Airbrushing A Bride’s Makeup
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Christine Gardner (right) helps Vicky Nguyen get
ready for a special night with her husband
“The airbrush feels very light, so it’s easy to control the coverage without that heavy liquid foundation feel,” explains Gardner, as a light mist covers/touches/refreshes the face.
Gardner and Marumoto say 80 to 90 percent of their business is making a bride look flawless on her special day. Brides show their appreciation by beaming on that day and sending thank-you letters for the services.
“For out-of-town brides, we can have a trial session a day or two before the wedding,” advises Gardner. “For local brides, it’s best to do a trial one to two weeks before.”
Marumoto, who handles the legal and marketing side of the business, understands the effect on everyone.
“It makes Christine so happy to see the brides smiling,” Marumoto says.
Gardner, an Aiea High School grad, learned the air-brush makeup technique from award-winning airbrush makeup pioneer Dina Ously, who includes Jay Leno among her clients. Hair, wig and makeup artist Jason Hayes of New York was also influential in Gardner’s training. Her passion for fashion design included sewing wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. That led her to hairstyling and makeup. Thus her reputation in the bridal arena accelerated.
Referrals, www.theknot.com, and appearances at trade shows and other public venues have been the best source of business for Flaunt Makeovers.
“More people are researching on the Internet,” notes Marumoto, who designed the company’s website. “On some websites, if you do a good job or a bad job, all the brides will message each other on the forum about it.”
To supplement their bridal makeup and hairstyling requests, Gardner and Marumoto are offering beauty parties. The theme is a girls’ night out for proms, bridal showers, bachelorette parties or a group makeup session before painting the town red. Parties held at their Kalakaua Avenue makeup studio include mini-facials and makeup. Vicky Nguyen is also a part of the hair and makeup team at Flaunt.
“We’ll bring out the darts, and karaoke,” says Marumoto, a Damien grad.
Other services Flaunt Make-overs offers include eyelash extensions, which last four to six weeks, and makeup for films, magazines, fashion shows and special events.
Gardner especially loves the creativity of special effects makeup. She transformed her co-workers into characters from the movie X-men for Halloween last year. Marumoto was “Wolverine,” and Gardner had the help of her crew to paint her blue from head to toe using the airbrush so she could be “Mystique.”
“Our personalities are similar, and we’re best friends, so sometimes it’s hard,” says Gardner.
Ben says one of the challenges they face is staying
ahead of the game. “If there’s something new, you’ll benefit from being the first one,” he says.
Gardner stays up on current trends by attending refresher courses and beauty expos.
Flaunt Make-overs is located at 1411 Kalakaua Ave.; hours of operation are
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 955-7434 or log onto www.makeup808.com or www.christinegardner.com. Christine Gardner and Ben Marumoto say airbrush makeup at their Flaunt Make-overs salon can hide freckles, beauty marks, bruises and even tattoos.
First, Gardner fills a dainty spray gun that’s about the size of a pen with makeup.
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