It all started quite innocently - on the threshold of my thirtieth birthday, I set myself two goals: a) to accept myself in the status of a woman "for 30" and b) to find a miraculous remedy against treacherously deep wrinkles around the eyes. The role model was found quickly: a week later I worked on the Audrey Hepburn home gallery.“Everything, of course, is wonderful, but your photograph should be here, otherwise it won’t work,” the friend who visited us issued her verdict.
My? You know how I do not hate being photographed! And then, which of me is Audrey? This is so as not to relax!
- Hmm ... you, of course, are not Audrey, but you have a class, I would try ... you, by the way, are similar ... Coloring is good, I thought, but the model from me is none. I have always quietly envied people photogenic. Kate Moss, for example. In my opinion, a crocodile is a crocodile without makeup, and look at the photo - a beauty. Everything is exactly the opposite with me. I could only dream of audrey style photography.
Tie
About two days later, the PR manager of the cosmetics company Natura Bisse called me.
- Nastya! We want to offer you an experiment: we need a natural, honest model. In 14 days we will prepare you for shooting in the image that you always dreamed about. How do you like the idea?
- The idea is good ... Only I have problems with my face and I do not like to be photographed!
- Nothing wrong. You will honestly execute the program; you yourself will run to the photographer! What celebrity would you like to be like?
“I like Audrey Hepburn,” I whispered timidly.
- Wonderful! This is what you need! Let’s make you Audrey!
I pinched my wrist in disbelief. With eyes a la Audrey, we’ll put everything in order, the wrinkles around the eyes of Natura Bisse, we’ll put it away! But the nose, the subject of my eternal grievances to my grandfather, nose makeup can not be fixed! The prospect of getting rid of wrinkles has come into internal conflict with the fear of the camera.
- Or can we do without a photo shoot?
“No one expects you to be a copy of Audrey!” Just in style - professionals will work with you, step by step. We are waiting for you tomorrow for a consultation with a cosmetologist.
I called my friend.
“And you still think?” she cried in surprise, “this is an experiment!” Where is your adventurism ???
Step one
I came to a meeting with Natura Bisse very dissatisfied with myself. I was tormented by remorse: all crimes against health and beauty - lack of sleep, snacks by shaverms, the habit of wrinkling my forehead, the tendency to worry over trifles, and so on and so forth, were literally on the face.
After a lengthy questioning about the lifestyle, care regimen and close examination of my personality, a verdict was passed: the skin is far from perfect, sensitive and at the same time combined. Just a little - immediately a reaction. The pores are slightly enlarged, the T-zone shines. The facial expression is mobile: wrinkles are only around the eyes and one on the forehead, but long. In the lower part there is an accumulation of toxins, so a little something pops up something unpleasant.
“The main thing, follow the regimen,” Laura instructed me, washing, tonic, nutritional complex, eye cream, face cream, sunscreen. Massage, smile. In the evenings - the same thing, but without protection. Do not forget about the neck and décolleté. And stop touching your face with your hands!
“Did I touch?” Something did not notice ...
- Constantly! By the way, you need to quit smoking, otherwise you will not see good skin!
- But I only smoke on holidays, under the wine!
“It doesn't make it any easier: nicotine and alcohol kill the skin.”
I went home with a set of cosmetics and a care chart, with which a middle-aged woman with perfectly even peach-like skin smiled sweetly. I had two weeks to clean my face.
You may not believe me, as I did not believe my eyes, but within a week the wrinkles under the eyes were halved and stopped "falling down on the cheekbones with" chicken legs ". I frowned, squinted and smiled in front of the mirror, but I didn’t find my eternal problem! Another week. The face became smooth and soft, like a peach. A long-lost balance appeared: the skin came into the category of normal, and not combined-dry. Pigmentation remaining after natural rashes became less noticeable.
I was pleased. But just before the trip to the stylists, uninvited guests suddenly crawled out into the lower part of the face, a completely unexpected turn. Laura reassured me: it was active serum, cleansing the skin of accumulated toxins. After a couple of days, everything returned to normal, and I was ready to act "a la nuturel": face - at least put on the diagram. But the nose remained in place, although it returned to normal: the pores narrowed and the luster in the T-zone almost disappeared.
Second step
Day X was scheduled: three pictures were to be taken - a classic black and white and two color ones, with focus on the face. Dubai boutique 1 volunteered to dress and put me on set for filming. I wasn’t afraid of stylists: even if it’s not a muse for Hubert de Givenchy, but for that, I’m not ashamed of my figure.
Although the shoes did not fall into the frame by definition, I tearfully asked Ebony to supply me with a pair of Brian Atwood, which I had long dreamed about.
“By the way, we already have a new favorite, Rupert Sanderson,” she said conspiratorially, “heels are tall, and the feeling that you walk in slippers.”
So to the inlaid with rhinestones Brian Atwood added “Sanderson”. And in my list “I really want to, but not within my means” there was one more item.
Climax
The long dream of beauty, planned the night before filming, did not take place in view of the panic that gripped me. I met a rumpled morning and with circles under my eyes. It’s good that Natura Bisse prudently signed me up for a fresh facial treatment. I came out of the beauty parlor in Harvey Nichols refreshed and radiant: the procedure itself, the magic “diamond” drops of Natura Bisse and the tender hands of the cosmetologist Lena, did their creative work. In the new Boutique 1 salon on the Marina Walk boardwalk in Jumeirah Beach Residence, I arrived on time and in full glory.
Fourth step
On the agenda were a maximum of hairstyles and a minimum of makeup. This was the first time I had done such a complicated hairstyle: I couldn’t even imagine how much effort, hairpins and invisibility needed to be spent to create a real work of art on my head!
While I was getting ready for the shooting, the photographer looked into the dressing room. A friend of Dubai, Dolce and Gabbana, who settled in Dubai, whose track record includes dozens of leading publications, both as a model and a photographer, looked at my 150 cm with a cap from an unattainable height and asked whether I am ready for great achievements.
“Now I’ll make up my lips and be ready,” I reported, all compressed inside: my first photographer in my life was also a damn attractive man. It is doubly scary to work with such, but there was nowhere to retreat.
Fifth step
I walked from the dressing room to the place of the first set in full dress and with burning ears, getting confused in the tails of a jumpsuit sewn on a girl much higher. Filmed in the gallery just opened in Boutique 1. Gloved hands put a weighty necklace on me and a no less solid ring from Tabbah jewelry house.
Turned on the light. According to the script, I was ordered to portray a classic-looking languid lady in a hat. In fact, languor did not work out. Who else would tell me how to portray her! My cheekbones reduced: either from a smile, or from shame. Here, I think, as the photographer will now scream at me! But no, someone shouted:
- Anastasia! Well, straighten up! You have diamonds worth almost a million dirhams!
Frightened by the amount, the spine itself crawled up. But the hat slipped away. The hat was corrected by three together with make-up. Then - again a change of poses. The hat slipped again. Wab not only didn’t cry once, but even managed to cheer me up that I even gave out a couple of cute body positions. The first shoot lasted forever. In the end, I offered prayers for all the photomodels of the world, for their hard labor with such a meager diet.
The second set was much easier. And all thanks to the frog: Tabbah’s original creation, Kiss Me. An unusual ring inlaid with diamonds and two rubies amused our entire team. The wab turned out to be not at all a glamorous beech, but open and very friendly. I was no longer afraid of the camera. Nor was she afraid of dozens of eyes watching me.
The last set was the most important - in a classic black dress. While Farhad was adjusting his makeup, and Tony was putting a bow on his head, I was actively building large a la Audrey eyes in the mirror, so a piece of false eyelash peeled off.
“It doesn’t work!” I stated in frustration.
“Yes and no!” The boys answered in unison, “the main thing is that you, such as you are, be wonderful and surprisingly beautiful!”
Decorated with magnificent diamond daisies, I felt relaxed and comfortable in my own image. I really wanted to eat and drink, but even more, for some reason, to pose. This set with Vab and I worked out easily, like old friends. When it was all over, I looked at myself in the mirror: well, yes, I'm not Audrey, but I'm me. And no more treacherously deep wrinkles against the eyes. And there is no fear of moving into the category of women "over 30". And I'm not afraid of cameras anymore. And, in general, I am the most charming and attractive! Even with my nose and all my flaws! Dreams come true and this is the most important thing!
Photographer - Wab Mabhut / Wahb Visual Solutions, [email protected]
Stylist - Ebony Massini / Boutique 1, 04 425 7888 Person Natura Bisse / Boutique 1, Harvey Nichols, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dubai Duty Free, 04 299 3090
Hairstyles - Dessange Paris / Camille Albane, 04 358 0565 with Philips / at UAE's leading electronics stores Makeup Faraad Vali with By Terry, Chantecaille and Nars, Boutique 1, 04 425 7888
Jewelry - Tabbah / Dubai Mall, 04 3398977 Location - Boutique 1 / The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence, 04 425 7888
