Ballerinas (and their Eyelashes) Take San Francisco- Act One

In the world I live in day by day, creating beauty, making women more fabulous, it struck me- there is such a thing as “lifestyle lashes” and they should be celebrated.
 
What are “lifestyle lashes“ you ask? They are the eyelashes of the Everywoman. The eyelashes that give us more time in the morning, the eyelashes that open our tired eyes, the eyelashes that give us confidence to walk into that meeting and the eyelashes that make us feel more beautiful.  When it comes down to it, there are as many types of beauty and styles of lashes as there are women.
 
In this next featured series, we are going to celebrate these women. We are going to showcase them and all their beauty, in their surroundings, doing what they do best. We will find out what beauty means to them and how eyelashes play an integral role in their... lifestyle.

​We begin with three San Francisco Ballerinas, a hair and makeup team from Patrick Evan Salon to die for and a photographer with an eye for the unusual.   My vision for this project was simple-  to adorn the dancers with gorgeous sets of eyelash extensions and let them loose in the city.  The results?  Pure magic and more than I ever could have hoped for! 
 
Lorraine Gallego, our photographer, suggested The Palace Hotel to compliment my ideas of Maiden Lane and Union Square- the center of all things Artisan.   I asked her what her over all vision for the shoot was as far as light?
 
“I am always a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl! I like spontaneity in shoots and work best with a less fabricated idea in place. The shoot is always more organic and raw when you invoke an element of unknown into the mix! I work best with natural lighting and love shadow play on facial features! I like coming up with ideas that may seem weird at first but turn out beautifully in photos. For example: deciding at 10am to run to Forever 21 to get clothing I could cut up and use to place over the girls faces for some unique beauty shots? Seemed odd to do but worked out! Sometimes these ideas don’t work but it’s always great when they do!
 
And great it was!  The fabric photos were eccentric and showcased the eyelash extensions beautifully.   They were mysterious, seductive and completely spontaneous.

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​Although Lorraine couldn’t pick just ONE photo as a favorite from the shoot, one scene stuck out for her.
 
“I would have to say I am most proud of the images I took of Ludmila at the palace. I love portraiture most out of any facet of photography and capturing the beauty of someone’s personality or unique moment they share with me. At first I had asked her to lay on her stomach with an idea in mind and instead she just folded herself like a delicately crafted origami swan. The images from that moment out of any shots that day had to of been my favorites. They were genuine, natural, elegant and poised which could not have translated more perfectly through the lens.”
 
I completely agree!  The photos @The Palace Hotel are breathtakingly dreamy, inspired and pure beauty.   

​It was the location favorite of Ludmila Bizalion as well.
 
She explained, “I mostly loved all the photos that we took on an urban scenario: the street pictures and the pictures at the Palace Hotel. I loved them because our eyelashes made us look stunning and it reminds us that beauty is everywhere around us, if you stop to look at it and appreciate it. Also, the fact that we are professional ballerinas doesn’t make us different than anyone else, we also go to the same places, do the same things as everyone else.”
 
Ludmila is exactly right, we are all beautiful in our own ways and we are so grateful every day to be able to contribute to that in our own special way.  #lifestylelashes 

Photo Credit: Lorraine Gallego
Hair: Pam Genio-Bates
Makeup: Charlotte Parsons 
Artisan Stylists: Kate Scheid, Marissa Buffington, Melissa Isenburg
Creative Director: Melissa Isenburg
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