Bridal heavy season is just around the corner, if you have inquired about any of our makeup and hair packages and you love what you see, don't waste any time and complete your Wedding Date Retainer, spaces are filling up very quickly and we would hate not being able to be a part of your wedding, we are unable to reserve spots based solely on an inquiry either via text or email unfortunately.
So good ! that summarizes my feelings towards this year's ANCA WAF, so many new faces and talents part of the Autistic family.
This year, as previous years, the makeup Team was amazing ! all the talented girls from Blanche Macdonald got the opportunity to spend time with the autistic community, children and adults, the interaction was something they craved, for some of them, their first time, proving once again autistic people are amazing !, as some of you know, autism people have a very special sense of humor, you can ask our friend Curran Dobbs which is a comedian in the spectrum, he is not only an Ambassador for ANCA but a staple in the makeup room, his quirky sketches were memorable while the girls were trying to work, I'm sure they have no complaints !.
The wonderful team was organized by Cinthia Torres Makeup Artistry with the help of the Makeup Artists from Blanche Macdonald, a huge thank you to:
My all time favorite was there as well. The first day I arrived I was so looking forward to see him, my sweet friend and singer Josh Cochrane, but this year was special, I got to spend more time with his mom and 2 sisters, if you have never heard of him, well my friend.... you're missing a lot !
But Josh wasn't the only one singing ! we were blessed to have Vell Retiza Baria who happens to be a wonderful autistic singer in her country Philippines. She was a recipient of an award this year, very well deserved Vell ! Congratulations.
I also got to spend a wonderful time with a very beautiful woman and artist, the multi talented Phoebe Murer http://phoebemurer.com/ "She has a Certificate of Fine Arts from P.A.F.A. (2003), and a B.A. in Psychology and pre-Art Therapy from Arcadia University (2007). She studied art at Fleischer and Moore College of Art and Design. She has worked in recent years as Art Director for the Extended School Year Program at the Timothy School, an elementary school for autistic children in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania." Now tell me this doesn't impresses you =) Phoebe had a table at the show displaying her beautiful work and I got a beautiful t-shirt that read "Autism Lives Matter", and yes Phoebe you got that right ! <3
Emel Kanberoğlu from Turkey who's son Fehmihan is a very talented and recognized Autistic Chef in Turkey ! I literally try to avoid looking at their food pictures while I'm hungry ! they always look so good !, and Erdal Ates, founder of Autism Sports Life Coaching Program at OTİSİUM also from Turkey who gifted me the most beautiful silk scarf ever, thank you so much !
And of course ! like every year, Janet and Jenny were there ! bringing their beautiful smile and upbeat spirit wherever they go, Jenny modeled alongside a wonderful autistic model Ayberk Aksu. Jenny and her mother happen to be a best seller authors in Canada, Jenny recently published her book Dysnomia and she is constantly touring and signing books, how amazing !!
Once again, the festival was organized by Leo and Charlie Collura, such hard work that goes back a whole year literally, once one festival ends the next one starts being organized literally next day !, this year was held at the Best Western Granville Chateau, Oak room, we had the whole 2nd floor for us and they did a wonderful job accommodating our every need, I can't thank them enough for creating such wonderful event.
Truth is, there are SO MANY people who put the time into this beautiful event that I can't mention each one of them, but they all know their time and effort are highly recognized, names we read in long email chains but we can't assign a face to it, all of these wonderful humans who's task is bringing and organizing this beautiful event which empowers the autistic community the way it should, I can only say, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, until next year ! <3
All these beautiful pictures were obtained thanks to Qin Yang and Sergey Sergienko <3 Thank you so much everyone
Whimsy was the name of the game on the Battle of the Brushes Beauty / Fantasy stage at the IMATS on Sunday. It was a game Blanche Macdonald Makeup grad Cinthia Torres Salazar was more than willing to play and subsequently, placed second in! Cinthia's drive and commitment to her character definitely paid off and we couldn't be more proud of her beautiful, vintage carousel creation!
“When I heard my name for second place I couldn’t believe it. It took a couple of seconds for it to sink in. I’m really, really happy. And shocked! The carousel is a symbol of a vintage carnival. I spent a lot of time building the dress, and I knew after that the makeup would come together. I wanted to make my model look beautiful, not just weird or avant-garde. That’s why I concentrated on making her eyes so beautiful.”
I'm not only short and cute but also extremely spoiled by my friends!!. On December I came up with the idea of doing a Bridal Makeup Marathon, I had no idea how to start it, I posted a request for a team on www.talpool.com and it worked like a charm.
I mentioned the idea of my photographer friend enabler supreme Jenny Rae, which was all over the idea of using a studio to make this happen, enabler #2, the sweetest man alive, Ken Villeneuve was behind this as well, thank God, I couldn't have asked for a better foundation. We shoot at Ken's studio near Olympic Village.
My best friend Sonia decided to join my as my South Asian bride. A new face I've never worked with before decided to be part of the team, Umeko Laird, also Wendy Du and Carla Ruiz as a second South Asian bride. I tested my organization skills by setting up calling times for each model, breaks etc. As an experienced model, the wonderful Carla stayed throughout the shoot to support and help the other models.
I got to this studio near Olympic Village station in Vancouver, first time I met Jenny (Jenny Rae Photography), a tiny little thing who never stops smiling, also first time I met hair guru Renci Vana and Ken Villeneuve. The project consisted on body painting with UV activated paint. I've done body painting before, mostly face paint and torso, I've always preferred free hand painting instead of Airbrushing.
The day I went to the studio, I decided to bring my airbrushing machine, but I had no idea it would become the main tool to do the body painting, the paints we had were not suitable for the project so Ken decided to go a buy a kit from Studio FX.
We had so much fun, I meet Leanna Fuentes who acted as out very patient model. The product of this photoshoot was a publication in Sheeba Managize no long ago ! not sure if is a good idea mentioning how much fun we had.... shhhhh =D