About three weeks ago I trekked over to Williamsburg to do hair and makeup for another portfolio shoot...
I worked with this cool stylist (Alison Weintraub) who wore this fabulous red lipstick and this Blossom-inspired floral print ankle length dress. Model Ila and photographer Ashley DuPree.
Heres what I learned:
1) I have to learn when I NEED to be assertive/aggressive.
2)Williamsburg is my new favorite place in the city
I was doing my usual blog surfing and I came across a new one that I enjoyed enough to manage to get to page 18, and saw this:
It is a photo of Pakistani babies and their current living conditions, which resulted from the floods that happened back in July. I was walking down 42nd one day and this guy stopped me and was asking for donations for a nonprofit ( I believe it was feedthechildren.org). He asked me if I had heard of the floodings and proceeded to tell me some of the same things that this blogger is speaking of. Cliff notes version for the a.d.h.d crowd:
About 20% of the country is underwater
If you add the amount of people victimized by the Haitian earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, and that major tsunami that happened back in 04, combined, they do not outnumber those affected by the Pakistani floods.
and most importantly,
no one seems to give a flying you know what about it.
Other than the guy on the street and this girl (im guessing) on her blog, I havent heard zilch about this natural disaster. The blogger goes on to insinuate that the reason is linked to the systematic discrimation/hatred for the Muslim community since 9/11. And Im thinking she may be right.
This photo kind of drove the message home a bit for me. I feel like I keep finding out about things that I absolutely cannot understand why they are going on in todays society. With all of the technological and social advancements that we have readily available at our fingertips, things like this appall me.
The blogger also makes the point that the hatred and resentment that people still hold from 911 should be directed towards the fundamental extremists who commited those acts and not the Muslim religion as a whole. Such a simple concept yet many folks cant seem to grasp it. I also JUST decided to get more information on that whole 'Qu'ran Burning' hoopla that actually DID get alot of press recently. I didnt take much notice of it when it was actually happening, but so what. Im interested now and I have two cents I'd like to share with you about it.
So this pastor and his church decide that America "as a whole" doesnt want that Islamic Center to be built near Ground Zero. In order to get the center either shut down completely, or at least relocated, he arranges a protest at which "Korans" will be burned. The symbolism alone in that pisses me off. Pardon me for going on the deep end here, but people like the organizers of this 9.11.10 'Koran Burning Protest' disgust me. They give Christianity a bad name and I would even go as far as to say that they are the ones who turn people away from the church and quite possibly to atheism. You cannot fight hate with hate. No one wins. I thought we learned that lesson already. Guess not.
Donatations are being accepted by UNICEF, RedCross and the UN Foundation for the Pakistani flooding. Do something.
Yesterday i did a photoshoot on the Upper East Side. That alone is a mouthful.
So anyways, i had met this photography named Adam Regan and explained that i was looking to build my portfolio as a hair stylist (because there are literally a trillion makeup artists in NYC and they are ALL pretty bad ass) and he asked me if id like to do a shoot with him. i said yah, duh.
it was for a modeling agency called Prestigous Models (which exclusively represents Asian talent) and a designer collective in the East Village. the shoot took place on the 21st floor in the actual agency office. the view of the city was amazing.
ps i made an online portfolio for myself... and it actually looks decent! check it out and give me some feedback :) http://www.wix.com/pistolsandpetals/Andrita-Renee
This is some of the hair that I did for the Shop Addicts Fashion Night Out Fashion Show. I worked with a designer by the name of Mary, and her label gla.MAR.ous as well as another designer by the name of Benjamin Jett. For the first designer, the look was loose waves and curls and the second designer wanted slick angled ponytails. I enjoyed working with them both, as well as a group of students at the Aveda school in SoHo. I cant wait to do more work like this
just in case you've been living under a rock and, consequently, do not know what Fashions Night Out is.....
basically its like Black Friday but with parties, celebs, freebies etc. its an economic stimulus plan for the fashion industry as a result of Anna Wintour's intelligent being. thats probably thee lamest explanation of the most exciting night in fashion but, well, im operating on four hours of sleep right now so sorry. just take my word. its fucking fetch.
i was supremely excited to be in New York during this fashion season. even though im like piss poor these days (and sooo NOT complaining about it), i planned on hitting up a few of the events that were going on that night. To be honest, there was so much shit going on all over the city I wouldnt have been able to keep up. it was like a citywide block party full of beautifully dressed folks.
..............
moral of the story? i got to do hair for one of those events. TOUCH lounge/club hosted a fashion show that was put on by an organization called Shop Addicts. The show featured a few VERY talented up and coming new york city designers. i was a bit skeptical at first because you never know what youre gonna get with these upcoming designer showcase thingys but this one was good.
i did hair for a line called gla.Mar.ous; the designers name was Mary and she inspired me. Her pieces were soooo well crafted and unique. i just kept thinking, 'this little girl did ALLLLLLL of this?!?! let me get my ass a sewing kit quickfast'. I can easily picture her spring collection in someones boutique (check it out at http://shopglamarous.com/collection)
her models were fun. there was this blonde whos hair i was obsessed with. she looked like she could be Taylor Swifts big sister. her hair curled soooo beautifully.
Mary wanted her models to have loose waves and curls to compliment the hippy feel of her garments but at the same time NOT overpower the headpieces that each model had been assigned.
then there was another designer. i believe his name was Benjamin Jett. he was so cute i forgot his name (and he was straight too). i wasnt smart enough to take pictures of the work i did with his girls but it was pretty chic. Hair was slicked down into one 'diagonal ponytail'. i had to do this one models hair and....whew. i got a little nerrrrrvous. her hair was soooo stupid long and really really thick. i just new i wouldnt be able to find a rubber band to contain that mane! but then...i had a beauty school moment. we used to HATEhateHATE when the teachers made us watch these ancient ass Martin Parsons videos (he only did updos and intricate bridal shit). i was never a fan of his finished looks but you could always count on picking up some stupid ass technique that will make your job a hell of alot easier.
case in point, this here model lady i was dealing with. i remembered seeing the old guy making one ponytail out of a bunch of ponytails (vague, i know..sleeps waiting on me). i did that shit on her and BAM! i was rolling. knocked them bitches out in like 10 minutes and if youve ever had the pleasure (or displeasure) of being in my chair, you know i am slower than molasses.
i had gotten there (with my good ol Caddy Bag) at about 4pm and by the time the show started at 10, i was exhausted. the other hairstylists i was working with left, and so did i. later i found out that Snooki and Sammi from Jersey Shore showed up. Oh well.
Heres more pics.
p.s. i saw this fancy, Fashion Week stylist using some Martin Parsons techniques too, with these french braids that left some of the braid hanging loosly from the scalp (dont ask). He MURDERED it. i just sat and watched in awe.
I think i blacked out when i got to this part of the store. last week when i got excited about seeing the ferris wheel INSIDE of the Toys R Us in Times Square, my sister called me Willy Wonka...she may have been on to something.
Truth be told, i played with Barbies faithfully until i got to middle school. when my real life Barbie buddy, tenesha, outgrew them so did i consequentially. i was devastated at the time, but little did i know, she had done me a huge favor
Sometime around three a.m. this morning i was awakened by a butt-dialed phone call from one of my friends back home. before i had answered the call i was dead ass sleep, but figured it HAD to be an emergency for this person to be calling me at this time; when i realized it was a mistake, i got to thinking. i started thinking about this small little thing that has been bothering so much so that i had to commence to writing :/
Since Friday, i have been experiencing this weirdo pseudo-homesick shit. I blame it partially on the fact that I have no friends here and partially on my normal bipolarism. either way, i've been sorta feeling like i wanna go home. im missing folks. my friends, especially.
I started comparing my detroit life to my new york city life (which is kind of absurd, i know, being as i have no new york city life at this point lol), specifically this whole missing-my-friends/oh-everyones-having-fun-without-out-me drama queen stuff im going through. this morning, in attempt to shake off these blues, i went on Fifth Ave for a few hours. Ah.Maze.Ing. (more to come on that later).after that, i met up with my aunt out in queens and she asked me what would i be doing today (saturday) if i were in detroit. i thought about it, and basically, i wouldve been doing the exact same thing. going somewhere by myself, shopping or hanging out with someone forty years my senior (detroit:dad, nyc:aunt).
Im still not sure whether this realization made me feel better or pissed me the hell off. more than likely, it was both....but slightly leaning more towards pissed off' especially after the 3 a.m. butt call. i went from feeling bad about having left so abruptly and missing everyone to being very much a fuck-everyone-im-happy-im-amillion-miles-away-from-you-assholes, in like two minutes flat.
I didnt mean it. i was just...um...jealous?? hurt?? dare i say it, lonely? ive been gone just one week and some of my close friendships have been flipped upside down. people who i rarely got to see/hang out with while i was back home have been constantly rooting me on and checking on me, etc. people who i saw/talked to OBSESSIVELY have replaced me with a newer model (sorry for the dramatics. im venting) or just moved on with life. really? really.
so enough with all this girly emotional shit (i promise im not PMSing). im in the city that never sleeps. clearly, that isnt just some bullshit they put on travel brochures cuz it sounds good. its 5 a.m in the fucking morning and im up with THIS nonsense lol....
*sigh* i wish i knew how to write songs like Drake. in fact, im quite sure he already has a few songs that could explain how im feeling right now better than i ever could. thank you, drake. u just may be my only true friend in life (kidding).
I just read on Fashionista that she's super broke and, get this, STEVE MADDEN is bailing her out. So, long story short, is she doesnt pay him back in like two years then he basically owns the Betsey Johnson empire. Fucking Steve Madden.
i wonder how she ended up like that
Friday, September 3, 2010
So...
Musically, its been a relatively boring summer. Im looking forward to fall since it seems to be the most popular time for musicians to release their new albums. There are a few gems out there right now that i am currently obsessed with:
Nicki Minajs' verse on Kanye's "Monster" featuring Jay-Z, etc
Fabolous' oldie but goodie "Stay"
Big Seans' "Almost Wrote You A Love Song"
Lil Wayne's "Ground Zero"...especially the video.
i think its his best one and he aint even in it. i really like shanel aka S-N mutha****n L. i like 90% of all the music ive heard of hers. i was a bit skeptical of the trashy long black nails but theyre growing on me.
And if I listen to "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry one more time, someones gonna have to call the authorities because it will be very obvious that i have some sort of mental retardation going on over here.
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