New Miles Fisher Music Vid Up!

In the early Fall of 2011 I was privileged enough to work again with my friend, Director of photography, Sean Conaty as well as Mike Ashton, our talented Director on this beautiful music video.

Check it out! All Hair and Makeup by Cici.

Out Of Town

Exciting news-- the makers of Jeepers Creepers and Rosewood Lane (due out this weekend!) are at it again!

This time, we're headed to the dirty south! Mississippi, here we come!

I'll be Department Heading for Makeup alongside my mentor and friend, Brian Penikas in the Special Effects Department! I can't think of a better way to spend Halloween this year than making a scary movie with my friends!!

I will be out of the L.A. area Oct. 23- mid December.

Please email with availability questions.

You'll Scream For These Halloween Looks!

Can’t Find A Costume This Year?

Let me help you get inspired! I love Halloween! It’s my favorite holiday! I’ve been searching far and wide for my costume for Halloween 2011, and these are some ideas I’ve been storing in my own, personal look-book.

A little embarassing that I haven't made my own videos in a while, but with a little help from my youtube friends, it's gonna be a great Halloween!

Lady Godiva

We just loved this scary look from the Sonia Rykiel fashion show from 2009. Try it as an updated look on Lady Godiva! I recommend this is a look if you’re skilled with hair, costumes or pretty crafty in general.

Difficulty: Moderate

What you’ll need:

• • • a flesh colored leotard with sleeves
    • a few packets of very long, textured, synthetic hair wefts that matches you hair color
    • snaps to secure hair
    • a hot glue gun
   

Step 1.  Measure weft by holding the tip at the right side of your hairline closest to your right ear and measure across to the left side. Snip with scissors. Repeat 2-3 times, working your way from just below your occipital bone (or nape of neck, depending on how low your hairline goes) to the widest part of your head.
Step 2: Hot glue hair snaps to the pieces you’ve cut. You’ve now made yourself your very own set of hair extensions! When worn, they should be very long, cascading over your collar bone and shoulders.

Step 3: Lay out your leotard and hot glue a few wefts to shoulders, waist and hips.

When worn together, you should get a similar effect to the one in the picture!

Bride Of Frankenstein

This is a fairly simple look. Crimped and teased hair, a flow-y, Stevie Nicks type gown, and you’re pretty much good to go. Add a little black nail polish and the makeup can be done out of most common items found in your makeup bag!

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

We thought it’s be a better idea to SHOW you (below). We found this great tutorial on Youtube. This lady can really make you look BOO-tiful!

What you’ll need:

• white dress with sleeves
• coverup or concealer in white + a white pressed power
• dark green, lime green, gold and black eyeshadow
• false lashes
• liquid eyeliner
• red lipstick
• black and white jumbo eye pencils
• Hair crimper, teasing comb, and HAIRSPRAY! Lots of hairspray!

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands

Who doesn’t love Edwards sad eyes? In the tutorial below by makeup artist Kandee Johnson, you can learn how to achieve this look!

Difficulty: Pretty Hard (covering eyebrows can be a pain!)

What you’ll need:

• concealer wheel in the green and lavender (you can get this at www.naimies.com)
• pressed powder
• bronze or dark color for contouring
• Black eyeliner (to contour nostrils)
• Elmer’s Glue to conceal eyebrows (watch this video to see how…CLICK HERE)
• Lip color – dark plumb color
• Liquid Latex and Duo Eyelash Glue for scars
• eyeshadows in white, medium warm brown, grey brown, cool chocolate brown, light brown, purple-plumb and purple grey

Nityri from Avatar

Become a cute magical forest creature? Sure, why not? In the tutorial below, makeup artist Kandee Johnson teaches us how to get this look. (Watch the tutorial entirely to see some pretty funny bloopers at the end!)

Difficulty: Moderate

What you’ll need:

• well, Kandee used airbrush makeup to achieve this look, but since most of us don’t have an airbrush readily available, I suggest purchasing a blue color wheel similar to that in the Edward Scissorhands tutorial.
• blue lip pencil,
• black eyeliner
• false lashes
• rubber bands and feathers to braid hair and accessorize

Check out these fun Halloween hair ideas as well:

 

 

 

 

 

Stop Motion Makeup!

In June 2011, my boyfriend and I decided to make a stop-motion short for my website. We had no idea what we were getting in to. We came up with the idea one afternoon over lunch, sketching quick ideas and notes on napkins. We discussed the mood, the coloring, the lighting and background, and the length. That evening I contacted my friend and actress, Laura Catalina Ortiz and asked if she’s be interested in helping out. She seemed excited to be part of the project.
We were all set, we had our idea, a model, and Greg (my boyfriend and Director of Photography for the shoot) knew exactly what he needed to use for the lighting and camera package. Now it was up to me to design the hair and makeup as cost-effectively as possible. Special makeup prosthetics were out of the question for this one (we had no budget), wardrobe and props were limited to what I had in my closet.
When the day finally came to shoot this little video, we felt like we were as prepared as we possibly could have been. We’d spent hours pouring over YouTube videos explaining different techniques for stop motion animation and had the confidence that only years of experience in the film industry can give you.
We started the day early. Around 8 a.m. we went to the store to pick up a few last-minute items and snacks for the day. We set up a few lights, a backdrop, the camera and my makeup station in the living-room and kitchen of my tiny apartment in Studio City, CA. Around 10 a.m. Laura arrived, bare-faced and excited to shoot. I asked her to change into a tube-top shirt so we could begin.
Things were going smoothly, as I smoothed her hair back, and started to airbrush the makeup onto Laura’s skin a half inch at a time; the fantasy Ice Queen I had sketched on a napkin started coming to life. For every half inch of makeup applied, we took a picture. Thanks to digital technology, we would go back and check the last few frames for continuity and consistency in the makeup.
After a few hours, we broke for lunch. As we reviewed the footage, I noticed the makeup was missing depth. It was really too late to start over, so we decided to continue on with the base makeup and add contours as we went along. So you can see the makeup work it’s way from the top right corner of Laura’s face and make it’s way around and down to her neck, chest and shoulders, then get progressively more detailed in the same order.
The video took us roughly eight hours to do, and after editing, we realized the video ended up being much shorter than we had anticipated. We learned that there is a reason that stop-motion artists usually work with clay, miniatures and toys vs. real people. Real people get tired of sitting for too long. They move. They breathe. They eat. It was difficult to control the body position and make sure everything lined up. We also learned that instead of shooting every half inch, we should have done more frames, probably reducing the size of the “growth spurts” to a quarter inch, perhaps.
We’re still learning and looking forward to making our next video. If any of you readers have tips or tricks you’d like to share- please post them below or email me. I’d love to hear from you!

Hercules Mock-Up.

Body makeup and Wig styling on Hercules by me ;)