A Fabulous Photoshoot: Vintage, tattoo and pinup photography by Alt.Studio!

I'd seen a lot of buzz amongst local bloggers and members of the North West Vintage Business Network about Alt.Studio, so when I was given the opportunity to book a shoot, I jumped at the chance!

Situated in a cosy, private space within Ridelow (formerly the Home Design Store), one of Manchester's oldest established alternative shops in the city centre's cool and quirky Northern Quarter, Alt.Studio specialises in producing fantastic portraits for an alternative clientele. A pampering makeover service is available where a professional artist can work her magic with hairstyling and makeup to create any vintage look you desire, from 1920s vamp, through to 1950s glamour or 60s siren. The owner, Simon Hunt, also has a passion for tattoo photography, and really gets the best from his illustrated subjects with some beautiful, colourful shots of people from all areas of the 'alternative' spectrum.

Mwah!

I chose a cheesecake pinup theme for my shoot, as I really love the old cheeky, colourful pinups of the 40s and 50s - Bettie Page, Elvgren, Vargas... I felt I would be most comfortable with this as it best reflects my personal style and would allow me to show off a range of my self-made dresses and hats! Every Alt.Studio shoot is built around the client's personal style and vision, and Simon is great at helping to bring this out of his models! I'm by no means an old hand when it comes to being photographed, but I have done quite a few professional photoshoots and bits of modelling for my own and my friends' companies, and Simon was one of the best photographers I have ever worked with. His friendly attitude and infectious energy really put me at ease in front of the camera, and he knew exactly how to direct me to get the most effective, flattering and interesting poses.

I loved my hair and makeup by Nikki Armstrong, and will be trying to recreate this hairstyle at home, as soon as I have some tongs so I can get the lovely defined curls!

New tiki dress! Hair flower by MissTiki Designs

Simon managed to shoot me in four outfits in the space of just a couple of hours! I couldn't wait to see the images once we were finished, and left Alt.Studio feeling really pleased and confident.

Vintage family heirloom parasol... birdie straw hat coming soon to my shop!

New Hawaiian dress by me... really proud to be Alt.Studios' facebook cover girl!

I would really recommend the Alt.Studio experience to anyone looking for an empowering, fun day and to take away some beautiful images! The studio can also be booked for couples or small groups, and don't forget to mention that you were referred by Kalandra when you book! Alt.Studio is offering free makeovers and special price image packages alongside some great competitions for a limited time only, so head over to the studio's facebook page (where I am currently the cover photo!) or www.altstudiouk.com to see more of Simon's beautiful work.

My favourite shot... lovely work by Alt.Studio which will be printed and grace my wall when I'm an old woman!

You can also see more delicious Alt.Studio portrait photography on Dolly Cool Clare's blog, Helen's blog, Kitty Wink Vintage and the fabulous Marry Me Ink - they're all really worth a look, the pictures (and the ladies, of course) are gorgeous!

Glamourous styling and my clever chap!

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to a fancy event at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, where Aerospace Boyfriend was receiving a prestigious award from the North West Aerospace Alliance. He won the Sir Frank Whittle award, named after the inventor of the jet engine, which is given for the best aerospace engineering project from any North West university. I am very proud of him!


Here he is with some chaps from Project Torpedalo who are going to drive a high-tech pedalo across the Atlantic for charity! Apparently they'll be naked for most of it too due to something called 'salt chafing'... they are braver than I.


...and again looking rather nervous with some executives from Rolls-Royce jet engines, receiving his big cardboard cheque and shiny trophy made from a jet turbine fan blade. I'm not used to seeing him with normal hair and wearing a suit! There was also a very nice three-course meal (they cooked me a special vegan option) and plenty of free-flowing pink champagne! Apparently there exist pictures of us together on his dad's camera (the ones above are stolen from official websites), but they haven't come out very well.


Here is what I wore... my Hawaiian dress, I have probably worn this more than anything else I have made, it's my favourite too. Sorry for the rubbish picture, the lighting in my house is pathetic. The design is modified from Butterick 6582, I lowered the neckline and added the draped and lined front overskirt. I've made several versions of this dress and find it easy to fit and modify. Black lurex knit bolero from Tesco, my Nanna's rhinestone jewellery, and my trusty 1950s green velvet rhinestone stilettos.


My hair and makeup for the evening was done by the fabulous Bethany Jane Davies of The Vintage Beauty Parlour. Her work is fantastic! I asked for a Betty Grable/Lucille Ball inspired updo with classically glamourous neutral 50s makeup and I was thrilled with the results.


I went to her cute little home studio for my styling session (where you will fall in love with Dita, her darling black pug), she also runs a mobile beauty service for bridal or special occasion styling, and a pop-up salon at various vintage events.


Look at my eyebrows! I loved them. I won't be changing from my coloured ones any time soon, but it would be nice to make them up like this for formal occasions or just for a change with a nice outfit.

Review: Revlon 'Just Bitten' Lipstain

I picked this up when it was first released in the UK, and have been using it ever since. Despite it being a felt-tip marker type thing, it has not dried out! I've been using it since about June, not every day but fairly regularly.

The first downside to this product is that the packaging colour isn't much like the actual colour of the product, so I'd recommend using a tester on the back of your hand instore before you buy. I'm guessing the majority of my readers will be users of vintage red lipcolours rather than plums or browns, and the packaging of the two red shades is almost exactly the same - 'Flame', an orangey-red which is the colour I use, and 'Gothic' which is a deep, blue-based vintage red and would be great for Winter, so read the label carefully!


To get the shade shown here, you'll need to apply about three coats of the stain. It is great for gaining a gradual change of shade depending on the occasion, time of day or how deep you like your colour. However, any dry bits on your lips will pick up way more colour if you just apply one coat, so either go for the full coverage of a few coats or make sure your lips are well buffed before applying.

The stain itself is alcohol based, so you draw it on, wait about thirty seconds for the alcohol to evaporate and the colour is stuck firmly to your lips. The other end of the applicator contains a clear balm which you layer over the top, this adds a subtle shine and stops the lips from feeling dry. Apply all the layers of colour you need before adding the balm, don't try to apply colour over the balm or you'll ruin the felt tip.


This is what the lipstain looks like on a drunk woman at a punk festival at 1am. Here I had been wearing the stain for around thirteen hours, had reapplied it maybe once, and added more balm a couple of times. I had been drinking pints of cider (that's the kind with alcohol, Americans), eaten a greasy dinner of chips (fries) with pickled onions and baked beans, and the heat in the venue was around 30C. All I lost was a bit of colour from the centre of my top lip so it looked a bit pinker, less orangey - no feathering, minimal reapplication and no dryness as long as I kept adding balm after eating. Since, this lipstain has survived nights out, trips to the Chinese buffet, three-hour swimming sessions and it's also totally kiss-proof! It's also pretty difficult to remove... not a problem if you wear lipcolour every day, but if you're planning to go bare-lipped after wearing it you may wish to try something like a waterproof makeup remover or isopropyl wipes to get rid of the last traces.

I would't be without this lipstain now... I'm only hoping that the obviously 'Twilight' inspired names ( Midnight, Gothic, Dawn, Twilight, Instinct etc.) don't mean that this is a flash-in-the-pan lipcolour that will be withdrawn as soon as the interest in glittery vampires wanes. They're now up to fifteen shades in the US, so hopefully it'll continue to flourish here in the UK too.


The other great thing - it's vegan! I'm not 100% that all the shades are, but the ones I examined the ingredients labels of certainly were. Revlon also do not perform any animal testing, highly unusual for an American firm where vivisection in the name of beauty is still commonplace (although they do use animal ingredients such as silk and cochineal in some of their other products).

Revlon 'Just Bitten' Lipstain is currently on offer in Boots for £5 instead of £7.99 (although their colour chart is way off - this set of swatches is fairly accurate, though obviously they'll look different depending on your skin/lip tone.)