Friends

Confession: I’m A Huge Ricky Martin Fan

February 14, 2011 by Jillian

I even cut school when I was 17 to go to one of his record signings.

I will never forget that day…

My friends and I went with our “WE LOVE RICKY” banner (which was made using leftover costume fabric in LEOPARD PRINT), and braved the crowds, determined to get in to see him.  After waiting for many hours we succeeded (and by succeeded I mean that we rudely pushed our way through the crowd to get closer to the front of the line), and were literally the very last people let in to the signing that day.  Ricky signed my CD (that I still have to this day), and I’ve been a super fan ever since.

So when my friend Adrien recently asked if I wanted to go to see Ricky perform exclusively for the release of his new album – I jumped on the opportunity.

I’ve seen Ricky in concert before, but there’s really nothing more thrilling than standing less than 20 feet away from an artist that you love in a room of less than 300 people….While they perform all of their hit songs.  He was as amazing as ever, and in fact he looks as good as he did 10 years ago (I’m dying to know his skin care routine), and I danced my little heart out to everything from ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ to ‘The Cup of Life’.

You can read more about it (and also see some pictures) by shaking your bon bon over to Adrien’s blog: The Field Notes.

Birthday Week!

December 26, 2010 by Jillian

Rebar, Sake Bar, Blind Barber, and Fools Gold!

Drinks, fur and sequins are the words that best sum up the week.

…The good times are killing me.

*Furry coat photos, courtesy of Kareem Black

Just Another Day At Work

October 19, 2009 by Jillian

Insanity at the Fire and Reason video shoot on Sunday: Me and super stylist Valissa Yoe!

photo

Text Files: MAC Lipstick in…Reel?

August 15, 2009 by Jillian

Marfa: I bought a bright fuschia lipstick today

Me: Cool.  From where?

Marfa: MAC – It is called Reel.  I channeled my inner Jilly and went for something a little radical.

Me:  Good for you!  It’s good to try new things with makeup.  It’s temporary so if you don’t like it you can change it easily!

Marfa:  Very true.  I look like one of the girls off European Vogue.

(A few hours later…)

Me:  Girl I can’t find this MAC lipstick. You’re sure it’s called Reel?

Marfa:  Sorry I meant rebel.  Obviously I can’t read.

Me:  OMG that was my first MAC lipstick ever when I was 16!  I love it!

Marfa:  I told you I channeled you.

I swear that this exchange really happened today and that these text messages are verbatim.  I guess my friends really do know me too well!  Get MAC lipstick in REBEL, here.

My Make-up: Public School. Jersey City, NJ.

April 29, 2009 by Jillian

I’ve been learning how to skateboard.

So far so good, although I must admit it’s definitely a slow process. I’m getting more comfortable with it every day, but I can’t go THAT fast yet and I can only turn to the left – And even my left turns are still a bit wonky. Don’t even get me started on my right side turns. That’s a disaster and I usually just jump off and kick the deck to the right and jump back on. Eh…Baby steps.

So anyway, I’m out skating around the other day and my roommate and I go right pass this super cute store called Public School. It’s full of crazy kicks and really dope t-shirts – Definitely my kind of store :)

Last night (sans skateboard) we stepped out for a little JC jumpie at the store and I copped the cutest pair of sneakers from Greedy Genius!  I love them so much that after I put them on for this photo, I wore them out of the store.

Now, as You may know – We’ve been having a really random heat wave around here.  90 degrees in April is really weird and not even close to normal, and it was hot last night.  Normally when it’s super hot I don’t like to wear too much makeup, but my skin is really angry at the heat that came on all fast and furious – And I have some weirdo prickly heat rash all over my face.  I love the heat, and usually I’m very pro inferno…But, I was feeling a little awkies stepping out with that kind of a face sitch last night – Especially since I knew Mel would be there taking photos (He took the one featured on the left).

Thank the make-up Gods for Bare Minerals…I did a heavy coating of that stuff all over my face (F the swirl, tap and buff instructions – I popped the top off of this baby and dunked my brush in until I covered it with product), and in pictures you cant even tell my face was a red bumpy mess.  The great thing about BE is that it’s an amazing product for sensitive skin and didn’t  further irritate my skin even when it was in a state of crisis.

I’m also wearing Benetint, with a bit of apricot blush from Rimmel on my cheeks;  Posie Tint on my lips with a Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker over it; BadGal Eyeliner applied with a really heavy hand and then smushed around to give a smudgy/smokey look on my eyes; Plus 3 or 4 coats of Avon Supershock Mascara (This stuff is good).

Bye Bye Binders

April 15, 2009 by Jillian

Back in the day (Ok, really just up until a month ago), I was working off a binder system.

INSPIRATION BINDERS.

Lots of people keep these – Or at least they’re pretty common with creative types.  Personally, if I came across makeup that I loved in a magazine, I would rip out the page and slide it in to a clear plastic sleeve and put it in one of the many binders that would take up way too much space around my room.  It was a system that served me well for a time, but after almost a year of ‘inspiration binder’ keeping…Things got a little out of control.

I also got a little bit lazy, and towards the end I would rip pages out of magazines and never put them inside the binders at all.  Then there were occasions where I’d find myself sorting through these binders for a reference, and I’d end up removing pages while shaking my head trying to figure out why I even thought I liked some of the images in the first place.

In any case, that antiquated system is DONE.  I’m over it.

The timing couldn’t be better since just the other day, photographer and friend, the fabulous Miss Marley Kate put me on to something much more efficient.  Gone are the days of tearing out pages from books and magazines!  A little site called Image Spark is changing the game and making it much easier to organize and refer to images that may inspire you.

Now all I have to do is upload the images that I like to my very own reference library.  I can even create moodboards for specific styles that I want to separate from the rest of the pack.  If you use firefox, there is also a plug-in that takes things one step further by allowing you to click on any image you come across while perusing the web, and automatically uploads it to your Image Spark library.

The best part is that the site is still pretty young, which means that it’s still possible to get a user name that actually is your name.

Check out Image Spark and search for me under (what else?), Jillian.

The New KareemBlack.com!

April 14, 2009 by Jillian

A year and a half ago when I decided I wanted to be an editorial make-up artist, hardly any of the good photographers would shoot with me.  All of my previous experience had been in television, and not many photographers were willing to take a chance on me without knowing if I’d be versatile enough to transition from television to print.  Kareem Black was one of those photographers.

I met him at a party, and for months I would ask him if he would work with me.  The answer was always ‘I’ll think about it.’  It wasn’t until he approached me one day on IM asking if I had any recommendations for places he should send his book to, that he would actually consider using me for a shoot.  When he posed that question to me, I LOST MY MIND and proceeded to explain to him that I knew NOTHING about the editorial world, and that I’d been the one asking him for a little help – So why should he bother asking me?

I guess he likes a little back talk, because a week later we were working together on a video spec he was directing for Kiser NY.  Fast forward a year and a half later, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on shoots for Verizon, LRG, Interview Magazine, Bust Magazine, CITY, Big Shot Magazine – In addition to some really dope side projects.

This month he’s launching a brand new website, and I encourage all of you to check it out!


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