This month, I was lucky enough to be flown to Reykjavik in Iceland to be the destination hair and makeup artist for the British clothing brand Weird Fish.
As you can imagine, packing for Iceland in September is difficult. It’s sort of cold, sort of wet, but could also be sunny and a bit warm. Might rain, might not. Probably no snow but it’s best to pack for it just in case.
I am always so so honoured and happy when I get asked to be part of anyone’s wedding or shoot. When someone is willing to fly me out to another country to be a destination hair and makeup artist, that’s a whole other level.
The Location
First things first. Working in Iceland meant not only working on location but working on the top of glaciers, on the black sand beaches, in heavy rain and in lagoons. Tough life eh?
In total, there were 4 models, two from the UK and two Icelandic models (read – Thor and an equally beautiful female counterpart).
On the first day, we headed to the beach. Let me tell you, it’s not as glamourous as it seems, although it is definitely beautiful. We were at the black sands beach with some incredibly beautiful coastlines and ridiculously huge waves.
Day 2, we went to work next to a fairly massive waterfall (boy I’m glad I packed waterproofs).
The final day was spent working with semi-wild horses and heading to some less choppy black sand beaches.
For most of our time in Iceland, the weather was pretty bleak; heavy rain, thrashing wind and mist. As a destination hair and makeup artist, that basically means uncontrollable hair.
The Look
We decided very early on that for our female model, we should keep her hair away from her face in a braid. She would be wearing lots of hats and as we were often on location, it wasn’t going to be easy to use heated appliances to style. We needed quick looks and low effort makeup. After all, no one is going hiking up glaciers with a full face of makeup and perfectly styled Hollywood waves.
For makeup, we went for a very soft bronzed look. For her hair alternated between a side french braid and two braids – whichever looked better for the location.
In total, we spent 6 days in Iceland. 3 shooting, 2 travelling and a day off. Whilst I love my job as a hair and makeup artist (especially when that role changes to destination hair and makeup artist), by far my favourite day was our day off. We spent the morning hiking up the currently erupting volcano (say what?!). Then we were lucky enough to have the afternoon at the Sky Bar Spa where we actually had a swim-up bar and of course, stunning views of Iceland.
Can’t believe that I am lucky enough to call this my job.
Here are some behind the scenes snaps from the week. You can find more of my wedding makeup artist work on my website and also on my Instagram.
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