I'm so excited! Daphne Brogdon - 7/24 12:30pm central

To read the interview transcript please click here
I think of good blogs to write but I don't have the time and I'm too tired. Ah, the irony of mom blogging. ~ Daphne Brogdon

Kudos to the Blogosphere during BlogHer week continues on Friday, July 24 at 12:30pm Central, when Daphne Brogdon joins Solessence Radio. Daphne is co-host of TV Guide Network's The Fashion Team, with Lawrence Zarian.
















She's also a very funny comedian, and one of the original mommy bloggers. Author of CoolMom , Daphne vlogs and posts on marriage (to renown chef Mark Peel), pregnancy, dynamics of a second child, feeling out of shape, family vacays and the very revealing and heart wrenching personal loss of their savings and retirement from the Madoff scandal. While she is a blast on her TV show, she especially shines in her writing. Women seem to bond with her. Men declare her MILFy.

This interview will be taking place during BlogHer conference. If you aren't able to catch it live, we'll have transcripts and downloads available later.

Have a question to ask her? Please feel free to post or email to solessencenews AT gmail DOT com.
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Daphne's Bio:

Daphne Brogdon is a comic and a TV host. Daphne used to go anywhere for a job, but now that she is a mom she is glad to have a gig close to home. She is a host of TV Guide Channel's weekly series, The Fashion Team, a fun romp through celebrity fashion. In her segment, "Fashion Mommy Must Haves," she focuses on fashion stories that relate to the mom perspective. She also makes fun of how famous people dress every week in Star Magazine's "Worst of the Week." Daphne is a somewhat regular contributor to CNN Headline's Showbiz Tonight, a contributor to Pregnancy Magazine, and the host of FOX's web show 24 Inside. She's also been seen on Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

An improviser, Daphne's shtick used to involve dating advice from a woman's perspective, because prior to marriage, she dated a lot. She has appeared on "The X-Show" where for a time she was the only female late-night host on television. She has also hosted the controversial dating reality show "Playing it Straight," on FOX.

As a stand-up comic, she has performed at the Riviera Comedy Club in Las Vegas, the Improv in Hollywood, the Comedy Store in Hollywood as well as synagogues and weddings, countless laundromats, dive bars, and rooms she wasn't sure what they were, but there was a mic.

Daphne is from Culver City, CA where her father John Carl's foray into local politics (Mayor pro tem of Culver City) gave her an interest in politics early on. Another part of her act now is her family. Daphne is married to Mark Peel, Executive Chef and owner of Campanile Restaurant and co-founder of La Brea Bakery. They have a toddler, Vivien, an infant son Rex, and Mark has three children of his own. They reside in Los Angeles.

Tonight: Temptalia.com, Christine Mielke

Check back next week for the transcript of tonight's show.

Set Reminder for Tonight's Show

It's a busy week with the BlogHer conference starting. In honor of all things internet, we'll be featuring Christine Mielke, founder of Temptalia.com By day she's a law student, and one of the top makeup bloggers around. At a height of 200k unique visitors a month, Christine Mielke has crafted her blog Temptalia into one of the hottest makeup resources. Her signature closeups of eye and lip applications, along with reviews of different brands, are top notch instructionals for readers. Combine that with her willingness to engage her audience, and you often find a lively comment trail for her posts. Come for a half hour discussion to find out how this all started, some of her favorite makeup brands, how she recommends creating a buzz for blog brands.

Interview: Syd Curry - celebrity hair stylist

I am not about a blow dry ~ Syd Curry

He's coiffed an incredible client list, from supermodels to award winning actors to the President of the United States. Now he's opened a new salon in...Aberdeen, Mississippi? Find out who inspires Syd Curry and his take on stylists trying to make it into the business today.

This article is dedicated to Syd Curry's mother, who passed away on March 7, 2009.

This is a combination of transcript from his interview on Solessence Radio and subsequent phone calls and emails.


Hi Syd. Today we’ve got you down in Aberdeen, Mississippi. First, I was wondering if you would give everyone a little bit of background on how you started. Of course, you are a celebrity hair stylist; you had a big break with Mariah Carey.

SC: I did have a big break with Mariah Carey, but I started my career years before her. I started beauty school when I was 16, got my license at 18, and moved to Hollywood from Simi Valley, this small little town in Ventura, California. I got my break from Chantal Cloutier, who owns the Cloutier Agency, and my first editorial was with Matthew Rolston [photographer], who was just starting at the time. I started my career with Paul Starr, who sadly just passed away a few months ago, and we started doing catalog. There really was no fashion work to speak of at all in LA, but there was a lot of catalog, which taught me everything I know. I was fortunate I got to work with girls like Gia, and Jerry Hall, and the young, pre-surgery Janice Dickenson – who is probably the best model I’ve ever watched work, by the way.





















Those girls taught me what to do for a camera. I did that for years and years, and I went to Las Vegas to do one of my first videos for Buster Pointdexter, who is David Johanson, lead singer of the New York Dolls, and met my business partner and best friend, [celebrity makeup artist] Billy b. Twenty something years ago. Way longer than we care to talk about. And we became best friends. I found out he was from Mississippi, my whole family is from Mississippi, and we started testing together. I used to go and I’d sleep on his kitchen floor in New York and he’d come to LA and we’d do jobs for free, and years later, he started working with Mariah. They came to LA and he introduced us, and then we spent about the next four years traveling all over the world with Mariah, which was my really huge break.

Did you intend to break into music and fashion?

SC: Yes, absolutely. I like to cut hair, and I like to do color. But styling is always what I love. It’s what I’ve always been best at, and it lets you be creative. It’s what I always wanted. Right about the same time I met Mariah I met Sally Hershberger, who is a very famous hairdresser, who couldn’t do a job and recommended me to Cindy Crawford. At the time Cindy was hosting House of Style for MTV, and that really took my career to another level. She was at the height of the 90’s supermodel.

That was one of my favorite looks – I loved her hair.

SC: It was an amazing time. The 90’s were good to me. Many years before, like I said, there wasn’t a whole lot to do in LA, and I was never interested in living in New York, I don’t know why. And then everything changed.

What do you mean by that?

SC: Well, everything changed for LA. They started shooting fashion there. Then all of the magazines started putting celebrities on the cover. So LA became the place to be. The celebrity thing is a whole other story. It’s a lot of babysitting. It's very fun, I love it, but you know, it’s a lot of babysitting to be perfectly honest.

You started beauty school at a very young age - 16. Were your parents supportive?

SC: My parents were very supportive of me going to beauty school. I didn't do well in school and they were smart enough to know that my talents lay elsewhere and let me go to continuation school. At 16 I went to high school half day and beauty school half day. My ma passed away March 7 and she was my biggest fan. She NEVER got tired of telling people that I did President Clinton's hair, even though she didn't vote for him.

Did you have any professional challenges you had to overcome?

SC:Yeah. Well, it’s well documented, my drug addiction. I’ve been clean, in April; knock on wood, three years. I had a little drug problem that lasted 30 years. You know, it took its toll. And when I talk about this in the context of work, I don’t want anyone to think I’m glamorizing it or anything. But I was able to work. I was on heroin for 30 years. I was also on methadone for 20 of those years. And the methadone allowed me to not be sick at work, so nobody really knew. It had nothing to do with the business – I didn’t do it with anybody I worked with – it was my thing. A lot of people, when they talk to me about it they say, “Well it was the time, there was drugs on set.” I never did drugs on set. With anyone. Ever.

It all came crashing down at the end of ’99. It’s going to catch up with you sooner or later, and it caught up with me. I walked away from my career and didn’t work from 2000 until 2005. It was a very dark time. I thought my career was over for sure. Fortunately, I had a great agent then who realized there was a problem and stopped sending me out before I ruined my reputation. Billy b. thought I was dead. Nobody knew where I was, and Billy finally tracked me down. When I finally went into rehab I had my mom call him and he was just really supportive and there for me.

It was a long process, and when I got out, Billy introduced me to Patricia Field. My first job out of rehab was doing Pat’s hair for her Academy Award nomination for The Devil Wears Prada. What a way to comeback, right? You know, there’s a whole lot that goes into that story. It was a very dark time, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but the business I’m in is very forgiving. People have been amazing, and welcomed me back with open arms, because it’s about me being clean and sober now, and doing a good job with what they hire me for.

And you are still very definitely in demand. Just last year you did the Oscars.

SC: Yes, I did Daniel Day Lewis for his Oscar win. Long story short, this past year Pat’s been my main client. I bought a house in Mississippi in Billy’s hometown and my whole family was from here. We opened this business, but my mother was also very sick and passed away this past March, just a couple of months ago, so I really focused on being back here with her. Sunday, in two days, I go back to LA to do some fun stuff. It’s an exciting time for me.
Let’s touch on that.

SC: We launched in January. This is Billy’s hometown, Aberdeen, Mississippi, and he’d been trying to get me back for years. I hadn’t been back to see my family since ’86. I’m the only one in my family not born and raised back here, and me and my mom moved back to be with her family. So I came back to Billy’s hometown and found a 102-year-old Arts & Crafts home and restored it and fell in love with it. Billy has a big old Victorian house and one day we were having dinner or something and we said “Why don’t we turn this into a salon?” Just kind of joking around – but we did it. You can see the gallery pictures on www.billyandsyd.com. It’s just great, very steel magnolias. It is a beautiful old Victorian house that we put our spin on. Well, Billy did, I don’t have the decorating gene. Billy’s the kind of person that walks in and says Tear that Wall down, put that up and I just go “ok.”

You’ve collaborated for years

SC: Yeah, close to 25 years

I was just thinking about this. I met him with Arianne Phillips, Madonna’s stylist, and I’m going to work with Ari who I haven’t worked with in, gosh, I can’t remember the last time I worked with Ari and Billy, all three of us. I’m going to do a fragrance campaign for Christian Audigier. The beautiful Guinevere Van Neesus for Numero with photographer Jeff Burton. I’m doing Numero with Ari, and I think Billy, or my friend Katy Young. And then I’m shooting Kathy Rodriquez, LA designer, and three models. She owns Resurrection Vintage stores, amazing stores. I’ve been doing her shows and campaigns and we’re shooting her for Vanity Fair.

With the traveling, how much time do you spend at your new shop? If people want to call up and book, what kind of schedule should they expect?

SC: Originally I was going to spend a week a month, but my house is done, I’ve got a new dog, and I’m getting to know family for the first time. So I’m really kind of here, and kind of loving it. I think this is going to be my base. I say that for now. I will always consider LA home. I was born in Santa Monica, my best and dearest friends are there, but I’m kinda loving Mississippi.

New experiences are good.

SC:I may be 500 pounds when I get out of here (laughs)

All of that southern comfort food

SC:Yes, all of that comfort food, fried which is my favorite. Fry it I’ll eat it.

Do you have a new favorite?

SC:Fried pickles.

Fried pickles?

SC:Yeah yeah , I love friend pickles. My dad always made them, and my mom, my mom moved to California and became my California beach girl and made everything out of a box. My dad fried everything. And down in Jackson, by Aunt Gertie’s house, is a great catfish place I’m in love with.

Do you actually fish yourself or just eat it?

SC:You know, I haven’t fished while I’ve been here,but I grew up fishing, I love fishing. We could walk to the lake. Kind of amazing, everybody should come to Mississippi and check it out. It’s not what everybody thinks. We get a bad rap here. And there’s some very stylish people. And the cool thing is, where we are, we’re about an hour and a half from Memphis. I’ve been getting people from Memphis, from Atlanta, from Nashville, from all over have been coming. Billy is very well known here and I’m kind of guilty by association.

Atlanta’s becoming the next hot beauty hub so I can understand the big traffic draw from there. What kinds of products are you using?

SC:I’m using everything that I love. I keep my backroom stocked with everything I like over the years. I keep (L'Oreal) Elnett Hairspray, I love Moroccan Oil, but we’re in this really small town and there’s not a lot of people who are going to want to spend money on Moroccan Oil, so business wise? It’s not a smart thing.

I love Paul Mitchell Super Skinny line, I love the serum, but you know, you can get it at the drugstore. So I’m not so focused on the product thing, I’m focused on what I use to achieve the look on women and then I tell them what to get. You know, you can get Elnett at Target! Aren’t you the one that told me? You did tell me that! I almost fell over, I was so excited.

Yes, you're right (that was from a conversation in 2008. He’s got an good memory)

SC: I know who we didn’t talk about that I worked with this year – Tina Turner! That might have been the biggest highlight of my career. Little back-story: I never wanted to work with Ann-Margaret, Tina Turner or David Bowie because they are my favorite (celebrities). Tina Turner, I used to hitchhike to go see, by myself. Her music meant so much to me, and I didn’t want that rock star fantasy in my head to be blown. If they were jerks, I didn’t want to know it. Fast forward from age 15 when I used to hitch hike to, well, I just turned 55 this year. That’s a lot of years later. And I get a call to do her hair, and I’m like sure, why not. She was everything I wanted her to be. She had the (Rolling) Stones playing the whole time,

Were you nervous?

SC:No! Which is the cool thing about it. I’m old, you know? I’ve worked with the President of the United States. I’ve done Madonna’s hair. I’ve done a lot of work with nasty people, I’ve worked with amazing people, and when I was a mess, and younger, I would make myself sick being nervous. Things are so different now. You know what? I can do hair. And I go in and do my job.

I was nervous driving over but as soon as I met her she said “What do you think I need?” I told her and she said “You’ve done your homework” and I’m like, “Honey, I know every hairdo you’ve ever had” (laughs). She invited me to come sit on the couch, and I told her about all those times I went to see her as a kid, and what her music meant to me. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

I was talking about Paul Starr, and I hadn’t seen Paul for seven or eight years. He did her makeup, and so I got to spend two days with Paul. He passed away a couple of months later. It was a special memory, that whole job. Paul and I both loved her, and we both used to crack up and sing her songs, you know, lip sync with the little headphone sets. It was a full circle kind of thing.

You mentioned your resume, the names you can drop, yet you are so down to earth.

SC: It’s one of those things like at work, people are, “Well you’re really nice.” Well, why wouldn’t I be? I’m just a hairdresser. You know? It’s like most people think celebrities are going to be nightmares, but in fact, most are just regular people who happen to be famous.
Syd created the raven bob for George Michael's video Father Figure

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of them that aren’t. But on the whole, there’s a handful of people who I won’t name, that I would never set foot in a room with again. But 85% of the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. They‘ve been great and decent and really fun. You know, even the drugs, all that stuff, I wouldn’t change a minute of anything. Because it’s all made possible what is happening today, which is living my life, enjoying success and a million things to be thankful for.

For people trying to become stylists today, what are the challenges?

SC: I think everyone wants to become hair and makeup artists now. First of all, we have to go to the times we are in. It’s hard out there for everybody now. To put it into
numbers, without saying what the numbers were, in the 90’s they threw money at us. Stupid money. It was great to get, but crazy. You know, now they pay you for your job. It’s not excessive. It’s a very different time and I think what’s happening, not so much in big fashion, but, if you want to make a living doing catalog , there is always someone coming up that is willing to do it for a little bit less, and that is what I think people are doing. I think it’s a hard time in this industry. I know it’s a hard time for people in the film business, I know that for a fact.

I never was in the union, but I know people in the union and they are losing their benefits because they can’t get jobs to work enough hours to keep them. It’s not a good time anywhere, but I just think there’s a million people that want to do hair and makeup, freelance, celebrity stuff. And again, I don’t mean this the wrong way at all, but I think a lot more need to pay their dues. Let’s put it this way: people who I idolized before I had any kind of a name were Oribe and Garren and Danilo, who are still very famous, and there is a reason for it. Because they all do quality work. They are famous, they make top money, but they don’t slack on anything. They are new and they’re inventive.

You see a lot of people who are new and come on and they latch on – that’s the wrong term - but who get attached to one celebrity, but it makes their career big. But it’s just one look. Do you know what I mean? And I don’t mean that mean spirited at all. I just appreciate someone who’s worked hard and can do more than one thing. Which all of those people I named have proven over and over and over again. And there are a lot of others. Chris McMillan I think is very talented. There is a different person for every job. Sally Herschberger is incredibly talented. Sally’s great at one thing, Chris is great at another, Oribe is great at another thing, you know what I mean? I don’t know, it’s a weird time in the business. I’m just happy to still be a part of it.

What has been your favorite look?

SC: I’ve had a few. My favorite thing right now is in my salon. It's huge, it's almost wall sized. It' - is the story I did for Prestige, the Queen Mary story - the Asian girl with the big white wig I made. Kathy Young did the makeup, my friend Paris Libby, who is now living in Hong Kong and is one of the editors of Prestige, was “Ok, we’re going to put a ballcap on her, and you’re going to need you to make a wig. It was one of those things where I didn’t have time to think about it and I just did it and did it and went “Oh my God, did I do that?” (laughs). And it’s absolutely my favorite thing from the past few years. I love the Pat Field Destination campaign. Tthere are a million other things but, I love stupid little things. Like giving Mariah (Carey) pigtails for the Dream Lover video. It completely changed her look without changing it. I love all my stuff that has a retro feel to it, you know that looks done without being done. I’m not about a blowdry. Even if I’m on the beach. The stuff I did with Chante and Cindy is great, but that hair is work. My first and only Vogue cover was with Chante, with Stephanie Seymour. It was my first job with Chante, we shot for British Vogue and that will always be a huge huge, well, you know, I had no idea it was for a cover. My agency called and said “The Vogue’s out, go pick it up” and it was the cover. It’s one of those moments. So I have some favorites. But right now it’s the Chinese girl. And it’s kind of hysterical in Mississippi. People come in and they go (in a southern accent) “I don’t wanna look like that!” (peals of laughter) I love it.

Thanks so much Syd.

SC:Thanks so much, it was fun and say hi to Billy, well, I’ll see Billy before you will I’ll see him Sunday.

Syd returns back to Los Angeles this week for a shoot with German Vogue.

Directors Cut: Bonus questions answered

1. Billy is such an important person in your life. Have you ever been involved on a personal level?

a. No no no never have been, never will be. He is my best friend.


2. There are always tough customers, the types of jobs you mentioned requiring babysitting. What is the best way to handle this type of customer?

The way I handle it is:
i. Smile
ii. Do your job
iii. Get your check
iv. Don’t look back

3. You are placing an open call here for Los Angeles based assistants. An incredible opportunity. What are you looking for?

SC: I need to find new assistants based in LA. Anybody listening in based in LA? I have been away, or when I work with Pat, I often work by myself. My friend Johnny Stumps works with me all of the time, but he’s a hairdresser in his own right, not an assistant.

I’m looking for somebody who knows what hot rollers are. Somebody that knows how to do something besides blow dry and flatiron, and I’m not being nasty at all. I just feel like a lot of schools don’t teach the old school things you need to know. Like I said, I learned so much from all of those women that taught me when I was very young coming up. Like Jerry Hall, she made me set her hair wet, and had a portable dryer. It’s all of that old school stuff, like everything I learned in beauty school – pin curls and finger waves. It is all stuff I use everyday.

I always love to meet a kid who’s hungry. I love new talent and ideas, which is how I learn, and is also exciting for me. If you show me something new – hey. I love that. That’s one thing that has been good working in a salon for a change. I have some people around me where I go “Hey, I’ve never seen that before.” Because usually when you are on a set, it’s you. You don’t get to watch other people work. When I did Pat (Field) for fashion week, her show, I think I had 18 assistants and it was so much fun watching everyone work. That’s what I want. I just want somebody that’s hungry, that maybe I can learn from too.

To contact Syd Curry about an opportunity to assist, or to book him for a shoot, please use one of the following contacts:

• Website
• Agent

~ Hillary Fry / solessence

Interview: Makeup Artist Victoria Stiles

What is it like to live your dream as a makeup artist? Victoria Stiles shares the touching story of how she started, where she is today, and where she hopes to be in the future. We laughed, we cried. Read on:

Following is the transcript for the BlogTalkRadio interview with Makeup Artist Victoria Stiles.

At the end is a Bonus section, with three questions answered off-air.

Welcome to Solessence’s Fashion by the Lake on BlogTalkRadio. I’m your host Hillary Fry. Today we’re going to interview Makeup Artist Victoria Stiles. She has been involved in makeup artistry for events, celebrities, print, editorial, fashion, television and film since 1997, she’s pretty much covered it all. In addition she’s an editor at Beyond Beauty Basics, covering major events and launches. Let’s get her on the line.

VS: Thank you for having me

Just wanted to jump right into it and ask you: When you first got the makeup artistry bug, how did that go about? Did it seem like an attainable dream?

VS:When I was growing up in high school, I would always do my friend’s makeup. Robin, who is one of my very best friends, and who is still one of my very best friends, would always let me play on her face, and test out different products, and all that type of stuff. She would basically be my real life doll. Her mother sadly passed about 8 years ago. (Pause, clearing throat) I’m actually cracking up because (clearing throat) this was actually a very sad time for us. Her mother passed about 8 years ago from breast cancer, and she encouraged me to pursue a career in makeup. If it wasn’t for her, I really would never have thought to pursue the career.

So until someone mentioned it to you, it wasn’t even a job opportunity. It was just something you enjoyed doing.

VS: Yes. It was always something I enjoyed doing, and she just really encouraged me throughout the process, just said, “This is your craft. You know what you are doing, and people need to know.” (clearing throat) – could we take a break for one moment? I’m sorry…

Sure, of course. While you are gathering your thoughts, I just wanted to mention, going from that point and jumping ahead, you’ve received glowing reports on a shoot you did at the Pentagon with (actor) Gary Sinese. One thing that was mentioned was your integrity, your professionalism. You were working in 90 degreee heat which, with makeup in that kind of weather, is pretty challenging. It has been mentioned on that high of a level your work and your craftsmanship, and it’s beautiful to hear that it started with a friend, that she saw that in you.

VS:Yes, yes. Thank you, I’m a little bit more stable now. I just haven’t talked about that in a very long time, and just talking about that brought back a lot of warm feelings. I just remember her words of encouragement, and they’ve just stuck with me throughout all these years. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my friend’s mother, like I said, I would never have thought to pursue a career, and I’m very thankful to have those words in me. And yes, working with Gary Sinise at the Pentagon was very amazing. He is such a gracious actor, I mean, just what he’s done for the military. He’s got the band called Lt. Dan Band, and he will go overseas and perform and just really get the troops up and together, give them a spirit and everything. He’s a beautiful person.

You had this opportunity to work with him, and it started with someone mentioning that this is what you should do, but how did you actually turn that into reality? Did you know places to start schooling? Are you self-taught? Did you already know someone in the industry?

VS: I would say I am definitely more self-taught. I did not go to a professional school. Growing up, besides working with my friend’s makeup, I would get tips from fashion publications. I think I was the only kid in high school that had an actual subscription to publications like Vogue. I would sit on my bathroom floor and open the magazine and play with my makeup, whatever makeup I had, be it Covergirl, Wet n’ Wild. I would just go to town on my face and practice, practice, practice, and then I started practicing on my friend Robin’s face. So it was just studying the techniques handed down by pros that were printed in the publications, to actually studying the pictures, to taking that and practicing on my face. It was really the very first layer, the basis, to my makeup technique. From there I actually started work with MAC cosmetics and I was with them for about five years

Was this job at a mall?

VS: I worked at one of the freestanding stores (Tysons Galleria in Virginia) and I worked there for about five years. That was really a priceless opportunity, because working with the general public you work with all skin types, all skin tones, all ages, and it’s a great experience. You learn what products work for what skin types, what looks well on this skin tone, that skin tone, what works for this eye shape, that eye shape and that really helped to hone my skills. Through MAC they actually gave us some opportunities to work on larger productions, and I had an opportunity to work on a Cher production that was here at MCI center in D.C., as well as Missy Elliott. So they gave us some opportunities to branch out beyond selling products to consumers

When was the moment that you made the leap, you know, the point where you said, “I’m actually a bona fide makeup artist.”

VS:Well, when I worked with MAC, I had that experience under my belt, and I started doing freelance makeup in 2004, mainly for weddings. It was a couple of years of work with weddings, working on my own, that I started to branch a little bit more out to do more of fashion and beauty and commercial shots and stuff like that. I guess I thought, I came to the realization that this is my career and this is my profession, when I started working with some agencies who booked me out for jobs. I felt like a real, bona fide makeup artist, professional makeup artist, and I could handle just about anything.

Tell us a little about the different types of jobs you’ve had. How does it differ when moving from print to celebrity, or working with an agency?

VS: Being based in Washington DC there is a lot of commercial jobs. I’ve worked on anything from a Wal-Mart print ad, that type of commercial job, to visiting national publications like O Magazine, Glamour Magazine, who were doing basic lifestyle shots of people for articles. Then also television stations, both local and national. I’ve worked with ESPN, who was here for one of the games, and worked with Emmitt Smith and all of the newscasters for the actual segment of the show. There are also a lot of visiting celebrities, especially now with Obama in office - there are all types of events going on. It’s like we are now going to get a name, the Washington D.C, area. We’re now coming into our own and yes, we’re here and we can be hip and trendy too, we seriously can! So there are a lot of celebrity events here now and I get to work on a lot of those as well. (Editor's note: Stiles was also selected as makeup artist for Deborah Norville for the Inauguration Day events)

Do you have a preference for the type of makeup you do?

VS: I love beauty makeup, and I love doing beautiful makeup with pops of color, so I’d say I like to do the fashion editorials, that genre of makeup. I don’t get to book that a lot here in DC. I find I have to travel to New York, which is fine. That would be my preference, but I enjoy doing the clean, pretty makeup for commercial. It gets a little more glammy for red carpet, it’s great. I like the more creative makeup, but don’t get to do that a lot here.

Do you have line favorites or do you mix it all up?

VS: I do have my favorites, my go-tos. I definitely mix it all up. I found a great resource to be able to mix it all up: The Make Up Show in New York. You get to see so many brands and talk to all of these vendors and play with makeup. I think I came back from that show with makeup swatches up to my elbows. The main brands I use, I love Face Atelier foundation. It’s beautiful, especially for print or beauty – that type of photography. It gives a nice skin look and a nice healthy glow. If I need more of a matte look, I obviously would go with something that sets with more of a matte finish, so I use Graftobian as well. Colors, I love pops of color like I was saying. Yaby Cosmetics, which is great (yabycosmetics.com). It’s based in Toronto. She has some new hues (the creator) and she’s also a makeup artist so she understands color. Also with drugstore brands, I love Max Factor Vivid Impact Lipcolor, that is one of my favorite lipsticks right now.

Max Factor?

VS: Max Factor Impact Lipcolor. I love!

But they’re leaving.

VS: That’s what I heard, what’s up with that?

They’ve actually been slowly pulling out of the market (read initial post here). I first realized it a while ago when I went into a store and they didn’t have the product and I thought, “What store doesn’t carry Max Factor?” The sales have slowly eroded. They are doing really well overseas; the founder was originally from Poland. It’s doing really well there but they figured they needed to cut their losses and just pull out of the US. But it’s incredible because Max Factor essentially founded Hollywood makeup as we know it, so to lose them is a big loss to (US entertainment and cosmetic) history.

VS: I definitely agree.

Stock up lady.

VS: (laughs) I plan on it.

Now, this is pretty exciting. There is something you’ve got out that shows your great use of color. You’ve got a fantastic book out. How did you get that started?

VS: Well, it’s a funny story Hillary. I just wanted a professional book to send to my clients, some of my ad clients and even my wedding clients, planners; just something they could have that they could put out on their coffee table, that my name would be on it, that it would be fresh on their mind. So I created a book on a self-publishing site called blurb.com, and it’s a hardback book, and it displays all of the poppy colors. I created this book and sent it out to some of my clients and blurb.com actually ended up putting up as one of their Staff Picks. I thought that was great. From there, a couple of makeup artists got together with me and said, “This is such a great book, we want to promote it.” They happened to be bloggers, started promoting it on their site, and its definitely grown. I didn’t even mean it to go in that direction. It was just a self-published book that I created for my clients and now people are buying it from blurb.com

It’s really nice because 1) it’s showcase your work, 2) it gives people an idea, a way to study your techniques, and 3) it’s just a beautiful book to have out on a coffee table.

VS: Yeah, the cover itself is one of my most striking shots. It’s the one I use the most for icons – I’ve been relating that shot to brand myself. The shot was taken by a very talented fashion photographer in New York, Jaime Nelson, and a lot of her work is, again, poppy stuff.

In terms of what is coming up ahead for people, what is trending in makeup?

VS: One thing that I noticed this February at (New York) Fashion Week for Fall 2009. You automatically think Fall/Winter you think really heavy makeup. It is actually opposite this upcoming season. It was very clean, very pretty, minimal makeup. I actually worked on two shows this past February, Alexandre Herchcovitch and Rad Hourani. Both shows were just clean makeup. Alexandre Herchcovitch did incorporate a little bit of color, just very light color on both the cheeks and the lips. More like a coral, a natural flushed hue. Rad Hourani, on the other hand, was just a very plain face, completely perfect. So the skin was perfected, emphasis on skin, nude colors. It’s an interesting look going into fall. Like I said, a lot of times when you go into fall you do smoky eyes you do vino lip shades and that sort of thing, but it’s definitely more clean this year. So that’s coming up.

So the coral is extending past summer into fall.

VS: It is. It is almost like coral is meshing into fall. I don’t know that it’s like rumors related to the “recession look”, you know, minimalist. I don’t think so. I think it’s just pretty, a pretty look.

Do you touch on skincare at all? You talk about the perfect face. It starts with skin. If your skin isn’t really up to speed, your makeup isn’t going to look that great. Do you have any recommendations?

VS: Yes. Although I’m not a dermatologist, I always encourage my clients to visit with a dermatologist to get a skincare regimen down. A basic skincare regimen would be cleanser, toner, and moisturizer. I love eye cream. I think every woman starting at the age of 19, 20 at the latest, should be using an eye cream. However, I don’t like using eye cream with alpha hydroxy in it – that pulls skin. I like more of a moisturizing eye cream. So, I encourage my clients to visit with a skincare professional, because you are exactly right. If the skin isn’t really smoothed out or the tone of the skin isn’t good, you put on more makeup. And the more makeup the heavier the look. It’s nice to start off with a fresh palette for optimal results with your makeup.

I wanted to ask about the alpha hydroxy. Does that mean you are against chemical peels?

VS: Not against chemical peels, just the alpha hydroxy in moisturizer. They are meant to pull the skin tighter, and I just think, just in my experience with it, it pulls the skin and then the skin will gently release over time. So you are constantly pulling and releasing, which makes the skin loose over time. So I’d rather just have a daily moisturizer when using skin care products, just a moisturizer without the alpha hydroxy around the eye area. Chemical peels are okay. I would say once every few months or so.

For people who are looking to become makeup artist, do you recommend involvement in professional organizations? If somebody is in Kansas, what are they supposed to do?

VS: Well, I really enjoy Michael DeVellis’ The Powder Group. They have Makeup Artist Summits all over the US. Maybe not Kansas, but they are a great resource for artists. They offer pro-to-pro, hands on, workshops. I actually took a workshop last October through the Powder Group at the Makeup Summit. I took James Vincent’s editorial beauty workshop, and going into it I thought, “Editorial Beauty! We’re going to learn all of these creative looks!” Y^ou know, more pops of color, maybe really dramatic eyeliner. He actually focused his editorial on clean makeup. Totally opposite of what I was thinking. But he incorporated some great products to highlight and bring forward the natural beauty of the face, and the end result, it was amazing. And he used very little makeup for it. I think I learned a lot through that, and I think any other artist interested in pursuing a career will learn through these artists, through these presenters through the Powder Group function. It’s a fantastic resource.

I think that’s a great recommendation. In speaking with Billy B, he’s done a lot of work with (Powder Group), speaking tours, and we were speaking about clean makeup. He said “Everyone wants to learn the crazy stuff, but clean makeup is sometimes the hardest thing to do. To really look like you have no makeup on takes a good hand.”

VS: It really does. It takes great precision. Some artists even use a magnifying glass to go over the face.

In terms of personal projects, what do you have coming up?

VS: I have a couple of personal projects coming up for editorial submission. I have shoots at Millbrook Farms. It’s a fashion shoot by a fantastic stylist that was handpicked by a photographer that I’ve worked with. This photographer I actually worked with in Paris last fall. I also have a lot of plans aside from makeup. I just have a love for blogging, and I really want to develop my blog, www.makeupartistbackstage.com. I started doing an insider’s look at beauty and trends, basically through my eyes, what I’m seeing behind the scenes. I’d really like to focus on developing more blog posts that give inspiring makeup artists a look at the industry, how to get into it, and more information on the actual process of everything.

That will be another great resource, and interesting to follow you on your trails too.

VS: It’s a fun and exciting roller coaster ride, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Can you project what you’d like to be doing, say, 10 years from now? Do you have anything specific?

VS: I would say, further down the line, I am based in D.C. and I would like to travel a bit more with makeup. I got a taste of it last fall working in Paris and I absolutely loved it and would like to travel more, experience more. I found that East Coast makeup is very different from West Coast makeup.

How so?

Victoria Stiles with Olivia Thirlby, "Juno"
VS: Just different trends with each. West Coast is high gloss and very sharp photography. East Coast, in New York it’s just this very clean, airy, pretty makeup, very romantic almost. So I’d love to travel a little more, learn a little more on techniques worldwide.

How would people go about booking you for a job?

VS: They can go through my website at www.victoriastilesmakeup.com , and I recently acquired www.victoriastiles.com . Either way they can reach me through my website. I have a contact form they can fill out as well as a direct email address.

~~~
Director's Cut: Three Questions Answered Off Air

How did your opportunity come about for the Paris shoot?

VS: A photographer I mainly work with, http://www.nicholasjbara.com, was hired
for the job to work with Melody Gardot. He suggested me to her and her label, Universal/Verve Music Group. I guess they liked what they saw, called me on the last day of NYFW SS09 and asked if I could get on a plane the next day.

Melody Gardot's cd cover - Ad in London Tube

What is your personal skin and makeup routine?

VS:Minimal on both. I use a basic Cleanser, Toner, Moisturizer SPF 15, and Eye Cream -- all from one of my favorite indulgences The Body Shop. Makeup, when I actually wear makeup myself, I use Face Atelier foundation, Graftobian cream blush, Liquid liner, Bad Gal Lash Mascara, and MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick.

Barring the new fall trends, if you could only highlight one, is it lips or eyes?

VS: Classic lipstick shades in true reds, burgundy, and coral.

~~~

Victoria Stiles is giving away one of her books, "Makeup Artist". For a chance to be randomly selected, please enter your name, using a valid email address, in the comment box below. Selection will be made July 1st, 2009.

BlogTalkRadio - Makeup Artist Victoria Stiles -6/24/09 11am Central

UPDATE: Victoria is giving away a copy of her book, Makeup Artist: Skin Beauty Color. Leave a comment (be sure to log in with your valid email address). We'll randomly select on July 1st.

Don't forget to check out the interview!

What is it like to live out your dream as a makeup artist? Victoria Stiles will share her tips and tricks for getting into the trade, as well as her personal experiences as a MUA based out of the Washington DC area.


Stiles has worked for events, celebrity, print, editorial, fashion, tv and film since 1997. In addition, she is an editor at Beyond Beauty Basics and covers major events and launches for the beauty industry. Stiles has recently published "Makeup Artist -Skin Beauty Color" showcasing her work.

Hear the Interview Wednesday 11am Central

Victoria Stiles Website
Purchase the Book

Spotlight: Teecyle Tim of Teecyle.com & his SXSW Pepsi Win

This is a transcript from the interview with Tim Cigelske. Photo at left by Troy Freund

~~~

Welcome Back to Solessence BlogTalkRadio, and right now we’re going to have a little Spotlight. We’re going to be talking with Teecycle Tim (of recycled t-shirt biz, Teecycle) and discuss his winning Pepsi's 60 Second Pitch grant.


Why don’t you give us a little background on your company?

TT: Sure. Well, Teecycle started a little over a year ago, and it's kind of a hobby that evolved into a little bit more. It’s still a side business. I don’t know if I should call it a hobby, or a part-time business or what, but my full time job is at Marquette University, and this is growing bigger and bigger by the day. But the background is, it is just a used t-shirt website. It started off with the idea that I just like vintage, old t-shirts, and I couldn’t believe no one was selling them online in a centralized spot, so I just started with the website and it’s kind of picked up steam ever since.

So did you initially do this to boost your own inventory? Or really was it the intent to resell?

TT: It was a good excuse to get as many used shirts as I could in my house, with the rationale, to my wife, that I would get rid of them someday. And I made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t really keep any shirts that I found through this. You know, there are previous shirts in my closet that I wouldn’t get rid of anytime soon. But if I started keeping some of the shirts I gained from this, it would just be game over for our house, because there have been quite a few that have come through the doors, and gone out now, all over the country, all over the world. But the nice perk of it is, I do get to sample the shirts, I do get to wear them, get to model them, get my friends to model them, so it’s a nice little side perk of it.

I think that is one of the fun things about your site, is that you – for people who haven’t visited – you’re putting on these shirts, and you put people in funny modeling situations, then you go all over. How did you come up with that?

TT: Well, when I first started the site I just had shirts on the floor that I took pictures of…

That’s a pretty common format you see (on ebay, etsy)

TT: Right, yeah, pictures of the shirts themselves, and it is really boring. Not just someone visiting the site, but for myself. I’m like “I’m going to get really bored of the business if all I’m doing is taking pictures of shirts on my living room floor.” And I think I first convinced my wife to put them on and go in the backyard. And she had no clue (embarrassed laugh) that her photos would end up all over the Internet. There have been some articles written about Teecycle and they’ve pulled her photo, and it kind of evolved from there. I realized its kind of fun to model tee-shirts all over the city, in all different kinds of situations, and since then we’ve done photo shoots everywhere from Lake Michigan to the Washington Monument to the National Mall in Washington DC to when we go hiking. Just wherever we can just to add an element of fun when you throw in a silly photo shoot with it.

So you’re saying it’s a hobby, but even as a hobby you’ve got a lot of things to do to get it all into an action. Did you have this name beforehand? Was it a nickname into a business, or has the business handle become the nickname?

TT: Oh the Teecycle? The origin of the name, I had some lame name to start with, like The Tee Shirt Recyclery or Shirtcycle or something, and my wife Jess is like, “That’s not going to appeal to many people if you call it that.” I don’t know where it came from exactly, Teecycle. It became my online entity. Merged into one where Teecycle Tim became a way to market Teecycle.



It seems to have all flowed so easily for you. Have you had any real challenges up to this point? You’re getting press, selling shirts.

TT: I guess you hear this from most people who start projects that grow more than they expected it to, but it is more work than I thought. I’ve now kind of reinvented the format a few times. It started out as, well, it was going to be a website first and I thought that was just going to be too hard, so it became a blog. And I’ve changed it from Blogger to WordPress, and now I have my own software, so I’ve migrated it to that. Just some of the format changes and how I have just had to deal with certain things that came up – like shipping overseas. That came up pretty early on. I was thinking, you know, this is a small potatoes sort of thing, and right after I got started it got picked up by a t-shirt blog in San Francisco. I immediately started getting orders from England and I’ve had orders in Australia and Malaysia and, it’s little things like that you didn’t plan or expect in the beginning that you learn to deal with along the way.

Who knew? Now, do you have any outside help at this point, or is your wife working with you (other than in the “unsuspecting model” position)?

TT: (laughs) Yeah, I think we trade me doing household chores for convincing her to model as much as possible. We definitely bartered – you do the dishes and I’ll model for you now. She’s definitely now doing more of the business side of things that I don’t necessarily have expertise with. She has a background in management so it works well with that. But it’s been primarily me, and then an outpouring of support from people who have like-minded environmental ideals on the Internet, and a lot of local business and local organizations have helped us out when they can. It’s pretty encouraging.

Do you have an idea of how many shirts you’ve shipped worldwide?

TT: I don’t know how many I’ve shipped worldwide. I think about 329 total. I keep a running tally on the site, so I don’t know globally, but Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, so a couple more continents to go, but we’re getting there.

You’ll probably hit them, especially after the news of this award. Now, Pepsi thought your simple idea was pretty impressive, and gave your a $4500 grant. Congratulations.

TT: Thank you.

There was a lot of competition for that – why don’t you give us a little background.

TT: Sure. It was kind of just a whim I entered that contest. There was a “60 Second What’s Your Pitch” contest. All you did was call a number and say in 60 seconds or less why you have a business idea that’s both viable from the business side, and has a positive impact on the community. When I got the first email from them I was expecting it to say “You didn’t qualify.” Instead it said “You are a finalist,” in this nationwide contest, and a couple of weeks later I got an email that I again was not expecting that said “You’re the winner”. So I ended up getting a $4500 grant, which is kind of overwhelming for a company whose only revenue has come from selling $7 used t-shirts and donating a dollar of that to a local non-profit. Now, suddenly having a budget. So we have to be smart about what we’re going to use it for and plan on the long term, hopefully, and not just “Oh we have this money now, what should we do with it.”

Will Pepsi offer you any guidance on it or are they just cutting you a check?

TT: No, they are just handing it over, just mailing a check. Fortunately in Milwaukee there is a pretty good budding entrepreneur business organization named BizStarts. I have not been very active with them and I hope to be more active in the future. And because I work at Marquette, it is kind of a nice deal that they are starting a certificate of Entrepreneurship this fall and it’s good timing. I’ve enrolled in that, so during the Fall I might get more business savvy, more business sense to go along with this crazy idea.

You’ve got a real life lesson for the class.

TT: Exactly.

Now, you also mentioned the dollar donation. That’s pretty cool. You are doing green in two different ways: 1) recycle t-shirts, which would normally end up in landfills and 2)donations. Let’s talk about the donations you are making.

TT: When I first started this, a couple of things: I had done river cleanups, we live right by the river, and I wanted to help a non-profit. I’d also read, right around the time I’d started, a great book I recommend to everyone called “Let My People Go Surfing” by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia. It’s a really quick read, but he lays out his business and environmental philosophy and what they’ve done to be as green as possible, an eco-friendly company. And in their goals, they don’t even have to make a profit, they just have to take care of the environment as best as they can, and profits will take care of themselves after that. So I figured if I am using these shirts in one way to be environmentally friendly, I can also give back. So early on I formed a partnership with the River Revitalization Program and donate a buck to help rivers and trails. To date it’s been over $300, and it’s kind of nice.

I read once, I can’t remember who said it, but someone made a comment that you were one company that did so much with so little, and it is true. You said it’s such a little idea, but it has made a lot of people happy, contributing a lot to the area, and, obviously you are getting rewarded back already, so congratulations.

TT: Well I really appreciate it, thanks for the kind words about that.

Visit the site, Teecycle.org, to check out current inventory or donate a gently used shirt.

BlogTalkRadio: Syd Curry, Celebrity Hair Stylist

Next week: radio interview with the talented Syd Curry. UPDATE: Read Interview HERE

Find out how life is down in Aberdeen, where he's set up a new shop, and the projects keeping him busy in New York and Los Angeles.

Syd rose to stardom as Mariah Carey's stylist, and has gone on to coif almost every notable head in Hollywood. To this day he remains a down-to-earth, in demand, talent.

Please leave questions for Syd in the comments box.

Below: Syd styles Patricia Field Show, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Fashion/Beauty & the Beast of an Economy 2/11/09 1pm

***Time has been moved from Monday to Wednesday***
Join us and call in with your questions or opinions:
Call-in Number: (646) 727-3741


GUEST BRYAN VIPER (Bryan Viper Creative) is entrenched in the beauty/fashion industry, working with notables Billy B , Syd Curry, Rare NYC Hair, and more, discusses upcoming influential Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in NYC and how the economy has changed the game for makeup artists & designers in 2009.


GUEST FRANK KEPPLER of the popular Brew City Brand brings it home to Milwaukee discussing fashion apparel/manufacturing in the Third Ward and how to keep innovative when the economy dips.


BONUS BEAUTY SEGMENT: Guest - I'm Having a Breast Reduction! Our guest is undergoing the knife on the 12th to reverse what many wish for. Why is she doing it? What are her expectations? What did she have to do to prep for it? A must listen, especially if you've ever considered the procedure.