barley Base – this product by far has the best range when it comes to skin tone colors with 7 to choose from – light to a deep dark. Contains an SPF of 20, this product has very light coverage, is oil-free, fragrance-free and longwearing. This product is mineral infused which provides a youthful, healthy glow. It does boost elasticity and will prevent your skin from looking dull in texture. It has a sheer coverage so you may feel the need to use a concealer to cover more pronounced skin imperfections or a break out. Good for all skin types and we prefer to apply this product a sponge or brush for an even application.

All the BB Creams listed above contain a minimal amount of SPF so it is recommended that if you prefer more sun protection that you apply a thin, even layer of facial sunscreen first, but let the sunscreen sink into the skin for about 10 minutes before applying the BB Cream. We recommend Jan Marini's Antioxidant Daily Face Protectant SPF 30.

Also, it is important to note that the BB Creams listed above are not waterproof nor is the sunscreen within the product so make sure to reapply after swimming or long term exposure to the sun!

The Pros love a fresh makeup look, especially in the summer and we prefer to use products that are more long lasting, so now is the time to try those cream blushes and eye shadows too in brighter, fun colors!

Stay cool!