DIY bath bar feature image

I arranged a photo-shoot with my friend phele after being inspired by this image by Maisie Cousins (I think she may be my favourite photographer-sorry Prue!). purple, especially lilac is my favourite colour, and when paired with black skin i think the colour looks even more beautiful. I wanted to create an image like this for my coconut and essential oil bath bar tutorial. 

Im really excited about the images I got today, I think they are so beautiful too look at (if i don't say so myself). I need to lighten the backdrop as it looks much darker than on the back of the camera, but I'm confident I can adjust that fine. 

 With a lot of images to chose from I am happy I have the feature image for my blog post.

RMS order 2

I have been looking at what make-up to chose for the RMS beauty shoot, I have a model ready and think she would look beautiful in and shade as her complexion is neutral and I have seen her model many different looks. 

After endless browsing I decided to get two eye polishes and a lip shine. 

Magnetic: Our biggest seller is this taupe/silver shadow with a hint of mauve.
Seduce: Sensuous earthy brown hue that can double as a contour.
Honest: A nude, dusty rose.

Skin 

Natural dewy glow, no sparkle or shimmer, just healthy glowing skin. This will be achieved with patting the living luminizer on the high point of the face. Dusty nude pink lip with lip shine in shade honest. Magnetic polish washed on the lids for a healthy look without too much shadow. 

Hair

The hair will be wet down completely and then coconut oil will be added to sooth down the hair into a slick, chic style. 

Social media

I have launched a Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram page for the blog. I will be posting teasers up until the launch of the blog. I have not use social media all that often this year, I've been too busy really and find it boring a lot go the time. I think I will find it hard to keep up with uploaded often, thats something i fell out of love with. If you do not post a picture every day on Instagram follows lose interest, you take a day off and before you know it you are yesterdays news. Hopefully i will stay determined...

Creating water droplets

I was thinking about what type of feature image i should have for my Jojoba oil post. While I like the close up of the bottle, flowers and crystals I feel there needs to be a feature image that shows how nourishing this product is. 

I like the idea of water droplets on the skin. It's something that looks really visually pleasing and I'd like to try out an idea i've had to imitate the effect. 

 An example of the desired effect. 

Trial

I am really happy with how this trial went! I love the effect of the glass pebbles and feel I've managed to create the desired effect. While this was meant to be a test I feel like I have usable images. I am so pleased with the lighting and clarity, it did take me a while to perfect the set-up and at times I wasn't really sure how it was looking but seeing the images on a computer screen is much different. 

Arabian Oil Feature Image

The mood I am trying to create with the Arabian oil article is fresh, clean and luxurious. I have been in the studio with a model and tried to encapsulate the scent. I used white petals and grass to create freshness and also purity. I feel like the shoot went well and I am pleased with the images. i love the wet look of the oil and how the body hair creates texture. My model was worried about me shooting her bod hair up so close, but I assured her this was what I was hoping to achieve. Body hair is pretty unacceptable and while there is a body hair don't care movement, it is very much something that is seen on Instagram but not so much out in the street. I want to promote natural beauty and think I have done this in todays shoot without showing armpits or pubic hair, so i think it adds rather than distracts from the perfume post.

Wild Medicine Soap shoot

Wild Medicine is an American brand from Los Angeles, created by three friends that care about organic and holistic personal care. I saw the brand on Instagram and instantly fell in love. I'm always looking for crystal alternatives and think its the perfect products to talk about on the blog. 
I was hoping to purchase the Titanium treated quartz and tea tree soap, simply as it was my favourite of the seven different soaps. However, it was out of stock in the UK and I wasn't sure how long it would take to arrive so purchased the rose geranium soap that is a collaboration with Content Beauty. 

I really enjoyed shooting this soap, I think the look of it is exactly what I want for my blog and after some post production I will have clean simple images. 

***

Looking back I think I should have wet the soap as you can see the clarity and the crystal better. I was not to know as did not find out until I used it a few times, in order to write a better informed article. I have also realised when referring back to the website I accidentally shot the soap upside down! I cannot re-shoot as the soap is clearly used and the soap now is out of stock! 

Rose Petals

I thought about what feature image this article should have and as it is really about the fragrance of the geranium rose essential oil I decided to try out rose petals on the skin, I also added grass as I really love the natural combination. The geranium also has a slightly minty and fresh smell so feel the grass clippings are appropriate. 

I used coconut oil on the skin which allowed the petals to stick and create an over-oiled look. I used my personal organic stuff but think I should buy some of the cooking oil they sell in Tesco as it was pretty wasteful. 

 Here are some more of the images, I am happy with how the shoot went, however I wasn't able to locate a tripod and found it hard to focus at times as I prefer to shoot manually. It is vital I get a tripod for my next shoot like this.

Arabian Oil

I have decided I will be writing an article about the Arabian oil I purchased. I had a conversation with Emma about different ways of incorporating fragrance into organic lifestyles that isnt regular liquids in a spray bottle. One way of showing this is through organic essential oils, but with those comes risk assessment, whereas with this oil a person only needs a drop on the pulse point for three day wear. Only a small amount is needed and the ingredients are so minimal. 

I took the oil in and wanted to shoot it with one of my clear quartz geodes. The fragrance is called white musk so I wanted a crisp, clean prop to use in conjunction. 

I was really happy with the images I had taken in the studio looking at the camera screen, but importing them onto my desktop I can see the lighting is really bad, its far too low and I don't like how dark the background looks. While i like to have a slight grey tint instead of bright white, this is too dim. 

I do however think the oil looks interesting in the images, I like the bottle and as it is made from glass and metal these are good materials to work with my ethos. But thinking more about this being a fragrance still life, I need to find a way to produce a mood for the scent. When re-shooting this image I will try to achieve the luxe yellow filter and consider the rest of the images for the article. 

One last thing I really adore about this oil is you can rub in into the ends of the hair, which release the gorgeous scent as the hair moves. 

*Re-shoot*

I have been back in the studio with the oil and have captured some images I am really proud of and excited about. I had such a good session in the studio, I really enjoyed myself and felt content and most of all time passed so quick as I was really enjoying myself. 

I used the flash setting on the white balance adjustments, i know this is the correct setting to have but usually prefer shooting in auto for a cooler toned image. However I feel the warm yellow tint really works for this product and image. It is not exactly how i want the images to look but feel so confident once I have a play around in photoshop Im going to have my second shoot of final images I will be publishing on the blog.