DC Makeup Artist KiKi L'Italien

Makeup Tip of the Day: Cleaning Brushes

Wed, 04 May 2011 10:56:00 +0000

Makeup Tip of the Day: Chapped Lips Remedy

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Makeup Tip of the Day: Airbrushing & Textures

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Makeup Tip: When starting with airbrushed foundation, match textures (wet) for blushes/highlights to avoid streaking.

Follow KiKi L'Italien, Makeup Artist, on Twitter!

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Please make sure to follow me at @MUAKiKi on Twitter for fashion and beauty tweets and links to videos and tutorials!

DC Makeup Artist KiKi LItalien Receives Brides Choice Award

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:17:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC – February 2, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce KiKi L'Italien has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for bridal makeup artistry!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation. KiKi L’Italien stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud KiKi L’Italien for her professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that KiKi L’Italien is among the very best makeup artists within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011. For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/kiki-litalien-dc-freelance-makeup-artist-alexandria/7e04e00d0bd7b9ae.html.

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com. About WeddingWire, Inc. WeddingWire.com, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

New Year Brings New Projects

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:12:00 +0000

As my social media consulting work takes up more and more of my time, I am having to become more selective about the makeup jobs I accept. Fortunately, weddings tend to happen on the weekends and the production jobs I enjoy I can sometimes arrange my schedule around.

This year I am working on a few creative weddings with makeup to die for, a couple celebrity clients with promotional work coming up, a makeup tutorial for a DC bellydancer, and a headshot event for a local women's networking group. Fun stuff!

In addition, perhaps the most important wedding I'll ever do makeup for - my little sister's wedding - will be in October this year. We've been discussing everything from wedding colors to centerpieces, so we still have a ways to go before we get to the wedding makep piece, but I am already thinking of a few special ideas. A must for all the girls - false lashes. I hope no one tries to argue. ;-)

For fun, I'm experimenting with a couple of advertisements for my services here and there.

For a glimpse at my Makeup Artist in DC: Bridal, Corporate, Production">freelance makeup artist services in the DC Metro region, check out my new beauty services listing on WUSA9.com, or my listing on Makeup Artist in DC: Bridal, Corporate, Production">Thumbtack for coupons and updates.

Also, if you are a regular reader of this blog and mention this blog post when you contact me about a makeup job, I'll give you 20% off my regular rates. See! It does still pay to read!

I hope everyone is off to a roaring start this year! Let me know if you have any beauty questions and if you think you have an event coming up that you might need makeup for, please try to let me know ahead of time as much as possible. My calendar already has a lot of events and travel on it for 2011, but I will try to accomodate if I can.

XOXO -

KiKi

Crest White Strips - Yes. LASERBEAM TEETH - No.

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:25:00 +0000

The dirt was flying through the air. Hair mussed and still somehow falling in a heroic/attractive way (how can hair do that?), the leading man stepped forward and growled, "They call him the..."

Wait a second. Wait just...one...second. Did you see that?!? What was that blinding light? His teeth? His TEETH?!? How could teeth possibly be that white? Are they real? They look real...Jesus, they must glow in the dark. Do you think someone could ever have teeth that white while fighting in a war?

Time out.

People, I love beauty. I am all for adding a little tweak here, a little filler there, but how far before it is too far?

You want to know something? I used to be drawn to men with gorgeous teeth. Even if they were a little crooked or imperfect in some small way, as long as they had an attractive shape and were clean, white, and sparkly; I was a goner. But this thing with teeth being so blindingly white that one can find their way in the dark with them has got to end. There is nothing sexy to me about fakey-fake-fake-fake whiter than white teeth.

Actors who are supposed to be in war don't necessarily have to have rotten, grody teeth; but help me keep my suspension of disbelief lifted by not having actors with teeth so white they could beacon for help from the ground by grinning.

That is all.

Small Changes, Big Results

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:10:00 +0000

Working with so many clients over the years, I have seen many types of skin and heard about many types of skin treatments that work and do not work for people. One of the most amazing truths I've come across is how significantly small changes can positively affect a person.

This month I decided to share some of these small changes with my readers.

Small Changes that Create Big Results:

Take off your makeup before going to sleep - even if you must resort to soap and water (and I truly hope that's not the case), it is a must, must, must for quality skin.
Loreal's Lash Serum is some good stuff. You have my go-ahead to invest in the Loreal Lash Serum to pump up your lash length and volume. As women age, even those of us blessed with plentiful lashes will notice them thin out a bit or become less lustrous. You can reclaim lush lashes by using lash serum each night without costly extensions that take forever to grow out. I noticed my sister's lashes looking especially plentiful and commented on them and discovered she had been using the serum...now I have been receiving comments. This stuff works for us...
I'm developing some "11s" between my brows and feeling pretty unhappy about it. I started using Glycolic Formulations Facial Moisturizer with 15% Glycolic Acid will hep you resurface your skin for a more youthful appearance. [Caution: You must follow directions to gradually build up your use of this product...otherwise you will cause skin cells to turn over too rapidly and experience stinging.]
Stay out of the sun and use sunblock religiously. Seeing sun damaged skin up close, I can tell you nothing will age you faster than the sun. Even if you look good from a distance and even though the camera may not even show it for a while (thank god for the magic of lighting and makeup), trust me...in-person it is obvious. Protect your skin!
Have an important meeting, class, interview in the morning and miss too much sleep? All is not lost! Keep some of the 5-Hour Energy drinks on hand (they have an insane amount of B-vitamins in them and caffeine equal to 1 cup of coffee...probably not good for every day, but good in a pinch!) and eat some protein. You will be able to look bright and sound awake in spite of your sleep deprivation. Just make sure you can find a place to cat nap later for a quick refresher!

Have some good quick changes for big results to share? Feel free to share them here!

[If you are on Twitter, you can follow me @MUAKiKi and on Facebook.]

The Mad Men Effect

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:02:00 +0000

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past few years, you have been influenced by the presence of the hit show, Mad Men, on AMC. The show features old school ad men swigging scotch in their offices and buxom beauties from the secretary pool holding court over the more administrative tasks while looking for suitable husbands. The show is a throwback to the Rat Pack era of manly men and womanly women and the effects can be seen in fashion and beauty across the world.

For women, the well-coifed, structured hair and the dominant red lips pervade. Liquid liner on the top of the eyes accompanies a feminine sashay into any room, usually liner accompanying false lashes and a well-tailored dress. It's sexy to the nth degree. It's mysterious. It's the air of someone who is all-too- aware of her gender and knows how to use everything she's got to her benefit.

So how do you rock this look without looking like you're going to a costume party?

Although I am going to spend most of my time here explaining the makeup, the hair and dress are also important. Calvin Klein makes inexpensive feminine dresses with structure that lend themselves to this look and hot rollers and some glossy hairspray can give you an easy modern take.

For the obvious makeup start, aim for a matte red lipstick. Depending on your skin tone, the red could have blue or orange undertones...you could even use a deep pink in many cases that would read red on film or in a photograph.

Matte is the overarching hero in this look, so powder blushes and eyeshadows will work better for you. Using a neutral pallet, you can apply an all over ivory/beige eyeshadow to your lid and then using a rounded shadow brush, you could apply a slightly deeper tone to the outer corners of your lid.

Next, if you are 25 years old or younger you can use a liquid eyeliner to line your eyes starting with a thin line and building out to your comfort level. If you are over 25 years old, using a gel/cream eyeliner with an angled eyeliner brush is your best bet for that deep, intense, sexy eyeliner. The liquid liner will bleed into cracks, but the cream/gel liner is smooth and will glide with your brush and stay put once applied as you desire.

The false lashes are next and for most people Ardell's #53s are a safe bet for an inexpensive full set. You can also choose partials for just the outer edges of your eyes and you can use the cosmetic brush tips or pencils by the eraser ends, to help hold down one side of the lash as you hold down the other side. You apply the adhesive in a thin line to the lash itself making sure the linger end is the end facing the outer corner of your eye.

Not much liner goes on the bottom of the eye for most people, but you may wish to use a small smudge brush to place a hint of dark along the bottom of the eye to widen the eye, if that is an issue for the balance of your face.

Once the adhesive on the lashes are dry, you should apply mascara to your lashes and the fake ones to help them blend into one another.

Blush should be very light...a dusting of slight rose or apricot is enough and then you apply a deeper shade to your lips, blotting once when it is applied.

This is a look that is also appealing for brides with a desire for a more classic or vintage look. Below is the picture of a beautiful bride, Julie DeTomo, who allowed me to use this look on her for her wedding.

I am a 2009 Bride's Choice Awards Winner!

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:55:00 +0000

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that DC Makeup Artist KiKi L'Italien has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means KiKi L'Italien has been recognized as one of the region's very best makeup artists!

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

From KiKi...

I would like to thank past clients for speaking on my behalf and helping me win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!