International Latin Samba

Lately my schedule has been jam packed with wedding clients, photoshoots, and showcases! In this particular blog, I wanted to step away from makeup for a little bit to share with you a recent showcase I performed at!

My professional partner's friend holds an annual balloom showcase in Anaheim for people to come, dance, enjoy live entertainment, and food. We were asked to perform every year, but never had the time to do so! This year we finally had no event going on that particular day in order for us to come share our love of dancing with everyone.

We chose the lively, rhythmical samba as our dance. International Latin ballroom samba dance is different than Brazilian samba. Ballroom samba, even more than other ballroom dances, is very disconnected from the origins and evolution of the music and dance that gives it its name. Below is an image of us in action. Professional video clip of our performance will be coming soon!

Miss Indonesia 2011

I recently got the chance to do hair and makeup for Miss Indonesia 2011, Bianca Beatrice. I was contacted by my photographer friend, Paul. He needed someone to do makeup and hair for her since he would be shooting her later on in the day. We set up an appointment for her to come to my home studio as I will have several clients after her and could not be on location of the shoot.

When Bianca arrived, I was taken back at how gorgeous she is! She well earned her title of Miss Indonesia. Not only that, she was so friendly and nice. It was such a pleasure working with her. She was visiting from Indonesia and would be leaving after the weekend of the photoshoot, but I made her promise we would keep in touch for the next time she comes visit I would love to do an editorial shoot with her where I can play around with different looks! Below are a few behind the scenes photos I've received. Can't wait to see more!



John Hawkins & Yasmin

I've been truly lucky to be able to work with such amazing people lately! Eventually in the future I would like to create some tutorials as well as product reviews to help others learn more about makeup. For now, I am just so excited to share with you my collaborations!

I was booked for a shoot with John Hawkins last weekend. He had a concept in mind and communicated with everyone about his idea. Let me tell you: there is nothing that I love more than someone who communicates with me! It is so much easier when everyone is on the same page and have the same idea prior to coming to the shoot. I appreciate that very much! John was nothing short of that and I was relief. When I arrived, he had 2 settings set up. John is so precise and articulate that I knew instantly the photos would turn out amazing. Photoshop may be a wonderful thing for some people, but it is not a makeup artist's friend. The goal is to showcase the artist's work and sometimes, photoshop completely takes away from that. Well, I was so ecstatic when I saw John's work due to the minimum use of photoshop.

Our model Yasmin is a total sweetheart. I love her bubby and positive personality that she brought to the table. She was great at following directions and had the best smile! I am very happy with the results of our collaboration.

Towards the end of the shoot, John asked me to give his daughter a makeover since she really liked my work. I was more than happy to play some more with makeup. Janei is absolutely gorgeous, which makes my job pretty easy.

 

Yasmin

Natural look

Glamour

 

Janei

 

Behind the Scenes



 

A Great Collaboration

Today, I wanted to share with you one of my recent collaborations. To start off the story, I have to back track a little.

About 4 years ago I participated in an association in college. It was called VSA, otherwise known as Vietnamese Student Association. The organization's goal was to reach out to students about the Vietnamese culture. Every year they would put on a show call Culture Night, where there would be singing, dancing, and a fashion show. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love art, especially performing arts! It would only make sense that I participated. I did everything: singing, dancing, and walking in the fashion show. Now this is where I met a photographer by the name of Paul Le. He was in charge of photographing the night's event. After my days in VSA, I continued to participate in local events. I was a background traditional dancer for Asia Entertainment Production for a period of time and I would perform at Lunar New Year Tet Festival. At all these events, I would always run into Paul. The rest was history. We became friends and collaborate on several photoshoots together. Over the course of 4 years, our busy schedules prohibited us from keeping in contact very often.

Fast forward to the present, I was looking for a photographer that I could trust to photograph my dance partner, friends, and I. The photos were for multiple purposes. I wanted photos I could use for my portfolio and my partner&friends could use for their businesses. It didn't take me long before I decided I can turn to an old photographer friend that I trust, Paul. I contacted him and before I knew it, we had set up a photoshoot! The only problem was looking for a studio...

My friend Petra, who is an amazing professional dancer and owner of Dance Asylum Studio, was sweet enough to offer her dance studio for us to shoot at! The studio isn't open on Sundays and she was willing to come in, along with her partner Petr, to open the studio for us AND model for us. I felt completely blessed for such amazing friends.

Upon arrival, I quickly learned that over the past year Paul has enhance his business by new equipment additions. (I will post some behind the scene photos later for everyone to see.) I also met some of his team: including Dan Pham, Diana Thai, and Thanh Lam. All are exceptional photographers. I am so happy with the final results. This photoshoot would never have been accomplished with the help of so many people. I truly feel blessed. Hope you all enjoy the photos as much as I did. Cheers!



Yiri Kosydar & Wendy Ho

Petr Polak & Petra Chovancova

 

 



Behind the Scenes



Shoot with Kerry & Leolani

Recently I got the chance to shoot with Kerry Loudenback, owner of Light & Sand Studios, and agency represented model Leolani. They were both pleasant to work with. I always prefer to exchange several emails or be in some sort of contact with people I plan to work with in order to be sure everyone is on the same page. It was refreshing to see that Kerry and Leolani are the same way! Kerry sent us both emails several weeks before the shoot to lay out what we will be doing on the day of and we all exchanged some photos for our moodboard. By the time we all arrived on the day of the shoot, we all knew what we were in for, which created a smooth sailing day. Our model Leolani was amazing. She knew exactly what positions and poses she needs to do and never once did we had to direct her. This was a relief for all of us. Yay teamwork! :) The following are a few photos I would like to share with all of you. We went for 3 different looks. The first one was a natural beauty look, which then turned into a dramatic smokey eye/editorial look, and finally I experimented with glitter eyes for our last look.



Photoshoot w/ Olga & Hailey

I am very excited to show you my recent work with beauty&fashion photographer Olga Schleicher and Hailey. I had a good feeling prior to coming to this shoot the instant I took a look at Olga's work. It is simply amazing.

Upon arriving at her studio, I was even more astonish at how prepare she is. She has an array of clothes, shoes, and accessories for models to use and not to mention a professional hair kit. I was blown away by the sweetness of this woman.

Our model Hailey? Beyond gorgeous! Hailey is a fresh face to this industry, but nevertheless is captivating and beautiful. Time permitted us to shoot 2 different looks on Hailey. One very natural, and one with smokey eyes. Here are some photos!

 

 

Hailey

Difference between 2 looks: natural & smokey eyes

 

Model: Hailey

Photographer: Olga

Makeup/Hair Artist: Wendy Ho

 



Introductions

Hello everyone!

It's Wendy here. I am a makeup artist and hair stylist based in OC. Makeup has been a hobby for me since I was a little girl. 2 years ago, I decided to turn this hobby into a career where I attended Empire Academy of Makeup in Costa Mesa and trained under the fabulous Donna Mee. I specialize in beauty, print, runway, bridal, and film. I also can do airbrush makeup and tanning. Currently, I am a TV host for a show on Saigon TV called QT Beauty Show, where we show audiences how to obtain various makeup/hair looks.

Aside from being a makeup artist, I am also a ballroom dancer. I have many experince creating hair designs and artistic makeup for dancers. My professional dance partner and I choreograph and teach our students routines for wedding first dances, showcase performances, or competition. We are also available for professional show performances. We work with a lot of brides and grooms on their first dance. Those that book us for both dance lessons/show and bridal makeup will receive a special rate. Let's face it. Who doesn't like discounts?!

Although I've had this blogspot for a while, I've never posted anything. Now with the encouragement of family and friends, I have decided to dedicate this blog to beauty, showcasing all of my work. I am very excited to be able to share my deepest passion with readers from all over. My goal is to improve as an artist so any critiques/criticism are definitely welcome! Let me share a few photos of my work so you have an idea of who I am.

This is me with my extremely talented professional dance partner, Yiri Kosydar.

Amazing photo by Thanh Lam

 

The talented Leah

Photographer: Steve Diggle

Beautiful Krissy

Photographer: Phong Trinh

We shot this for Allure Fashionwear.

Sexy Veronique

Photographer: Daniel Pham

Designer: B'Dazzle Swimwear