I played sports outside for years and even though I wore sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat my face still took a lot of damage. I had sunspots(that I am still battling every summer) and some forehead scowl wrinkles that has deepened from fine to actual lines, plus the deepening of the smile lines by my eyes and some under eye fine lines in development. I had been doing a skin care regiment since I was in college but was to the point where I was debating fillers 😱

Before I went to that extreme I started using the korres golden krocus, also known as face mana from the gods. This stuff tightened and started decreasing my fine lines. I felt the tightening instantly and the fine lines decreasing gradually over a few bottles. I had a few other face products in rotation but wasn't seeing the results I wanted. In comes the Korres Pinedirming, lifting, and anti-wrinkle eye cream! The dark circles I get sometimes from late nights on set and little sleep were almost vanquished with this baby! Also the fine lines dissipated the first use. I had been using bliss for bags but it didn't really do the trick. This stuff blows that out of the water! I use it twice a day now. So back to the fillers, I am a Sephora VIB and got an email about the Dr Jarts needles no more mask. I'm the skeptical sort and the reviews weren't glowing so I bought a trial size to test it out. Honestly I felt results immediate from the first use. It gave a stronger tightening sensation on my face when compared to Korres Golden Krocus and my forehead deepening scowl lines looked filled. I had been using Golden Krocus for a few months and I got more results from one use of Dr Jarts! Now I still use both because, face mana, but needles no more does the trick!

It took me a lot of trial and error to find a system that achieved my goals so I thought I would share the wealth! Another tip for you, but trial size versions on eBay to see if you love it! Or go to Sephora and ask them for samples of their product, they'll usually give them to you. It's about one or two uses but you'll get the idea. Oh and a bonus mask that smoothes your face texture that smells amazing and makes your face feel amazing is

Have a fabulous day and take care of your face 😘

xoxo

Lauren

If you're still reading congrats! I have one more face essential I use twice daily that really made a difference in my skin, the Clarisonic Mia 2. This has been a face savior! I also use it on my hands to keep them exfoliated and youthful. Now you could buy this baby for $169 at Sephora but I picked mine up on eBay for $37. You may have to snipe bid but it's worth it. There's also often buy it now ones available for around $40. There are also off brand head replacements for different conditions(deep pore, sensitive, normal).

You are very welcome!

Thanks for for sticking around to read.

​😉

Well while I am getting busier, more work and more auditions, I am not personally trending yet. However, my look is trending! I see me(people who look a lot like they could be related to me) on tv a lot right now. Fox's new show pitch, about a mixed female major league pitcher playing for the San Diego Padres is my first piece of evidence. I will write a different post about female athletes in tv and film. Just trust me that we don't have many, and this is the first network show I can think of that has brought a female athlete to prime time in her own show! Anyway, I have seen numerous commercials with my look and I'm seeing more and more tv shows with my potential siblings sprinkled about, I just saw the cool hip reporter version of me on Bosch, game of thrones has a British version of me as Khaleesi's #1 Missendai, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the movie mini version of me. It's a good feeling to know that there is an expanding demand for my look. The future is bright fellow mixed kids.

As always,

Shine On

xo

Lauren

I won't mention the projects yet, but the role where the casting director loved my bold choices was one of the ones I booked this week!! It was a part I really loved and rally wanted to bring to life and I was able to convey all of that desire and confidence into my audition. I sat in the waiting room slowly burning with anticipation, thinking of "what I would do when I met the character who had tormented me so, how wonderful my vengeance would be, how strong and powerful I had become, how he had no idea what was about to hit him." I let it marinate. I already knew the lines so I seethed, I burned, and when I performed I was all of those things. When he still overpowered me I was crushed, physically and emotionally. "How could he overpower me still when I have dedicated my life to being able to win?" I did the scene twice because the first time I had amped myself up too much, and then had a nice dialogue with the actor who was already cast and the casting directors. When I got the part I was ecstatic but not too surprised be issue their interest in my training and availability seemed to indicate they were interested, but I didn't want to get my expectations up because then I would be disappointed. Instead I focused on how I had prepared and the result I got and let myself be happy with that. So when I got it then I rejoiced.

I also booked a student film role as a reported from a self tape audition! That was exciting as well! It's only the second time I have booked from a self tape, I think I am starting to improve on how I go about self taping.

I am thankful for the opportunities to work on projects and to meet new people in the industry making their own visions come true on film.

Have a wonderful weekend

shine on

xo

Lauren

Just read a cool article that had a bunch of great ideas for outfits! Thought I would share the information wealth here. Enjoy making your characters! Have a great day!

Shine On

xo

Lauren

I got a last minute audition for the daughter of a deceased dead beat dad and the sides were all voice over. I read them over a few times but was unsure how to go about it since all the acting in the scene was going to be shot seperate from my audition.

When I got to the audition they were running 45 minutes behind. In addition to that I decided to memorize my lines for the scene after all. I went through it a few times while I waited and finalized my mood and how I felt about the situation.

As it closed in on my turn the casting director handed me new sides!! Gasp! I have never memorized in the waiting room cold before. I didn't know the protocol for how to present them, do I read them? So I just memorized them. Yup. I had just done it with the other page so I broke this one down and dos the same. I was not perfectly word for word but because I knew them I felt more connected when I gave my voice over.

Min the grand scheme of things who knows if I will book this role. There were a lot of ladies who looked a lot like me that could be the daughter I was auditioning for. But, because I got to audition for this part I got a new skill and gained more confidence. This is one Saturday that was well spent.

Time to get my inner queen on for my second vengeance filled audition.

Shine Bright

xo

Lauren

I have joined Snapchat! Check me out @missdeshane 

Shine Bright

xo

Lauren

My manager is brilliant and asked me to go to Wilhelmina models open call and submit for their fitness division. Something I had never really considered but to him it was a no brainier since I have a professional athlete background and continue to stay in shape. The biggest hurdle for me was that most of my photos were from playing and the few fitness shots I had other than that were outdated. I needed to get new photos asap. The first attempt through a Facebook photo group yielded mixed results as the photographer did not have a sports or fitness background and did not know the best angles to shoot various athletic poses or moves. My second shoot was with a photographer I have shot with many times and happened to have some availability. We ended up getting 4 amazing shots to add to my portfolio. I happen to own two cameras because I enjoy photography as a hobby. One is a T1i I received as a gift and one is a T2i I purchased to make a short movie. In the equipment bag is a standard kit lens 18-55mm a 50mm a manual Olympus 50mm with a canon adapter, a wide angle lens and a telephoto. The third round was a high concept mixture of futuristic fashion and fitness conceived by my boyfriend and it yielded numerous amazing photos using my equipment. There is still one more high concept water element shoot I am doing with another fantastic photographer that will hopefully get the movement photos I have on my inspiration board.

After the first three rounds I had to edit, print and a portfolio. My manager made it sound like it would be a non chalant easy interview process and I would just need a few 4x6 photos to show. The day of I had a panic attach and thought maybe I needed a portfolio to put them in. I mean how professional is handing over an envelope with 4x6" photos hanging out?! Of course you can't buy the one I wanted in store and my handy dandy prime was unable to get it to me same day(sigh to my poor planning). I went to staples anyway with hopes and was met with disappointment. While I was browsing the internet I saw that container store may have what I wanted, so off I went. They did not have what I wanted but had cool clear plastic containers for storing 4x6" photos. I remembered from my graphic design studies a story my professor told me about making her correspondence to clients in an odd size that made it have to go on top since it didn't sit flat. I figured no one had used this as a portfolio before and bought 3 to customize.

Then went about branding them with my info. In addition I recreated the "leave behind" we did my senior year of college to leave an impressionable and branded item behind after an interview so we would be remembered. After digging through my old dvd archives I found my original illustrator file(go me!) and resigned it for fitness.You can see the fruits of my labors in the photos in this post. The actual interview did not go as I thought it would and I did not get to leave my portfolio or branded calling card behind, but now I have my template and will be using these for acting as well. Wilhelmina fitness will have an update after the long weekend ???

As always, shine bright and enjoy the long weekend.

​xo

Lauren

My manager got me an awesome contact with a print agency! YAY!! The one hitch is she wanted my digitals and portfolio that same day!! I was at an audition in Hollywood and it takes me 45 minutes to get there and 45 minutes to get back, sometimes an hour. On top of that I did not have or know what digitals were. I asked my manager to send me an example and then I used handy google to figure out the rest. Usually I have a few family members handy for this kind of thing but they were all gone so it was just me and the timer on my camera. Google showed me a few outfit options and I went with good old black and white with heels for good measure. That was the easiest part. Finding decent lighting and figuring out my camera's focus and getting the poses right took a lot more fine tuning. I tried a few different lenses. Then I fixed the focus, and adjusted the lighting, then tried a few different locations and then finally settled on my settings and poses. After about an hour of old school selfies I then spent 3 or so hours debating on erasing the door in photoshop so the background was clean. I tried a few quick fixes but none of them looked right and I really did not want to spend a ton of time editing out a door. Compounding that was my manager got me an extended deadline to later that evening and I was running out of time. So I just did some lighting corrections and made the flash a bit less intense and picked my four best shots. Now I have digitals! One more step in marketing myself. Bonus is that I got an in person meeting with the agency! 

Shine Bright Today

xo

Lauren

I got an audition for a non-union web series for a supporting role as a beach volleyball player. When I had submitted for it I had inquired about their SAG status, since there are so few beach volleyball roles acting roles available I was hoping to see if they were willing to make the change or were in the process of changing it. The notice came in on a Friday and I had the audition, YAY, and it was for Monday. Plenty of time to prep. The sides never came. Not the first time I have had to cold read for a role but I was starting to wonder about this audition and how serious it would be. The second red flag for me was its location in the New York Film Academy. My last audition experience there resulted in the casting director never showing up and me waiting in a room for over an hour. When I arrive there is no parking since it is by WB studios. All the surrounding street parking in the neighborhoods was by permit only. I finally found some further down the street and walked two blocks in 100 degree weather, at least I was in workout clothes. The third flag came when the guard did not have my name for an audition. He let me in anyway and had me sign myself in. After I exit the elevator there are 5 people waiting in front of me and it seems to be going very slowly. No one is checking anyone in and there are no sides. I get my headshot out and start submitting myself for other projects on my phone. After 45 slow minutes pass the producers come by and shake everyone hands and introduce themselves, then they head into the room. A casting person heads out to find out who came in first and got a rough order. More waiting ensues. 

I am finally called in and they apologize for the delay and say that this will be 2-3 minutes since they have so many people waiting behind me. They offer me a seat, I take it. There is no camera in the room, and still no sides to read. The producers inform me the series has netflix and hulu interest and that my role is supporting and recurring. Slightly puzzled about the whole thing I answer the initial questions they asked me.  Then I elaborate on my beach volleyball career a bit nonchalantly, since my beach experience isn't new to me. The person casting had actually heard of the AVP beach tour(which is very rare!) and was impressed with my beach resume(also rare!). They said I booked the role and smiled. This stunned me a bit since it was more like an interview then an audition. I asked if it was a SAG show(since when I had submitted it was non-union), I was informed it was with smiles and the casting director circled the medium sized SAG logo I had placed on my resume. Finally I was asked if I was available on the 26th for filming. I told them I was, and just like that I booked a supporting role in a web series pilot. 

To be honest I was still skeptical about it, so on Friday last week I emailed them to confirm that it was really happening and that I was booked. Their response email was YES! I was booked! My inbox now has a lovely call sheet for the pilot. My thoughts, that was surprisingly easy.

Sometimes you find the greatest opportunities in the most unconventional ways.

Keep Shining Bright

xo

Lauren