AINT NO HOLLARBACK GIRL!!!! with Gwen Stefani

GWEN STEFANI is by far one of my favorite artists. When Make Up Artist and Friend Gabriel Geismar asked me to be part of the glam squad for the Music Video, Hollarback Girl, how could I say no? Spending a few days with Gwen and the extras was probably the most fun I have ever had on a set. I didn't do a whole lot of make up but did get to hang out and laugh a lot! Gwen signed the picture of us below. She is both sweet and beautiful... BANANAS!

darais and gwen

 The Harjuku girls had so much energy and were a lot of fun to talk to, dance with, and push around in shopping carts until one of them got cut.

darais and the harajuku girls

darais, gwen, and gabriel

make up artists gabriel and sutan

 After we were done filming in the grocery store we were aloud to take whatever we wanted home. I think I broke a bottle of wine trying to carry too much and Gwen was throwing fried pork rinds into my shopping cart! CLEAN UP ON AISLE 7!!!

i think this is when we fell in love

harajuku girls and gwen

The Music Video and song was a lot of fun and caught on SO FAST!!!!!! It was amazing to work under Gabriel and along side Sutan, Robyn, and Denika!!! Fun GLAM SQUAD! That's my shhhhhh...

KIMBERLY STEWART... My Beautiful Canvas!

Everyone knows Rod Stewart... so I think. The first time I met him I was up in his Daughter's wing of the house and he came in wearing a silk robe.  I'll never forget it because he saw me bent over the counter in my eye shadows and he asked if I was doing drugs in his house jokingly! Kim hit him as he laughed out loud. Ever since then we joked about snorting eye shadow! It was fun having him watch me get his daughter Kimberly ready for a socialite event that night.

darais and kim

Kimberly Stewart was one of my regular clients at the MAC Pro store and when she couldn't make it in to the store I started going up to her house in Beverly Park. Not only was she a beautiful client but, she was also a beautiful friend. It wasn't long after doing her Make Up a few times, that we were headed out together with her girlfriends, family, and boyfriend!

darais and kim

Our favorite place to go was Johnny Depp's THE VIPER ROOM every Tuesday Night. Her boyfriend was Cisco Adler, lead singer of WHITESTAR, who was a regular performer there. He was one of the nicest rockers I've ever hung with. I think it was our 8th Tuesday night in a row when Kimberly looked at me and said, "Lets not come here for awhile!" Made me laugh!

darais, cisco and kim

kim

Two of Kimberly's friends would also get their face done by me some nights. Caroline D'Amor, model and now DJ, and also Cindy Newman. One night out Cindy got in a car accident and the entire way to the hospital she was trying to keep the blood from her cut on her head out of her eye Make Up. She still made it out that night all stitched up! She amazed me! Since then I tell girls..."Don't Waste Good Make Up!!!"

caroline and kim

kim, caroline, and cindy

cindy and darais

Kimberly's Beautiful Sister Ruby was singing at the Viper Room for the first time and I got to not only do her Make Up too but also cut her brother Sean's hair with my eye lash scissors. Amazing Family!!!!!

kim and ruby

kim and paris

 When we would go out we got pretty crazy. One of my favorite memories was Cisco taking Rod's Holy Goblet out and using it for his drinks all night. I remember it being left on Sunset Blvd... due to Sean's car getting smashed into. I made sure it got home safe so Rod wouldn't find out it was missing!

darais, caroline, kim, and rod's holy goblet

cisco and the holy goblet

darais and kim

darais, kim, and paris

darais, aerobic stripper pole, cindy, and kim

I really enjoyed doing Kim's Make Up. I remember she gave me creative range. Just as long as she had Long Lashes and glowing skin. A lot of times I would do her make up and then she would jump in the bath without getting her face wet. It actually would soften the look a bit which I didn't mind on her. I loved soft blends of smoke and liner to bring out her beautiful eyes. Thanks for all the fun Kimberly... Love you!!!

DARAIS

THE END OF MY MODELING CAREER!!! OR YOU COULD SAY..."I GOT OLD!" HA HA

At this point in my career I was finding it harder and harder to do Modeling and Make Up. I went and did my last runway/hair show in San Antonio Texas in 2004! I had a blast and made some good friends but knew that I would rather be the one doing the make up for the shows...not just looking pretty!

Thanks to all the photographers, brands, magazines, models, make up artists, hair stylists and fashion stylists that worked with me along the way... Had a blast!

PHOTO SHOOT FEVER!!!

I continued to work with Photographer E Leon Myers whenever my schedule would allow it. With each shoot, the excitement would intensify and then, to get the prints was like getting a shot of adrenaline in my career. All his creativity and hard work is below mixed in with my Make Up.

I actually really enjoy doing Make Up for men. At first I thought I would get bored with it.  It's a challenge and puts you to the test... to see if you can perfect, and still make it look like there is nothing on them at all. With High Definition it's more important now, more than ever, to not detect any make up. Men and Woman both share this desire. It's the illusion of "Natural Beauty" that I get to create which I believe is the biggest trend of them all right now!

In this look I really used complementary color to pop the outfit. I loved using feathers along the lash line in a non symmetrical way to create my own beautiful peacock! I for the most part am known for never using green in the crease. Call me crazy but it's just one of my annoyances but here and for editorial I didn't mind it so much!

Another challenge that most Make Up artists face is Make Up for a darker skin tone. This along with a natural non existent Make Up look can turn bad fast. So many foundations, powders and concealers can turn ashy. They can dull the complexion and make it look gray. The photo shoot above is when I met Fashion Designer Jerell Scott and did his Make Up. He appeared later on one of my favorite shows Project Runway season 5. I think that it was this day of shooting that his trust in me as a Make Up artist was formed and I have been able to work with him for his shows and fashion shoots ever since. He is one of my best friends now and I rock his clothes on the Red Carpet as do the Celebrities I work with. His site is http://www.jerellscottdesign.com/

This next photo shoot above was over the top! The dresses were all on loan. Oscar Dresses that Celebrities had their pics on. I remember how careful I had to be not to get any make up on the dresses. I started the Make Up out soft and as the shoot progressed took it up notch after notch. It ended with some picture frames I had taken and wrapped in different designs of fish nets. I put on some extreme make up colors for eyes, blush and lips. Then using the fish net frame pressed it against the Make Up and used my airbrush to apply the foundation. It turned out beautiful to see the intense make up come through in a fish net and lace pattern.

By the end of the year I was in constant search of new things I could glue to the face and use in my shoots. I found this fake snow and Christmas snow flake at an arts and crafts store. I had the model sucking on an ice cube to give it some chill and ended up using this image as my Christmas card that year. Something that almost everyone wouldn't wear out but I would hope some would dare too... Lady GaGa CALL ME!!!