Friday, February 22, 2013

Bella Makeover Studio

Last week Aishling, Mammy  and myself headed to Bella Makeover Studio just off South William Street in Dublin for a make over and phototshoot.  Bought as a gift for mam for Christmas.  We thought it would be something nice to do together and something we'd normally never think of doing, a real treat!
So what's involved? First off the the regular price is €200 each, I however got a discount after attending the Ultimate Girls Day out! For that you get; 3-4 hours in the studio, the girls will style your hair, apply your make up and paint your nails all while you quaff champagne and pretend you do this all the time darling!  When suitably glamorous, it's up to the the photo room to have your photos taken.  Our clothes were waiting for us, thanks to host Claudine who hung anything delicate up for us and we changed into our various outfits.  The photographer Aoife was really nice and advised us how to pose while we giggled like eejits! After that your photos go to the editor and you can review them in a nice room and decide what photos you want to keep.  Photos do cost extra, included in our package was one free on disk and we picked a package of photos which included 2 prints.

Here are the Results (all photos taken by Aoife at Bella, edited by Aishling O'Neill;

One of our Group shots. L-R Aishling; Dress: Littlewoods, Black Shawl: Can't remember! Necklace: Gift from my Boyfriend, Etsy.com, Earrings: Gift from Kerrie, Topshop.  Mammy; Dress: Littlewoods. Kerrie; Top: Pennys/primark, Kimono: Littlewoods

Second Group photo.  Aishling; Dress: New Look, Necklace: Gift from my aunty, Newbridge. Mammy; Top: Dunnes, Necklace: Avon, Kerrie; Dress; Primark/Penneys. Necklace; Carraig Donn

A photo of myself and Ash

Mammy looking awesome! Dress in the last pic is from AWear.

Me! Shoes: New Look





Dress is from New Look, Ring and Braclets Penneys



Kerrie AKA Mystic Meg!

Aishling looking awesome!


Dress: New Look, Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: Schuh, Necklace & Bracelet: Newbridge

 Dress: New Look, Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: Borrowed off Kerrie, Necklace: Gift from my boyfriend, Etsy.com, Brooch: Gift from my boyfriend, Etsy.com, Bracelet: Borrowed off Mammy.




Dress: LittlewoodsIreland, Shawl: Can't remember! Tights: Penneys/Primark, Shoes: ASOS

Overall it was a good day and we got some good photos.  I have to say however there were some things I would do differently if going again and advice if you are thinking of going.  
Firstly I should have went with a theme in mind, I didn't have a clear idea of what hairstyle I wanted and ended up not loving how it turned out, I wish I'd gone for a 40's, 50's or 60's look and teamed it with makeup and clothes of the era.  
Secondly, the time flies! So it does feel quite rushed and I felt under pressure to change quickly for the photos, in my rush I forgot to put on matching jewelery I had to go with my navy dress - I was still wearing the mis-matched Carraig Donn necklace with my dress and didn't notice.
Thirdly, it would have been better if there was a makeup/hair lady to fix us up between shots, when we reviewed the photos at home we noticed faded lippie, stray hairs, falling straps etc.
That brings me to my last point, make sure your photos are edited before you leave, this wasn't done for us - what you see above is Aishlings editing of the photos, she had to photoshop out sockets, bleeding & faded lippie, tray hairs, straps, tears in the background etc.  I did contact Bella and they are sending me another disk with the properly edited version so no problem there, just annoying that they didn't do it initally.  Airbrushing is supposed to be included so make sure that is done.

Bottom line, would I recommend this - Yes! It is expensive so it's a real treat and possibly something you'll only ever do once.  If you check out http://www.bellamakeover.ie/ and Bella on Facebook you'll see the kind of photos they take and all the relevant details.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below,





Friday, February 1, 2013

#27

You may remember I posted back in October about 'The 100' Photography project. Back in October I received my camera and got snap happy! It is so much fun using a disposable camera, no opportunity to check the results until they are developed, I recommend everyone to give it a go.  Though I did feel a bit of pressure as I didn't want to be the 1 out of 100 whose photos didn't come out!  Luckily my fears where unfounded and here are the results. See my photos on 'The 100' a week in my life.

I think this is my favourite

The Disposable Memory Project have something else you can take part in here.

They say; "We'll send you full instructions, but in a nutshell:
  1. Buy a disposable camera
  2. Request a unique code from us using the form on the left
  3. Write the unique code on the camera somewhere, and this messsage:
    Hello, thanks for picking me up! I'm part of a global photography project. Take a few photos and then pass me on. Then visit http://disposablememoryproject.org to find out what to do next
  4. Stick the camera in clear re-sealable bag
  5. Leave the camera somewhere, or hand it to a person, taking a digital photo of the drop or exchange.
  6. Write to us, and tell us where you left it, along with the photos"

You can track on the site where cameras have been 'disposed' and go find them! 2228 are still missing in action.

Hope you enjoy!