Sometimes an unexpected situation can ruffle even the best laid plans. Such was the case with our final makeover contestant at the September 2017 Lifestyle Show in Vancouver. Luckily, in times like these, we all have family and friends willing to step up – and step in.
Heather Akai, mother of INSPIRED’s stylist Hana Akai, graciously accepted the offer of a makeover when duty called. Hey, someone’s gotta do it!
After 31 years at the University of British Columbia, Heather recently retired and now spends her days viewing the world – with wonder – through the eyes of her two-year-old grandson. When time allows, she looks forward to travelling more.
Since she felt ready for a style change, her daughter didn’t hold back.
“She drastically changed my hair colour and cut,” says Heather. “I have received many compliments on the style and colour from both friends and strangers.”
Heather says the makeover experience was interesting and she would recommend it to anyone.
“I don’t think I am much of a model, but the experience was relaxed and fun,” she says. “I really enjoyed being part of the show.”
What the stylist did:
Hair:
My mother’s hair had been coloured to a medium light blonde for years. Lightened by the sun, it was quite dry on the ends. Since she has a lot of hair, it appeared quite heavy and started laying flat. To combat this, I added shorter layers and texture to work with the hair’s natural movement. I started the whole process by doing a special treatment by Redken to remove product build-up, allowing us to get the best possible result. Then, I used what is called a filler to add some of the underlying tone in the hair before adding the colour. This was necessary because I was taking the hair so much darker. The final step was adding some baby highlights throughout her hair to add some lightness and dimension to all the colours. I also added Redken pH bonder, which is a new protective colour additive that reinforces the bonds of the hair and it keeps it protected while adding smoothness.
All the colours and products used are by Redken 5th Ave.
For the haircut, I decide to go shorter and bring it up just under her ears. I created more lift on the top of her head and I textured the haircut, so her hair wouldn’t be so weighed down and heavy. I chose this style for her because she likes to get a lot of lift out of her hair without a lot of styling.
Makeup:
My mom likes to keep her makeup routine simple. With this in mind, I wanted to bring more attention to her beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous smile.
I started by applying a primer to smooth out her skin’s surface before I applied the foundation. I also put a special eye primer around her eyes and then used a yellow-tinted eye concealer to cover up any slight darkening under the eyes.
For the foundation, I used a lighter foundation on the areas I wanted to accentuate and a darker foundation to contour the areas I wanted to conceal. The effect was subtle and very well-blended. To her cheeks, I added a soft pink cream blush.
On her eyes, I did a delicate smokey application using a brown pencil. To highlight the colour of her eyes, I added a little darkness for contrast. I also contoured in the crease of her eye with a slightly darker shadow. Then, I finished off the eyes with a black mascara to open them up and curled her lashes. For her lips, I used a neutral pink tone. And, finally, I finished off the whole look with a makeup spray to set it.
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