HIL COOK BLOG: 07/01/2011

Featuring our Hil Cook Pro makeup artistry brushes on SALE for a limited time !

***SALE***

Hil Cook Pro makeup brush set with short handle to fit in you bag

After working in the industry for 20 years and taking many workshops teaching women correct application of makeup with the right tools, we decided to hand select our very own favorite pro brushes. We designed our brushes with a professional brush head but on a shorter handle so they would fit easily into any ones handbag. Our Hil Cook brushes come in a soft leatherette brush roll that has our logo embossed in the roll and on the brushes. There are 9 brushes in total, 6 natural bristle and 3 Synthetic fibre.

We use these brushes in all our workshops and they walk out the door being such a great price. All of these brushes add up to the price of one MAC brush and are of the same professional quality.

You can buy them on our Smallfish E-commerce store which you can get to through our website or click the title above.

Normally our Hil Cook makeup brushes and brush roll sell for $120 but as a special we are doing them for $95 for a limited time.

Hil Cook Pro makeup brush set with short handle to fit in you bag

After working in the industry for 20 years and taking many workshops teaching women correct application of makeup with the right tools, we decided to hand select our very own favorite pro brushes. We designed our brushes with a professional brush head but on a shorter handle so they would fit easily into anyones handbag. Our Hil Cook brushes come in a soft leatherette brush roll that has our logo embossed in the roll and on the brushes. There are 9 brushes in total, 6 natural bristle and 3 Synthetic fibre.

We use these brushes in all our workshops and they walk out the door being such a great price. All of these brushes add up to the price of one MAC brush and are of the same professional quality.

You can buy them on our Smallfish E-commerce store which you can get to through our website or click the title above

Creating a fuller lip

CREATING A FULL GORGEOUS LIP!!

A great little tip to a full lip is to apply a touch of shimmer to the top of your cupids bow. Using a flat square brush, place a touch of shimmer right on the outer edge of your cupid line. This will give the illusion when the light catches, that you have full curled pouty lips! Trust me this really works well!

*Use lip plumpers. Lip plumpers usually contain cinnamon oil. The heat from the plumpers draws blood to the surface, which helps to create more fullness. Better yet, just buy plain cinnamon oil and use on after you apply your lipstick. If you use it before, you’ll have to wait for the oil to be absorbed and sink in to your lips. **Cinnamon oil will heat up your lips and may cause a burning sensation!

A dab of Cinnamon oil is great for a lip plummping effect ;)

Enjoy Hils x

New FishHead mag out now!

Yay! Our fab Welly mag FishHead, is once again gracing the shelves with its latest edition.

Once again a great team effort on the front cover with our lovely Lea Hoare doing the hair and me (Hil) doing the makeup.

Race out and get your self this page twitcher, snuggle down and read from cover to cover! Its worth it ;)

Enjoy Hils x

Hil Cook Solution buds

Prosthetics shoot. Not for the faint hearted :)

NB: THESE PHOTOS ARE JUST MAKEUP!!! :) hope you all have hardy tums!

At the beginning of the week we were asked to do a fantastic shoot for TV, I cant tell you what yet, just that it was epic!
For all you lovely brides, we really can make you beautiful, this is just one of those other jobs we do when we are not making ladies look gorgeous :)

I had to design up prosthetic pieces out of silicon, paint them up and apply them, I even added a lamb rib into the little finger prosthetic to make it look really authentic. I had my trusty Ange helping me for the day (thank goodness) and together we made magic!

Our brief was to make a guys forehead skinned alive, a bruised jaw, remove left pinky finger and staple him back together afterwards. Photos below :) We reckon they look just the part and so did our producer :)

See he is truly acting and really really happy

Silicon prosthetic applied to folded up pinky with a lamb rib inserted in it :)

A very much alive actor that we scalped

JD all stapled up together again, I used soft wire and eyelash glue for the staples :)

My right hand man Ange Duncan did some fantastic wounds for me

Anges 3d wounds

Our Shoot with NEXT Magazine

As most of you know, Ange is one of our talented makeup and hair artists in our team and is used to being behind the camera not in front, so when Samantha Hannah, stylist extroidinear asked if she could steal our Ange for the Hat shoot with NEXT magazine, we were thrilled!
Samantha had a fantastic array of hats and not one, but two Ange's to do make up and hair styles on, which I had the pleasure of doing .
We think the girls look simply gorgeous even though our Ange was a wee bit afraid of her lush hot pink Lippie, Im sure you will agree she is simply stunning!

Our very own Ange Duncan

The other Ange

Angie

Hils x

The Winner of our fishtail braid challenge ;)

Our Hil Cook pro brushes Miranda won

Thanks to all of you that took the time and sent us in pics of your fishtail braids, I was amazed at how many of you had a crack and how good they all turned out.

After the team and I spent several hours mulling over all your photos, we finally all agreed on a winner...

16 year old MIRANDA RAINEY from Birkenhead in Auckland is our lucky lady :)
Miranda - a set of Hil Cook pro range makeup artistry brushes are coming your way- Keep your eye on the post

Miranda had been practicing on her sisters Kendall's hair and sent us in this fab pic of her braid. We think you will agree that she has done a fantastic job. Keep up the great work Miranda!

Our winner Miranda Rainey

Rodney goes to NZ Beauty Expo :)

For those of you that haven't had the opportunity to meet the silent one of our team (although sometimes not so silent!), I thought it was high time I did the honors. Rodney Cook (aka Rams) is the voice on the phone that deals with many of you and the man in the know when it comes to our product and makeup! oh and he is also my fantastic hubby :)

Rams is very passionate about our product ( Hil Cook Solution buds) so much so that he decided that even though none of our team were available to go up to Auckland to the Beauty Expo this weekend, he would go and be the voice of reason :). How many hubby's, I hear you say, would do such a thing! I asked myself the same question but Rams quietly took himself off to Auckland, reported back to base sending a bunch of photos for the blog, and made a ton of sales today. Tomorrow will be day 2 and he is eagerly awaiting it!!!

Rodney is actually a Stuntman/ coordinator and we met on Lord of the rings 10 years ago. Being in front of camera for a good portion of his working career has given him all his knowledge of makeup for film and TV( having to be made up for camera often) which is why some of you who speak to Rodney on the ph, often ask me who is the lovely gay man that looks after our phones, and how helpful he was with his knowledge on different makeup bases he he ha. Anyway I thought I would share a few pics that he sent back this evening of the show and our stand.

Rodney and one of the Prosperina girls selling Solution buds

The winner of hair , makeup and nails comp with trade show people

A Back tie evening was put on with fantastic live dancing entertainment

How to do a fishtail braid and win a set of our Hil Cook brushes!

We have had so many of you readers asking how to do a fishtail braid that I decided it was time to give you a detailed description on how to achieve this look your selves.
Those of you that take on this challenge could be in to winning yourselves a set of our very own Hil Cook Professional makeup brush set in an embossed brush roll, all you have to do is send us in a picture of you and your fishtail braid, with your details, to hil@hilcook.co.nz and the best one will receive our Hil Cook brush set prize. :)

Good luck
Hils x

Like all the best hairstyles, the fishtail braid is one that looks intricate and tricky to do, but with a bit of practice becomes nearly as easy to create as a regular three-strand braid. And like so many of today's popular styles, it actually looks better when it's slightly messed up rather than being perfectly neat and tidy - so no big deal if you happen to drop a strand here or there. Read on for tips on how to make a beautiful fishtail braid, along with the usual gallery of celebrity photos for your hairstyle inspiration.

Minka Kelly's messy side fishtail braid makes her look effortlessly chic.

Step One: Divide your detangled hair into two equal sections.

Step Two: Hold the righthand section in your right hand. With your left hand, take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the lefthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the righthand section.

Step Three: Do the same thing on the other side: that is, hold the lefthand section in your left hand, use your right hand to take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the righthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the lefthand section. You'll need to use gravity to your advantage as you keep changing hands, and if the strands keep slipping then your hair probably isn't 'dirty' enough (running some mousse or styling wax through your hair will fix this problem in a jiffy).

Step Four: Repeat the process until you've reached the ends of your hair, tie the braid with a hair elastic, and voila - you're done!

If you want a single fishtail braid at the back like this, get a friend to do it for you.

One of the most effective ways to wear a fishtail braid is on the side, as an extra-special version of the classic side braid. It not only looks awesome but means that you can do it yourself in front of the mirror, without needing to have anyone else there to help out. The looser you hold the strands, the 'fatter' your fishtail braid will be, giving a more relaxed finish to the overall look.

Rihanna, Amanda Seyfried, and Demi Moore keep their side fishtail braids relatively neat and tidy...

... while Shailene Woodley, Vanessa Hudgens and Leona Lewis choose a more dishevelled look.

Like all the best hairstyles, the fishtail braid is one that looks intricate and tricky to do, but with a bit of practice becomes nearly as easy to create as a regular three-strand braid. And like so many of today's popular styles, it actually looks better when it's slightly messed up rather than being perfectly neat and tidy - so no big deal if you happen to drop a strand here or there. Read on for tips on how to make a beautiful fishtail braid, along with the usual gallery of celebrity photos for your hairstyle inspiration.

Minka Kelly's messy side fishtail braid makes her look effortlessly chic.

Step One: Divide your detangled, second-
day hair into two equal sections.

Step Two: Hold the righthand section in your right hand. With your left hand, take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the lefthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the righthand section.

Step Three: Do the same thing on the other side: that is, hold the lefthand section in your left hand, use your right hand to take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the righthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the lefthand section. You'll need to use gravity to your advantage as you keep changing hands, and if the strands keep slipping then your hair probably isn't 'dirty' enough (running some mousse or styling wax through your hair will fix this problem in a jiffy).

Minka Kelly's messy side fishtail braid makes her look effortlessly chic.

Step One: Divide your detangled, second-day hair into two equal sections.

Step Two: Hold the righthand section in your right hand. With your left hand, take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the lefthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the righthand section.

Step Three: Do the same thing on the other side: that is, hold the lefthand section in your left hand, use your right hand to take a thin strand of hair from the outside of the righthand section, cross it over, and add it to the inside of the lefthand section. You'll need to use gravity to your advantage as you keep changing hands, and if the strands keep slipping then your hair probably isn't 'dirty' enough (running some mousse or styling wax through your hair will fix this problem in a jiffy).

Step Four: Repeat the process until you've reached the ends of your hair, tie the braid with a hair elastic, and voila - you're done!

If you want a single fishtail braid at the back like this, get a friend to do it for you.

Rihanna, Amanda Seyfried, and Demi Moore keep their side fishtail braids relatively neat and tidy...

... while Shailene Woodley, Vanessa Hudgens and Leona Lewis choose a more dishevelled look.

Other ways to wear a fishtail braid include as a single addition to loose hair (like Aubrey O'Day has done), in two super-girly pigtails (like Kim Kardashian's), or incorporated into a more elaborate braided style like Diane Kruger's (but unless you're a braiding expert, you'll probably want to leave this one to your hairdresser!)