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Before & After: Engagement Photo Shoot Makeup

General

lisa hair n makeup
messy chignon
This weekend, I got my makeup done by the lovely Lisa Saminathen for our engagement shoot. She did an amazing job bringing my vision for a messy chignon and fresh-faced makeup to life. I loved it! My sister Sophie helped capture the transformation, from zero makeup to full-on glamour. Click through to see the dramatic before and after…

make up before and after
I showed up in a button-down dress (so I could easily slip out of it afterwards and not mess up my hair or makeup), with only sunscreen on my face. An hour and a half later, I looked totally different!

Lisa started curling, spraying and clipping my hair right away.

Then she started on my eyes, which, as an Asian woman, always feels like the hardest part for makeup artists to get right.

She used a MAC foundation to give my face a flawless finish, filled in my eyebrows and contoured my cheeks.

 She contoured my nose and blended, blended, blended. I’ve never been so well-blended in my life.

She dotted on concealer and used a few other products to brighten up underneath my eyes.

getting made up

 She finished with natural-looking eyelashes, a coat of mascara and a peachy lip (my favorite!)

 When she finished my makeup, it was time to do my hair. This is what it looked like after she unclipped all the curls.

teased hair

 To give my hair added volume, she  teased it a bunch.

updo

And then twisted it back into a chignon and secured it with a ton of pins (I counted at least 20 when I pulled them out at the end of the night).

 She left a few pieces out to keep it looking soft and natural.

side chignon

 And that was it! My hair was done in less than 20 minutes—super fast.

messy curled chignon
engagement photo shoot make up

Of all the products she used, there were two I definitely want to try again: Maybelline Fit Me pressed powder in natural beige and Make Up For Ever Aqua Seal. Lisa used the Fit Me powder to contour my cheeks and the Aqua Seal to make my eye makeup last all day. I was doubtful about the seal, but at the end of the night, my eye makeup hadn’t creased or budged one bit (even after lots of sweating and running around). She just dabbed some over my eye makeup and let it dry.

I didn’t peek throughout the entire process, so when she held up a mirror at the end, I could barely recognize myself. Looking at the before & after picture is kinda crazy!

Last modified: January 10, 2019