Thankfully each makeup artist has his/ her own strengths and expertise to cater for every client's specialized needs. While the stylist may have gained a good amount of knowledge from attending courses/ training and the numerous hands-on experiences, their work is still not able to appeal to everyone. My research objective is to present their distinctive skills to you in a descriptive format. You can then decide who's specialization attracts you the most.
The next MUA I am reviewing is the dashing gentleman among the roses, Desmond. His simple elegant style and strong proficiency in blending the skin color evenly are his competitive advantages. It is easy for the uneven tones (face and neck) to show especially under the unkind camera lighting. Desmond's bride's skin tones looks absolutely natural even under the bright camera flashes. The last thing you want is to look too fair or too dark with a different shade on your face compared to the neck down.
Here are a few samples of brides by Desmond, you can see the evenness especially more prominent on brides with tanned skin.
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| Even skin tone which does not look "made-up" |
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| Charlene Poore's wedding. She was happy with how Desmond made her look great in a natural way. |
Desmond believes that it is completely essential for the bride to look GREAT on and off camera. He focuses on enhancing the eyes intensely but tastefully. The eyes makeup should be done conforming to the event's atmosphere and state of lighting. For instance he would give the pair of eyes a dark brown hue for the morning session and a more smoky effect for the night event. An over-the-top look will only overpower the groom, making the bride stand out in an uncomfortable way. Therefore, to make sure the makeup does not go overboard, he colors the the lips lightly and applies moderate blush. As a result the overall look is natural and pleasing with emphasis on the peepers - they glow with energy. All his clients praised his natural and not overly done results. Read more reviews below.
His signature hair style is the most sought after Korean concept hair. Soft curls, the modern loose braids, classic low tie-up, cute hair with long bangs fixed to the side. Desmond realizes the importance of hair on the entire appearance and for the hair to be "simple and nice". I am particularly intrigued by the way he creates the superstar look out of a very simple, classic hair-do and neutral shades.
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| Desmond in the photo with the bride. The Korean-inspired hairstyle looks absolutely beautiful. |
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| The popular side long bangs and simple yet elegant hair. |
The challenges of bridal makeup come from the need to study the bride's features and think of the best makeup and hair for her. Let's face it, not everyone look like a superstar. The makeup artist would have to deal with issues such as pimples, skin blemishes, dis-proportionate eyes sizes, facial shape which is too round and what not. Desmond adjusts the way he applies the cosmetics to the specific condition. For example, over-apply of makeup on someone with chubby face is a no-no. His technique is to downplay the weakness by contouring the face to create an illusion of depth. So it will look sharper and less wide. Another slimming trick is to add more volume to the hair. For a woman with nice features and slim figure for example, he would heat things up by designing a celebrity glamor look to go with more fashionable hairdo for her.
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Speaking from experience, there is actually a huge difference between makeup for advertising verses wedding. Desmond could execute bolder popping colors on fashion models because generally they have more attractive features. It is like an art to him. Heavy makeup, fashionable, Avant garde look that make a statement or other styles according to the requests.
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| Miss World Malaysia 2008 Soo Wincci. Hair by Ckay Liow Makeup by Natago Des (DESMOND Makeup + Hair) Photography by Alexio Yeoh |
| REVIEWS |
Lee Shing Ling @ Jan 2013 Thanks Desmond!! i like this make up and hair so much.. lots of good feedback too.. . Hehe..Thanks for making me a pretty bride |
http://wedresearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/mua-list.html?showComment=1354718470259#c6805709496252126302 Charlene Poore @ Dec 2012 I had used Desmond as my make up artist. He focuses mostly on bringing out your eyes for the makeup and he did a great job making me look as natural as possible. His hairdos were great as well. He was polite and punctual and even contacted me before the wedding to make sure all the details (time, venue etc). Even when my mother had requested him to do something extra for her hair (though i originally did not hire him to do hair and makeup for my mother), he was willing to help her as well without demanding any extra charge (he helped her after my makeup was done). His price is very reasonable. http://www.facebook.com/pages/DESMOND-Makeup-Hair/143408822339735 |
http://www.malaysiabrides.com/forum/topic/708-makeup-artist-mua-kl/page-78#entry380381 SyeeYee @ Jun 2011 I tried to get some suggestions from my friends and they strongly suggested me to go for Desmond. My friends gave me his Facebook page and I had stalked the website from tip to toe, I was like stunned there looking at his albums helping others to make up and style their hair. He was also being invited to help in some fashion shows which held at KL area. I was so amazed by his photos which posted in Facebook, and the hairstyle he did for the brides just suit my taste. So I contacted him through email, and so surprisingly he replied me on the same day! The responsiveness was so fast and it gave me a nice first impression of him. We chatted for awhile and through the conversation with him, I felt comfortable and without any hesitating, I agreed and say YES to him already. It was the early morning of my big day. Finally it reached and I was somekind in mixed feeling, half of me was so excited because it was my wedding day, half of me was so nervous and I couldn’t sleep well on the night before! I just managed to sleep for 2 hours and woke up automatically in the early morning with my both eye swollen like panda! But the early morning call from Desmond comforted my palpitated heart. He told me that he was on the way to my house and he really reach on time. Punctuality thumb up! He reached and then all the makeup thingy started.I need to admit that my skin was not perfect, but Desmond did a great job in covering all the flaws on my face, but I need to emphasize that the makeup really looked natural that you can barely see the foundation powder on my face. Overall I like my eye the most because it looked bigger. I was abit worried about the result because of my 2 hours sleepless night panda eyes, but he was really fantastic with his skill, he managed to cover it without any thick makeup around my eyes, it looked so natural. For the night part, it was totally different from the morning simple natural look. He tried something different, which was more challenging for me, as I never tried on smokey eye before. He suggested me to use double eyelashes because it will give me a sexier yet elegant look with the smokey eye together with the nude lips. But he didn’t extra charge for extra eyelashes me at the end. On the other hand, the hairdo part I wished to have a simple not complicated for both the morning and the evening session. My parents and my friends praised that I looked gorgeous with that combination of makeup and the hairdo, it was just a nice combo together. I was so happy to have Desmond and I will definitely ask him to come over again to help me if there is any event in the future. |
Desmond Makeup + Hair
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/DESMOND-Makeup-Hair/143408822339735
Email: des4042@gmail.com
Tel: 012-605 1578
Personal Facebook: Natago Des
Rates: Morning and Night/Lunch (2 Session) at RM1000
StayBack (2nd hair do and Makeup touch-up) at RM150