Mili'z

When I first relocated back to Kuala Lumpur from my 6 years of performing & living in Bangkok, Thailand, the first band to have me help them with their photo shoot was Mili'z, thanks to the recommendation of Melina. Mili'z was no stranger to the indie music scene at the time but I had no idea that Malaysia had such a thriving independent music scene. I had not heard them perform before and had absolutely no idea about their music direction (which I feel is really important as it helps with the inspirations & ideas for the look that the band might want to go for). Luckily, my assistant for that day was my youngest sister Yvonne and she was rather well versed with the local music scene, so that helps a little as she filled me in a bit on their music.


Mili'z were Michelle Lee, Ling and Ronnie Tan. 

Mili'z (from left to right) Ling, Michelle and Ronnie.

I loved this brick wall on their chosen location. So dreamy and the colours were awesome.

At the time, Michelle had long brown hair with blonde highlights. We gave her loads of tight curls which were then loosened with a rat tail comb to give her a slight afro texture to her hair. I was still fresh-from-makeup-academy-mode so I think that explains the strong angular eyebrows & blusih grey smoky eyes, but as years go by I find that my school's technique (I went to the best makeup school in Thailand -Makeup Technique International or MTI for short) is still the best for great eyebrows & eye makeup.

I love her big hair & her light brown eyebrows. The falsies I had her put on was one of my favourites. Cannot find them anywhere else but in Pratunam Market. Super cheap & better than MAC or Shu Uemura's.

We gave Ling wavy curls but the main idea was to give them both big hairstyles but of different textures. On Ling I think I gave her dark jade green smokey eyes but for some reason it looked pretty similar to Michelle's bluish grey smokey eyes. After this photo shoot, many months later, I got to listen to Mili'z live on stage. And boy was I blown away! And boy did I wish to do another photoshoot with them because I had so much ideas running through my mind! This band was an awesome treat (and still is. I think you can still check them out on MySpace & Youtube) to the ears and proof that our local music has so much talent and deserves so much more love. Thank you Mili'z for including me & Yvonne in your journey. We are so proud to be part of this.

Froya In Progress

There's something about helping my friends out with their band photo shoot or press release picture shoots. I enjoy them immensely. I am really blessed that these super talented friends of mine have such faith in me to help them with their makeup, hair and styling. Every photo shoot is a challenge, an adventure and somewhat like an art project for me (since I can't draw but a friend of mine somehow enjoys my artwork attempts and will ask me to draw something for people to guess from time to time). I try to imagine how their music and their image can merge together, to deliver a message in the right direction. 
Yikes. I have no idea what I am trying to say. 


Umm. In a nutshell, I just want them to look good and if they're happy with it, I am super happy because I got the job done.


This is one of my recent works that took place on the 5th June 2012 at WASP Studios. 
Presenting Froya aka Michelle Lee. Froya is one band you wouldn't want to miss and they will be the talk of the town very very soon, mark my words. Amazing talent, beautiful songwriting and very fresh sounds. This would be the second time I've worked with Michelle Lee. We were both up by 5am and started to work on her makeup & hair after our McDonald's breakfast with some cool & interesting music playing from one of the computers at her workplace. The photo shoot ended around 12.30pm and Michelle was very sweet to let me nap on her office sofa (and feed me lunch) before I head out to my next shoot of the day. These are just some of the photos taken by Eric Ooi, her photographer of choice. I cannot wait for the other amazing photos to share with you all!

Michelle bought this new dress just for this shoot. I gave her natural looking makeup (it's great that she's got a great complexion so makes it really easy for me) and enhanced her eyes with brown shadows, eyeliner & falsies. I also flat ironed her hair straight first, then curled them & gave her an exaggerated side parting.

Haha. I actually placed the paper rabbit model on top of her head as we were trying to be quirky. She looks cute & childlike here. She's working some retro hair and outfit here, I think it suits her personality. I added some black dots, big & small around her eyes for a funkier look. I have a lot of ideas in my head at the moment, I hope I do get to explore them on her in future.

Another quirky one. This was taken in her office room where she works as a composer for WASP.

One of the first few photos taken that morning. She's got a really nice, sweet smile and the reflection from this baby grand piano was really cool. That piece of beaded headband around her head is one of my favourite accessories in my personal collection. I think I got it from Sg Wang.

One of the outdoor shots at WASP. She looks lovely here, but she was braving every single mosquito bite here. Couldn't tell, huh? The mosquito repellent I sprayed on her (yes, I come prepared!) wasn't very helpful. I think the mosquitos at her workplace are of the invincible kind. Both the photographer & me got attacked as well. Next time I should have a fog machine for this.

This was one of my ultimate faves! Check out the flare that Eric Ooi caught! And look at how natural Michelle is, and at the same time it's fairy-tale like. This picture says a thousand words.

Michelle. Are you trying to tell the paper rabbit something? 

This is such a cute shot. Look at how mischievous Michelle looks, and the rabbit looks innocent but somewhat cheeky.

Rawrrrr.

And the rabbit was also caught with the flare of the sun! Here comes the sun, do do do do...

The Froya rabbit that was couriered in time for the photo shoot. Tune in for more magical Froya photos the next time! Till then, check them out on Facebook and follow them @FroyaMusic via Twitter. You can also check their music on SoundCloud. Support local music!