A VISION in Progress : VIP

People always ask me..are you Jamaican, or African?  Truth is, I have never been to either places. But this dutch girl has  been lucky to have surrounded herself with enough of both cultures. to blend right in. The most exciting thing about being a makeup artist, is that you never know where it might take you.  And for me it seems like it always pulls me back to the roots of Africa.

An Africans walk, speech and wardrobe is as colorful as its native tongue.The African culture is unique in the sense that its people bring a piece of home wherever they go.  I have sponsored two of the biggest African pageants in Toronto: Ghana's most beautiful,  and the Miss Africanada pageant. Until you have witnessed it for yourself, it is hard to put in words the essence of pride and beauty that is Africa.

Those who know me personally,  can guarentee that this girl can knock back a couple pounds of Fufu. But I have never before heard of this new genre of music called HipLife. When I researched the topic I found that it is not just music but a way of life. Just like reggea, dance, and hip hop its in a class of its own.

VIP is one of HipLife's biggest groups to date. Promzy, Louzy and Prodical combined have garnered a millions of  views on their YouTube videos. Together they are constantly on tour, performing at sold out shows world wide. As well as constantly finding ways to mix music with charity.

VIP giving back to the community of Nima

So while they were in Canada they teamed up with Sunset Productions, a steadily growing production team catering to the African community, who's past artist include Sarkodie and Atumpan.

Working with V.I.P was an experience to say the least. These guys traveled like real stars, Louboutins and Louise Vuitton suitcases lined the back of the car as they came to do a quick video before jetting off to their next destination. And although their clothes reeked of prestige, these boys were actually quite humble. Lazzy funny and outspoken, Promzy  friendly and polite, and Prodical who was the quitest of all. They even kept their cool when some of the models showed up more then 2 hours unfashionably late! Thank goodness for Miss tiffy Bling who came on set dressed to impress and ready to perform as necessary.

It was a simple shoot with a little green screen and outdoor action. When it was all over I couldn't help but ask the boys to pose for me. Check it out!

Special thanks goes out to Sunset Productions for always hiring Mrs Makeup as part of their team. And to all of you with special talents, take an example out of VIPs page and see how you can give back to your community too.

I would love to connect with makeup artist around the world! Follow the new twitter @Mrs_Makeup For questions or bookings email mrsmakeup911@yahoo.ca

A Millionaire Lifestyle charity event

Designer Sarah Gwan is starting to create some buzz around her Millionaire Lifestyle Clothing line. So much so, that InWithTheHype promotions asked Sarah to come to Niagara for a fashion show. What better place to host Millionaire Lifestyle clothing's, first fashion show than at The Bank Lounge in Niagara Falls?

 The upscale club is exactly what the millionaire lifestyle is all about, not only does the VIP have lushes leather furniture, but the walls display big murals of Canadian dollar bills.
 It was great to see some familiar faces again, Photographer Courtney Nicole, Lucky 73 and StrongArmEnt were there to capture background footage. Models Lola, SkinnyBuck and Stevie Nicks the original Millionaire models were there, accompanied by some pretty new faces, who came as far as Buffalo to model the brand. 

With 2 makeup artist and 2 hairstylist on board, we got more then 10 girls ready in no time, including designer Sarah Gwan (pictured above fanning herself with a stach of MLC 100 dollar bills).

 And with so much extra time to spare, all photographers got the chance to take some amazing pictures before the show.

The event went well,  and all proceeds  were donated to the Keep-A-Breast  foundation.

BTW Millionaire Lifestyle is looking for the next Millionaire Lifestyle Clothing Model!! If you think you have what it takes, email your contact information with two porfolio pictures to Sarahgwan@gmail.com

T-shirts are available for purchase on  the Facebook fan page http://millionairelifestyle.bigcartel.com/

The Millionaire lifestyle clothing shoot

Sarah Gwan is a graphic designer from Toronto who specializes in print, logos and corporate branding. Now she is trying her hand at fashion designing.   I believe has succeeded in a major way. With her Kush Bubble Gum T'shirts and Millionaire Lifestyle logos she's definetly on to something. Quotes like "Business, never personal" and "Rich Bitch" give the T'shirt line for both men and women, crazy mass appeal.
When she asked Mrs Makeup to not only do makeup but,  help come up with a great concept, I jumped at the chance. So we decided we needed loads of color, toys pretty models and of course plenty of dollar bills, to pull it all off.

 Meeting up with Sarah Gwan at the Gladstone Hotel.  Courtney Nicole Photography brought her model entourage which included models Stevie Nicks, Lola Rae, Skinny Buck, Mason Fox and rapper Joel Naggy.  Strong Arm TV  cwas also their to aptured background footage.

Its one thing to think of a great concept but another to see it all come together. In the first shot, we wanted the models makeup to be loaded with color both on the face and with the clothes.  After I did the makeup, Sarah let me style the girls as well.  Sarah brought enough clothes for me to go crazy, so I choose long socks, suspenders and short shorts for all the girls.

The girls did an amazing job,but Mason and Joel also brought their personal touch of millionaire swag.

 For the second part it was yellow, gold, black and white. The models did a great job acting out the scenes.  Doesnt it look like they won the lottery?

We had a wonderful time at this shoot. Sarah Gwan did am awesome job of putting this shoot together. Thanks to all the models for following my (sometimes bossy) direction. From the looks of Courtney Nicole's  leaked pictures, the final edits will be fire

If you like to order your own T-shirts or have Sarah Gwan design something special for you click here