Mink make-over

If you're anything like me, you glance at those glam covers in the supermarket aisles thinking, "I bet it's all hair and make-up." Then you see those mags, Heat and so on, that take pride in showing us the star's bad hair days - in togs-  at the beach sans make-up and you feel the naughty joy of schadenfreude. 

I live my life more in the latter than the former, especially now I have a baby girl to look after, but just imagine being the cover star for a change. 

Want to feel like a celeb for a day?

I got as close as I'll get to it in my lifetime with a make-over and photo shoot with Lester de Vere and Sarah Breslin at Mink Photography in Takapuna to celebrate having my little girl. I not only came away feeling truly pampered by the whole experience, I had gorgeous photos to boot. Here's what went on...

I met with Mink's lovely Sarah Breslin - who previously set up Contours gym so she so knows a thing or two about making women feel good - plus the Brit is pretty glamorous herself. At this complimentary planning session I sat down with Sarah to chat about what I wanted from the photo shoot and arranged a booking. 

Below, Sarah Breslin

When I arrived I was introduced to today's make-up artist, Lisa Shearer, a professional make-up artist who has worked on film, TV and countless celebrities' faces as well as beautifying the likes of me.

Lisa began the Pygmalion Project by ghd styling my hair. Sarah's helpful info sheet told me to arrive with clean, dry hair. Lisa then asked me what look I was going for and looked through my selection of outfits to decide on make-up colours to complement them. We selected soft grey and lilac shades from MAC and used my own nude Karen Murrell lipstick to finish. 

After hair and make-up, which lasted about an hour, the photography session began in earnest.  Lester got Lily and I to pose in our first outfit, in a classic pose with baby on my lap, both looking forward. 

Lester says for children around five months of age, there's a window of about twenty minutes to work with, so having tried and true poses works really well to get fast results before the tears! 

Here's the result of that shoot. First, Lily having her Extreme Close-Up to camera. Lights! What a born model. 

...And my favourite shot of the day, a portrait of us together which looks lovely and relaxed.

Then we changed into more casual clothes (very Hello! visits Liz Hurley at her Sussex manor, I thought to myself) and I donned jeans and a white shirt on their white couch in the studio and took advantage of the natural light from windows. Baby's getting tired at this stage and Lester calls it a wrap.

Following my shoot I revisited the studio for the viewing and ordering session where they showed the results of the day. I had the opportunity to view and choose from a slideshow.

I found it a really relaxing process with professionalism and extremely high standards. The Mink team are so friendly and completely put you at ease and best yet, are great with children. And yes, I came away feeling like a star for a day and took my nice hair and make-up out for the evening. I'd recommend you make dinner plans after your own photo shoot and show off your new look! 

We are delighted to have a Thread.co.nz reader offer for February and March 2010 thanks to Mink. Book for only $90 for an hour’s makeover and an hour’s photo shoot along with a free 5 x 7” print, worth $695 usually! That's amazing value; getting your hair and make-up done in salon would cost more than that alone! Call Mink on 969 1443 to arrange a time with Sarah.

Mink Photography
18 Barry's Point Road, Takapuna (next to Foodtown, free off street parking available.) 
North Shore, Auckland 0622
Ph 969 1443 
info@minkphotography.co.nz 

Megan Robinson 11 February 2010