Dry-witted, candid, and affable, American Kasha Smith moved to China over seven years ago. She first volunteered at the Phillip Hayden Foundation in Langfang, then started homeschooling Founder Tim Baker’s three youngest children. When Baker’s eldest daughter graduated from Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), a casual conversation with the principal lead Smith to her current job teaching Year 2 at the school. Now-husband Wesley Smith followed her to China in early 2008 and currently teaches at Beijing City International School (BCIS). Their two daughters – Berkley (age 5) and Parrish (2), both born in Beijing – attend YCIS Beijing and BCIS’ Early Childhood Center respectively.
To get on the same page regarding her makeover, Kasha and MyStudio Director Alex An traded ideas and found the perfect inspiration photo on Pinterest. Kasha was open to a dramatic change; she was tired of her light brown hair and side-swept bangs. In the end, she chose heavier straight-cut bangs and a bold chocolate and dip-dyed deep-red combination.
Given the issue theme, Kasha and I naturally discussed travel, which happens to be one of the Smiths’ passions. In the summer they usually return to their native Michigan, where their families live only 45 minutes apart. During school holidays, the foursome travels around Asia – Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Bali, Goa, Srinagar, Boracay, Sanya. In her short life, Berkley has already taken 65 flights.
Get the Look:
1. To achieve the dip-dyed look Kasha wanted, An applied a chocolate shade to the first 12 inches of her hair and a bright auburn shade to the ends. He separated her hair using Plexiglas boards, and worked section by section from the nape of her neck through to her forehead.
2. An created thick, straight-cut bangs falling from the crown of Kasha’s head, also trimming and restyling her existing layers.
3. For the makeup portion, he started by brushing liquid foundation all over Smith’s face and blended with a dampened sponge. He set the foundation with compact translucent powder, then trimmed Kasha’s brows before filling them in with brown shadow. He lined Kasha’s lashes with moistened black powder and applied a combination of brown and purple eyeshadows, completing her eyes with black mascara. Rather than using blush, An applied a purple shadow to the hollows of Kasha’s cheeks. Finally, he applied a bright coral lipstick, which picked up the tones in her auburn ends.
Makeup List
- Chanel Pro Lumiere Liquid Foundation
- Sephora Mattifying Compact Powder
- Bobbi Brown pink blush quartet in Pink
- Red Earth purple eyeshadow quartet
- Maybelline Volume Express Turbo Boost Mascara
- Chanel Aqualumiere lipstick in Palma
This article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of beijingkids. To view it online for free, click here. To find out how you can obtain your own copy, email distribution@truerun.com.
Photos: Ken
