Sunday Catch Up, the bad the sad & the exciting

I'm pretty sure most of you have heard about the shocking tragedy in Norway, so first, let me say that I don't think there is anything I could possibly say that could express enough sincere condolences to all those affected by this terrible event, such a beautiful country and people. Our prayers & hearts go out to you.

I'm also shocked at the passing of such a talented if not troubled singer, Amy Winehouse, may you rest in peace. I always loved her music and her voice, my fave being the Mark Ronson collaboration & cover of 'Valerie'. (Live acoustic link)

This weekend has been a very sad weekend indeed. But I'd like to leave you all with some notes of sunshine if, at all possible.

Beyonce looks smoking hot in her promotional shoot for her album '4' by Greg Gex.

I hear that Christina Hendricks of Mad Men is designing her own swimwear range and is very close to signing a deal.
Also, a certain Harry Potter star is also considering becoming a fashion designer. I get why Christina is designing a range, but I do find it more and more ridiculous hearing that just because someone is famous and loves fashion, they have the necessary skills to become a talented designer. Ok, maybe i'm a little skeptical, but the starlet has done a fair amount of work for People Tree Foundation and worked on a capsule collection, which has been ethically produced, in collaboration with Alberta Ferretti. I guess we'll see if it's any good.

SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH IF NOT BASED IN GREECE

For everyone based in Greece, guess what? Make Up Guru and Ambassador of Max Factor Greece, Yiannis Marketakis (Γιάννης Μαρκετάκης) is launching Make Up Lab!
Having spent more than 15 years devoting his time and working on countless beauty and fashion editorials as well as making the gorgeous TV folks look, well even more gorgeous, Yiannis is going to share his secrets through his make up seminars. Is this not the most amazing news in beauty ever???

From September, you can learn all about Yiannis' trademark tips in various Make Up Lab seminars catering for beginners training to enter the professional Make Up world, Masterclass lessons for experienced make up graduates/artists who want to further develop their skills and learn about the hard to master techniques in the fashion/advertising world and finally beauty lessons for women who can learn to be their very own make up artist and accentuate their best features.

Make Up Lab info:
Louka Nika 11 & Ag. Anargyron 41 (Λουκά Νίκα 11 & Αγ. Αναργύρων 41 Ψυρρή)
Telephone for bookings and enquiries: 212 1029035 / 6944 888454
e-mail: info@makeuplab.gr
web: www.makeuplab.gr

Finally, if I ever win the lottery guys, I would take you all on this sweet ride of a vacation. This super yacht has it's very own heli-pad for ferrying you lovely readers to and fro, a huge bar, floating beach cabanas, a waterfall cascading down from a vaolcano plus cinema, library, games room, gym, spa and VIP suites! WOW! Full link and more 'blow you away' images here.

Right luvvies, I leave you with this:

"When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. "
~ Unknown

Here's looking at you, Zeta!

Well, hey there folks! It's been a long time.... I apologize for being an absentee blogger, if not a bad, bad blogger...

I don't usually watch 'Dancing with the stars', be it the UK (Strickly come Dancing), US or Greek version, but last night was the finale for the Greek 'Dancing with the Stars', after 13 weeks... I had to see who won - kinda important and more importantly, What Zeta wore!
I caught the last hour of what has clearly been an amazing style transformation for the presenter (and actress), Zeta Makripoulia. With every episode, Zeta showed off a multitude of looks, with super styled hair and make up to match. Last year I mentioned Ms. M was one to watch in the styles stakes (in Greece), well she sure hasn't failed to disappoint in 'Dancing with the Stars'.

Check out Zeta's looks!

I heard there was inspiration (mainly hair and make up) taken from various sources, see if you can spot a few here. Helen of Troy, Marlene Dietrich, Barbie, Veronica Lake & Farrah Fawcett... Ok, now i'm making some of this stuff up! Which of these are you loving?

I'm sure some of you are loving this nude coloured ensemble in the middle here, no? I had no idea until I saw another snap, that it was a full on skin-tight jumpsuit number!

I think Giorgos Segredakis (popular stylist to the stars) played stylist here, which meant that there was a wardrobe chock full of lush names, from Raxevksy (whom Ms. M is the face of), D2quared, Louboutin, Casadei shoes, Dolce & Gabbana, YSL, Kessaris (Jewellery) and Azzadine Alaia.
I am loving Zeta's Grecian Goddess look in the centre image below...oh and of course Old Hollywood Glamour above... the hair just rocks.

I am also totally flabbergasted by the awesome talented duo, Giannis Marketakis (Make up maestro) and Vasilis Bouloutasi (Hair stylist extraordinaire) who created these looks on Zeta.

I wonder what's next for Ms. M? That's all folks! I'll be seeing you soon!
Ciao Bellissime, x.o.x.o

All photos sourced: Ant1 tv

"I Want This Job" Make-Up Artist & Ambassador for Max Factor Greece

OK, so, I am beyond excited about this installment of "I want this Job", why?
Well, basically this is one of the professions I would have loved to have done, had I not been in Fashion. (Fashion Butter if you're reading, in another life I'd be driving around in a big fat, ice cream style van, giving out make-overs, rainbow coloured nail polish and the finest Gelato (naturally!).

I love make-up, make-overs, whatever... it's the inner creative mojo that gets unleashed once in a while.
When I moved over here, I was blown away by the amazing live TV "How-To's" on "Kafes me tin Eleni" and I also noticed how amazing Zeta Makripoulia looked on Greek 'Dancing with the Stars' (apologies to those who have no clue what/who i'm talking, she's a Greek Beauty - famous TV presenter & actress below).

I simply had to know the force behind was making these women gorgeous. I posted this a while ago, in hope of hunting down the genius and lucky for me, the gorgeous Katerina of Fashion Algorithms shed me some the light! The secret beauty weapon is this guy!

Introducing the mega talented and brilliant make up artist extraordinaire - Yiannis Marketakis!

I Want This Job: Make Up Artist
Who do you work for?
Max Factor (MF), over the last five years as ambassador of MF in Greece


What sparked your interest in make-up/beauty?
I love make up, even though my studies at the beginning were in a completely different path (I studied financial and law in Panteion University of Athens, and conservation and restoration of Art and then I studied make up and hair styling).
I love make up and beauty because it's very creative, you are working with a "live canvas"which is giving you the pleasure to transform and make people beautiful.




What's a typical day in the life of Yiannis Marketakis?
A typical day for me is starting early in the morning, it depends on the daily schedule: from working on a photo-shoot on a location requiring the use of the day light, and then working on an advertisement, filming in a studio to working late at night in a night club doing the make up of a famous singer. The day after you can find me in a world conference of Max Factor presenting products or flying in new york for a campaign!

At the moment, i'm on tour with Helena Paparizou (snap shot above) all over Greece.

Elena Paparizou looking hot!

Can you tell us a little about what goes on behind the scenes? A sneak peek into your world - be it TV appearance, preparing a celebrity for a movie premiere/event, photo-shoot for a magazine or for a collaboration with a make up brand?
The reality behind the scenes can be very tough sometimes, it's not always so flashy and glamorous that people believe. There is always the constant pressure about the time there is (I can just picture someone in the background going "4 minutes, you got 4 minutes only!!!") & a lot of things that have to be prepared specially when we are on a live TV show.
There is no room for mistakes as everything must be perfect at the right time, everytime! The make up, the hair, the styling, the lights etc... so as you can probably imagine there is a lot of pressure!

Yiannis working on Doukissa Nomikou

In a photo shoot the things are different, there is more time to create, to repair fix and change everything that you don't like!

What do you love about this job & why is it so fabulous?
As I mentioned before, I love this job because of the creativity and with this job, it never get boring, you are in a different place everyday with different people doing different things!
It's very fabulous because you have to deal with celebrities, actors, singers, models and you are also part of the fashion industry.

Is it as glamorous as it sounds?
Yes! It's very glamorous, because you live with all these people and sometimes very close. For example, i'm working with Helena Paparizou for the last six years, I'm in her daily schedule and sometimes i'm following her program for a long time. So we'll end up living in the same hotels, eating in the same restaurants, going out in the same places! Of course it's glamorous!


Have you travelled anywhere amazing as a make-up artist?
I have travelled around the globe a lot as a make up artist, from Japan, China, Australia, French Polynesia, Bora Bora, Maldives, all around USA, Canada, Latin America, Russia and all over Europe, Africa and Asia.


What's most challenging/difficult about this job?
The most challenging thing with this job is to create different looks on one person, sometimes long hours and the most difficult is to have contact with the people that you're working with. What core responsibilities do you have as a Make-up artist?
-to be always there if needed

-to have always clean products and tools

-to be always informed and updated in trends and in fashion

Which celebrity do you love working with?
I love working with my girls Elena Paparizou, Zeta Makripoulia, and Eleni Menegaki the most but of course i love working with all the celebrities.

Eleni Menegaki

Elena Paparizou

Which brands of make up do you love working with?
Max Factor make up products.

What skills do you need to be a great Make-up artist?
The skills for being a make up artist is "free hand and creative mind" inspiration and observation

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to become a Make-up artist?
My advice for those who want to be a make-up artist is hard work, read a lot of international fashion magazines and my moto in make up is "less is more"


What's the career path like? (Education, training, how long does it take to get to where you are/successful make up artist?)
The education & training is the first step, most important is the practice, it depends on how creative you are. My advice is to open your mind and feed it with a lot of creative data! Get different information from different sources and try to make them yours! Create your own style so when somebody sees a picture, they can say "Oh, that's Marketakis' make up"!

Editorials for International magazines & L'Officiel

How did you find your dream job as a Make-up artist? Do you have a portfolio?
By working hard, finding myself an agency. My site is under construction, however, you can visit www.yiannismarketakis.com soon.
For the moment you can see a small sample at www.effex.gr which is the agency i'm with.

Any make up tips you'd like to share?
Sleep 8 hours a day, drink a lot of water and keep your skin clean and hydrated. That helps a lot in making it easier for the make up to look fabulous.

Use liquid and light foundations to have a light invisible cover, especially in the morning and never go OTT and use all the products together!

A huge thank you to Yiannis for sharing this info with us (he's super busy man) - we love him! Personally I'd love a mini version of Yiannis to take everywhere with me so I can look equally as gorgeous 1st thing in the morning! Elena Paparizou sure is one lucky lady!