Make Up 2 Break Up



Tara Taylor sports a natural makeup look by Tara Taylor



This afternoon I lunched with Tara Taylor, a make up artist whose talent is beyond compare.  Even her name has a superstar ring to it, doesn't it?  I met Tara over a year ago after my business partners and I first launched the full-figured collection.  I first noticed her work in countless spreads for Plus Model Magazine -an online publication that addresses plus size fashion, beauty, arts, and modeling.  And I made it my mission to seek her out and beg her to work with me.  It turns out that Tara is as sweet as she is talented and I didn't need to do much begging after all.  Although I have several months before the photo shoot for the Fall 2012 collection, I wanted to make sure that I got on the calendar of this very in-demand talent before she was booked.  So today over Cobb salad and devil's food cheesecake, courtesy of Junior's restaurant, I shared my vision for the upcoming collection "Eye Candy".  She seemed to be taken with my ideas and immediately inserted the shoot on her phone's calendar.  I cannot wait.  But in the meantime, check out her work at www.tarataylor.net.  If you're a woman who wants to put her best face forward, you want to take advantage of her talent before she becomes the next Kevyn Aucoin!

Peace & Fashion!

America's Next Top Model?

My life with fashion models has always been bittersweet. Usually, I love working with women. I have found them nurturing, incredibly forthcoming, hardworking, intelligent, and easy to talk to. But with models I have noticed that the dynamic sometimes transforms into something weird and unfortunate. My experience has varied from the sublime (I can call one model in particular a very dear friend) to the nightmarish (the kind who have given me diva 'tude or not shown up to photo shoots). Anyone who has watched "America's Next Top Model" knows that it takes more than beauty to become the next Kate Moss. You have got to connect both in front of the lens and on the runway. And models are subjected to scrutiny (nose too wide, hips too narrow, lips too thin) that us mere mortals rarely have to suffer through. So it begs the question, "Why do so many young women foster dreams of becoming supermodels of the world?" Does it validate their existence to know that they are considered beautiful? Does the lifestyle seem uber glamorous? Maybe most do not understand that models suffer from low self-esteem because their physical shortcomings are constantly underscored by industry monsters? Or perhaps they have not realized that models are often treated as if they have no brain capacity? And then there is the thing about the level of success - most women do not reach supermodel status so there is a constant struggle to make ends meet.

This weekend past thousands of women lined up for the New York audition of Tyra Banks' next cycle of America's Next Top Model after Ms. Tyra herself announced that the producers would only be accepting applications for hopefuls who are 5'7" and under. Chaos ensued, several were stampeded, and dreams were crushed. Now don't get me wrong, I am the last one who wants to quash anybody's dreams. I'm just sayin'! Beautiful young women should really consider their options before they leap into such a ruthless world populated by sharks. Know that you are fabulously beautiful in your own unique way and work with people who support that truth.

Peace & Fashion!