Charelle McAllister - #ProjectScouted’s (makeup) artist

One of the most talented and demanded makeup artists in Durban, Charelle McAllister of Makeup By Charelle, is as stunning as the makeup she creates on the faces of others. Faces are blank canvases for art to her and we got to know this artist better in our Q&A session with her as well as getting some expert makeup tips.

Lee Folkard Photography: Who is Charelle McAllister?

Charelle: My full name is Charelle Cassie McAllister. I love dancing A LOT, meeting new people, networking, creating art, hugging my friends, dark chocolate, red wine, animals, modelling, funky House music, and adventure. I'm inspired by nature and colour and, of course, I love beautifying men and women! I feel absolutely chuffed, motivated and inspired by how beautiful a person feels after a pamper session. It is so rewarding to be the contributor of that extra skip of confidence in someone.

LFP: What was your inspiration to become a makeup artist and how did you start off?

Charelle: I have always been fascinated by makeup and how it transformed or enhanced one's features. I remember as a child watching my mother apply her makeup (my mother wears makeup every single day and always looks good!) and being so excited about the bold red lip! On most Christmases, I can remember buying my mother a red lipstick or some sort of eyeshadow.

Another member of my family, my gran, who is known as 'Ouma', was a massive part of me using makeup as well, as she once bought me a complete makeup set which I would use colouring in the faces of my cousins and poor brother for dress up. So maybe being a lover of makeup was always just there. I was the friend doing my friends' makeup in the bathroom when it was time to go off to a party in my later high school years too.

That moment when everyone was like ''So what are you going to do after you leave school?'', I always answered, ''Makeup!'', without even thinking twice.

Ten years later, I'm loving it even more!

LFP: How did you become involved in Project Scouted and what motivated you to be a part of it?

Charelle: I was on a shoot doing makeup for a talented designer and label, 'Larissa Moda', and Lee was doing the photography for the shoot along with Jerome Stoffels. I had such fun with these two! As the day went on, I heard of Project Trinity and a while later I was contacted by Lee inquiring about my services for a model he was shooting for the Project. I became involved as a sponsor for the Project towards the end phases and absolutely loved being involved. So naturally, I offered my expertise for this year's Project Scouted!

LFP: What is your favourite type of makeup to do or occasion to do makeup for and why?

Charelle: My favourite type/style of makeup to do has got to be Avante Garde, hands down! I just absolutely go MAD for colours and creativity and love to play with textures, lashes and boldness. It's like creating whatever my mind sees or feels at that moment on a face. I love freedom to play! Personal projects are my best, as the style is my own and I don't have to stay with a brief.

LFP: Any tips or everyday makeup tricks that ladies can use at home?

Charelle:

©        For ladies who battle with puffiness and dark circles around the eyes; MAC's Fast Response eye cream is such lifesaver. If you tend to have late nights, oversleep or suffer from puffiness and dark circles under the eyes, it's a go-to quick-fix to reduce puffiness and concealer can be applied smoothly over it for a bright, fresh look. Even a good eye gel kept in the fridge for speedy results is good.

©        For those who battle with enlarged pores; a good primer with a silicone base to smooth over and fill pores is great. Not only does it help with reducing the appearance of pores, but it acts as a primer which is a must for the longevity of your foundation and makeup. And why not just go for one that contains an SPF too to protect your skin! My favourite is MAC'S Prep n' Prime Skin Base Visage (Silicone) and the Prep n' Prime CC (Colour Correct) Neutralise SPF 30. This baby helps reduce redness and you'd probably find you won't need to use as much foundation.

©        For those who battle with 'lip bleeding' or fading lip colour; be sure that your lips are conditioned well. Maybe start with conditioning your lips and moving on to the rest of your makeup. By the time you return to do your lips, dab off the excess moisture of the conditioner with a tissue and lightly apply either your foundation or concealer over the lips and lightly powder or dab. Fill in your entire lip with your chosen lip pencil and then apply your lip colour over. Blot again with a tissue and reapply if necessary. For best results, try using a lip primer as well, this also helps smoothen the lips' surface and lock in colour.

©        If you have had a rough night and need to look presentable, always keep eye drops handy to brighten the whites of the eyes and stay away from using pink and purple tones. They only make you appear tired and they enhance swollen, puffy eyes and redness. Rather opt for fresh vibrant tones with a slight highlight in the inner corner of the eyes and upper brows. White eye liner is amazing too.

LFP:  As a makeup artist, do you think a face has to have certain features or a certain look to be attractive?

Charelle: As an artist, a good bone structure is always great to work with. In saying this, it does not mean that if you don't have visible chiselled jaw lines and cheek bones that you are not attractive. Everyone carries their own kind of beautiful and an artist's job is to bring that out!

LFP: What is the average day like for a makeup artist?

Charelle: Quotes, emails, quotes, invoicing, washing brushes, driving from one private client to the next or rushing to a shoot on location or in studio, resetting the GPS to the next destination. Well, this is on a busy day!
On a quiet day; housework! And washing brushes and sorting out the kits.

LFP: If you wrote an autobiography, what would the title be?

Charelle: Shoooo weee! Right now to think of one title for my own biography is quite challenging. Maybe one day in a few years time I'll know myself better to sum my life up into a title. But for now, I'm just Charelle Inspired.

Check out Charelle's work on her Facebook page, Makeup By Charelle, as well as her artistry featured on last year's Project Trinity winner, Samantha, and on the ladies in the later stages of #ProjectScouted to come.

#ProjectScouted : Phase Nine : Brief

In the words of the photographer: 

Hectic City

Time: 07:00 AM

Meet point: Royal Hotel  (267 Anton Lembede St)

Ayt ladies lets step it up a little bit..

Okay here's whatsup, we going for a classy fashionable stylish business woman. 

So that means gorgeous dresses, heels a bit of jewelry and purse (no handbags)

Cool so we going to be roaming the city a bit and luckily we shooting on Sunday so it's going to be less busy. You see the business woman is always in a rush, time is of the essence to her yeah? So ladies please portray this in your outfit choices

Your poses should show attitude, classy independent woman.Like you know your story and aint nobody can tell you different Hope this is making sense.

Okay lets look at some essentials

Hair: should be a bit straightened.

outfits : okay classy short dresses(long dresses will just collect dust while walking), 

I've attached loads of images below as to illustrate the type of shoot and the size of dresses you should go for.

Okay if you have any questions let me know.. If possible if you can send me two options of your outfit choices on facebook inbox.

ayt sweet lets do this for the people. 

PS if you can't walk in heels, you have a couple days to practice hahaha

kind Regards

Simz

The #ProjectScouted girls go off the beaten path for Phase Seven

Our #ProjectScouted models deserve to be especially applauded for being such sports at all the photoshoots in the chilly weather that Durban has been having as of late. This Tuesday was no different; with the Top 9 girls in the competition so far, having been chosen from their images portraying vulnerability by Samantha Duckworth, braving the elements at the Phase Seven shoot in Umhlanga.

With the official Phase Seven photographer, Simphiwe Mkhwanazi, at the helm, the girls trekked on a bit of an expedition through a marsh near the Breakers hotel in Umhlanga. Dressed in their hippie attire, as per the brief issued by Simphiwe, who was aiming at a low-key but enchanting look with the girls appearing as if nymphs in the forest, the #ProjectScouted models did affably well to shake off the cold and channel their inner free-spirits. This phase of the Project appears to be less demanding than the others in terms of wardrobe and styling, but the girls still had to be at their best to capture the whimsical and capricious spirit that every girl possesses.

Many parents and other family members came along to make an outing of the shoot which started with the girls getting their make-up done once again by the talented students of Make-up the College at the BTW in Umhlanga, where everyone also got their caffeine fix and some of the models enjoyed pizza for breakfast. The #ProjectScouted ensemble at the restaurant was quite a sight – everyone is relaxed in each other’s company and although this is a competition, there is not even a hint of rivalry or bad-humour. Seeing these girls grow through each phase is what the Project is about.

With many of the models still being at school and it currently being the school holidays, the photoshoots are scheduled to take place in short gaps with one girl being eliminated in each round until the Top 3 are chosen. This means that although one girl being cut at each phase does not seem threatening when it comes to each girl’s chances of making it through to the next phase, it is also going to be extremely difficult for our judges to make their decision. But the #ProjectScouted girls are extremely fortunate as they are getting the opportunity to work with the photographers involved in the Project on more than one occasion and they are getting brilliant images to add to their portfolios in the process.

The images shot by Samantha for Phase Six at Essenwood Park were incredibly beautiful on so many artistic levels that the girls were treated to a large print of their photos which they received at this Phase Seven shoot. The images from the Project continue to defy expectation and exceed limits. The #ProjectScouted team – and everyone who has been involved thus far, from the models themselves, to their parents, the scouts and the photographers – are extremely proud of the manner in which the Project has been executed and know that what they have created, are creating, and will create throughout the Project is nothing short of amicable.

Things with no survival value give value to survival

We all promise our childhood friends that we will be friends forever; that we will not lose touch, that we will always be the way we were when we were young. Or the promises that lovers make to each other to always stand by one another, to always love each other and to never walk away.

We make these promises about friendships and relationships although we know very well that we may never make those promises a reality. Relationships have no survival value. We never know when they might suddenly come to an end; we never know when we will fall out with a best friend or grow tired of a partner.

But it’s this fact that friendships and relationships have no survival value, unless we work earnestly to give it a long life, that make them the things that add the most value to our survival as human beings.

We might part ways, we might stop picking up the phone to call someone we once could not imagine life without; but most often while we have them in our lives, we know what it means to lead a truly meaningful existence through the value they add our journey.

Trading childhood illusions for adult ones

When we're little, we can't wait to grow up. But little do we realize how quickly the growing up comes and how much change comes with it. Being a child, being young, has its illusions that are the necessities of innocence and naivety.

We pretend that we could grow up to be anything we want to be, we live in a world of fantasy and dreams. But when we grow up, we must leave those fantasies behind, to take up the realities of everyday life.

But that doesn't mean that being an adult comes without its illusions. We simply swap the illusions of childhood for those of adulthood.

When we're older; instead of living in a fantasy, we often begin to live in a lie, or even in denial. We tell ourselves simple lies; that we have all the time in the world to do what we want, that we're happy, that we're not lonely, that we aren’t wearing a mask. Or whatever else we might have come to camouflage.

See, there isn't much of a difference in being a child or an adult. We grow up, but we often still pretend.

Sometimes beauty takes time

Some things and some people are born beautiful. They are born being special and precious, and are set apart from others from the very beginning. But this is not always the case and nor is it the only beauty that exists.

Sometimes some things, and some people, take a little more time. They become beautiful through the processes and struggles of life and living. And it is perhaps these processes and struggles that make these things and these people all the more beautiful.

And this beauty is not just found in the way of appearance, but in a certain inexplicable quality that endears one from the very first meeting. This beauty is not the frivolous, temperamental, fleeting kind so often found in youth – but the almost-aged, experienced and wise beauty that comes with the ticking of the clock.

So often people stop to admire the loveliness and the mesmerising display of a butterfly. But almost never do we stop to appreciate the changes, the pain, and the effort that the butterfly has gone through to achieve that beauty. From making its way through a cocoon to surviving in an unforgiving world, that butterfly portrays the true beauty that we all ought to come to appreciate – beauty that comes from survival.

Home is always within you

Some people spend their entire lives trying to leave home. And most of us come to hold disdain and contempt for the place that we grow up in. But really, even though we may want to leave that place more than we want anything else, it’s the one place that we can never truly leave behind.

No matter what memories or experiences our home has given us; it forms us, shapes us, and teaches us who we want to be and who we don’t want to be.

Home is always within us. It’s a part of who we are. And just as we can never escape who we really are, we can never really escape the place where we’ve grown up. If we manage to leave it behind and go off in search of something else – something better – we may just realize that the answers we seek were there in that place all along.

Lorde – The musical phenomenon of 2014

If you’ve switched on the radio at all during the past few months, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard Lorde’s hit single “Royals”, which has some poetic and memorable lyrics which has seen her now being compared to poet Sylvia Plath. From her fascination and love for things of royalty and aristocracy, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor thus became Lorde.

At first, she wanted her stage name to be “Lord”, but added the “e” at the end for a more feminine look. Born on the 7^th of November in 1996, the New Zealand singer-songwriter is just 17 years old. She was born in Takapuna and raised in Devonport, Auckland and performed in a range of singing and drama classes as a child, and later went on to be signed with Universal Records at the age of 13.

Lorde is being praised for her deep lyrics and insight as well as her genuine demeanour in the music industry. Her musical debut entitled “The Love Club”, was released in November 2012 and her first single, "Royals", debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013 in the U.S. “Royals” has made Lorde’s musical career already, with her winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance in 2013.

Lorde’s voice has been described as being “beyond her years”, which is rather accurate. Because apart from her voice, it’s her general behaviour that is so unlike her young contemporaries in the music industry; think Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, etc. Her age has been a hot topic since Lorde has entered the scene and all we can hope now is that she remains true to the love of music and sincere lyrics that she has shown so far, as most pop stars begin poignant and real but frazzle to become annoying and fake.

Lorde is a breath of fresh air on our airwaves because she’s not the average pop princess. She’s tweeted unedited photos of herself declaring that “flaws are okay” and she’s not ashamed of proclaiming that she’s a feminist. Any female songstress today who has the guts to admit these things definitely deserves a round of applause.

If you know where you are going, you are not learning

So often as children we are told that we need to have goals and dreams. But although goals and dreams are essential to the makings of successful and happy people, they should by no means be the only things that lead one’s course in life.

We should never be so focused, intent, and course-driven that we know exactly where we want to go and who we want to be. We should not draw our lives out like a map to a destination. I’m sure you’ve heard that the best part of the trip is the journey itself and not only in reaching the destination.

It’s so easy to become so goal-orientated that in looking to the point on the horizon we want to reach, we miss the beautiful scenery around it. If you know where you are going, you are not learning. And if you are not learning, then what’s the point of living? It’s in learning that we live, and in learning that we enjoy the journey all the more.

Words; the most powerful drugs used by mankind

They say that men fall in love with what they see but women fall in love with what they hear. But maybe we all fall in love with what we hear, whether it is true or not.

Words intoxicate, written and spoken, like drugs or alcohol. And just like those two intoxicants, words are often abused too; used where they shouldn’t be to mean things other than what they should.

Words are like the beads strung together on a rosary to form sentences, and are clutched in the hands of those who desperately seek to believe in something greater.

The words of love, acceptance, understanding spoken to us by others become the rosary which we hold in our hands, silently being thankful for the high they give us. That words can have this power is truly something of a miracle and a curse in its own.

What’s in a name?

“’What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet”

-       Juliet, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Our name is the first possession that is given to us; something to belong to us, something for us to belong to.

We are born into families who bestow their name upon us, being born into our destinies. When Romeo fell in love with Juliet; he did not know that she was a Capulet, the rival family of his. And Juliet tried and tried to wrap her mind around what it was exactly that make our names so important.

Why should it define us when we could rather define it? When we can choose what our names represent or why people will remember that name once we’re gone. Or if they will remember it at all.

What’s in a name? It’s a label and we are the packaging. And although we can’t escape it, the way Romeo wished he could cut it out of his body if it would make a way to be with Juliet, we can make our names stand for something pretty great.

Keep smiling

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

-       Dr. Seuss

Did you know that Dr. Seuss wasn’t actually a doctor? Yet he’s still quoted around the world for his great and simple insight into human beings and relationships through his children’s stories and artwork. Dr. Seuss was just a pen name he came up with incorporating his middle name. Officially he was Theodor Seuss Geisel. But not having a doctorate on a paper did not make him any less of a genius than he was.

He was known for his positivity and optimism and his inspiration to look for the good in all things and people. It wasn’t like Dr. Seuss didn’t know what it was to suffer. He’d made mistakes in his life, big ones and very grown-up, adulterated ones. But he got one of his greatest life lessons from them that he imparted to the world through his literature, which was to simply smile and move forward. Life might not be great, we might not be where we really want to be or who we want to be; but maybe if we just smile and push through, we’ll get through it alright.

In its entirety, life is too beautiful – albeit, too unpredictable – to cry over what could have, should have, or would have been. Our smile often stems from our joy, but every once in a while maybe we should just smile for the hell of it and let our joy stem from the miracle that it is to be alive (and able to smile).

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not”

Do you think everyone is exactly what you see? Because what you see, is not always what you get.

We’re all pretending to be something that we are not. When we shouldn’t be.

But why lie? Because we won’t be accepted? Because people will laugh? Because we will be left standing alone?

Rather stand alone than stand with those supporting a lie.

If we all tried to be who we really are in front of others, then maybe the world will start to feel real again.

Living a lie to save yourself from hurt, just leads to a whole other kind of pain.

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. Because at least then, you only have yourself to answer to.

“Humans of New York” – The story behind all those stories

We live by telling stories. They are what makes life interesting, they are what show how uniquely different each one of us is but how intrinsically the same we are at the same time. Brandon Stanton, the creator of “Humans of New York” (“HONY”) was insightful and motivated enough to collect these stories that we all carry around with us and has, as a result, developed one of the most beautiful and creative photo-blogs ever.

29-year-old Brandon Stanton grew up in Atlanta and attended the University of Georgia and later went to New York after a short spell as a bond trader in Chicago. As a self-taught photographer, he travelled around New York City in 2010 and walked through the streets everyday taking portraits of complete strangers, originally just posting them on his Facebook profile. Today, he has collected over 6000 pictures of people he has met in the city.

He initially aimed to collect photographs with captions only in his first year of starting the blog but after starting to converse with his subjects; he began to include quotes with the photos that he posted. Stanton travels daily from his home in Brooklyn to shoot for about 4 hours before posting the images on his blog later. Today, “Humans of New York” has developed an incredible following on social media and has over 3,2 million followers on Facebook just waiting for him to upload more images.

The blog has become so popular and successful that a “Humans of New York” book was compiled in October 2013 and from the inspiration of “HONY”, hundreds of spinoff blogs have been created around the world.

When Stanton started “HONY”, he just thought it would be a really cool idea to create an extensive database of the people walking through the streets of New York. But today it has turned into much more. The blog has become a work of art that has managed to capture the inexhaustible beauty of people and the stories they carry around. He has also written about 50 short stories inspired by the people he has met along this journey. “Humans of New York” started with a simple but inspired idea that has grown, and is still growing, into a collection of something great and spectacular.

Mistakes, the foundation of your own truth

We walk our own roads and choose our own paths. No two journeys are ever the same. And when we realize that, when we find our own path, we know that we will make mistakes somewhere down the line. But it’s those mistakes, the detours that we’ve taken along the way, that take us to where we ought to be.

Some mistakes end up being beautiful, and they are what adds colour to what could be a very dull life. And if by making a mistake you only learn to not judge others so severely, what greater a lesson?

Mistakes are inevitable. They lead us, teach us, grow us. There is not as much to be learnt from success as there is from failure. Mistakes are your own foundation of truth. And although they do not have to define the rest of your life, perhaps they could define they way you live the rest of it.

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved

If you have ever been in love, you would know what a miracle loving someone else is. But if you have ever had the rare gift to be loved back by the person you love, you would know that the real miracle is being loved and not loving.

But even with how amazing love might be, to give and be given, it does not compare to being given the trust of another person. Love and trust should go hand in hand, but not all things work out idealistically. Someone might give you their love but not their trust, but when they do that’s when you know it’s really real.

Emotions are sacred; perhaps love the most sacred of them. But in giving someone your trust, you give them a key that can open up the doors to any part of you – parts that you had kept hidden. We can love but still be closed, but in trusting we open up ourselves to the possibility of agonizing pain and hurt.

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved. If someone trusts you, it means they think that you are worthy of the most secret parts of them. That’s a gift and a compliment far more special than getting someone’s love.

The story behind the Coke “Name Campaign”

Coca-Cola has always been one of the kings when it comes to effective and innovative marketing and advertising. But recently the “name campaign”, that sees the names of people printed onto their cans and bottles, has been not only effective and innovative but quite ingenious.

The South African campaign was inspired by a similar “Share a Coke” campaign that took place in Australia, but bringing this idea to fruition in South Africa – the rainbow nation with much more diversity than other countries – proved to be a gigantic and difficult task but not one that was impossible.

Coke, being brilliant at what they do, used algorithms to work out what the most popular names amongst South Africans were. And because their largest consumer and target market is teenagers, they approached the Department of Home Affairs for lists of names of people born between 1994 and 2000. After receiving those names, the real task of narrowing them down based on language, gender and region began. They needed a wide range of names that would appeal to the masses.

Whereas Australia used only 10 themes on their cans and bottles, the South African brand strategists set themselves the ambitious goal of 150. With help from a printing investor investing in their digital printing equipment, Coke managed to pull it off. So that now when you open a fridge in the supermarket, or wherever, to grab a can of Coke, there are various random names as opposed to one name repeated several times.

The company also went on tour with their vending machines around the country, with some still being carried out in other provinces, so consumers could get their own personalized cans if they didn’t happen to find their name already. There is also a facility on their website to create virtual personalized cans.

Coca Cola has always set themselves apart from other brands, especially their biggest competitor Pepsi, and based their advertising and marketing on wholesome values and relationships. With this personalized campaign, they have managed to draw closer to their South African consumers than ever before definitely making sure their success is only going to grow.

“Life is under no obligation to give you what you expect.”

The general viewpoint when it comes to giving advice on having high expectations in any situation in your life is that if you expect nothing in specific you will never be disappointed. And maybe that’s one of the best pieces of advice out there.

There’s a fine line between being hopeful and pinning all your hopes on something you would like to happen. It’s not about being cynical, it’s about guarding your heart against the disappointment and sadness that follows an outcome not being able to rise to meet up to the heights that you have set in your mind. And although pain is necessary, some could be avoided.

Life then becomes a lot easier when you accept that people weren’t put on this earth to live up to your expectations and neither are you here to live up to anyone else’s. And then that lowered expectation leaves room for the surprise and joy that could come from having something good happen.

The harder you hold on to your expectations, of life and of people, you will find that they are like delicate China. With the right amount of grip on them, you can feel the beauty of the object, but if you hold it too tightly it will break and cut you.

Looking back to move forward

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

-       Socrates

Socrates set the bar for most of Western philosophy and dedicated most of his enquiry and examination to the growth of human character and morality. He was a firm believer that once we as humans accept our ignorance and lack of knowledge in understanding the world and life itself, we would then be able to truly acquire genuine knowledge.

So it’s understandable that he would think that in order to experience a better and fuller future, one must look to the past for guidance and a little direction.

Maybe looking at what we could have done better in 2013, or even what we did not do at all, will give us a better chance of getting it right in 2014. Dredging up the past might not always be the healthiest thing to do; but at the start of a new year, taking stock of the year before could save you just a little time and effort – or maybe save you from making the same mistakes twice without even realizing it.

Socrates knew this. He knew that making mistakes is vital to growing as a person and building one’s character. But he also realized that because we all want a good future for ourselves, one of the best ways to get it is to look at the past and let our actions and experiences guide us to making better decisions in the present.

It was also Socrates who said, “Know thyself.” And that’s pretty important too. For if we look at our past and the life we’ve lived so far, doesn’t that give us greater insight into who we are and so move us along to where we ought to be?

Oscars 2014

Is it that time of the year again? 

The world’s most elegant night for the rich and famous has taken off. 

The Oscars 2014 promises to be bigger and better than ever before, this year being hosted by the one and only Ellen DeGeneres.

Dive in and explore the winners, memorable moments and juicy tidbits of the academy awards that hits screens live on Sunday the 2^nd of March 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and televised LIVE on the ABC Network in the United States, as well as in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Nominations were announced on Thursday, Jan. 16, by "Thor" actor Chris Hemsworth and Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, whose members vote for the Oscar winners.

Been too busy to catch up on the red carpet? No problem here are the most interesting and nail biting sneak peek at the nominees as to what the academy awards has in store for you this 2014: 

And the Oscar goes too...

Best Picture

"12 Years A Slave"
"American Hustle"

"Dallas Buyers Club"

"Her"                                                                                                                                        
"Nebraska"

"Captain Phillips"                                                                      

"The Wolf of Wall Street"

"Gravity"

"Philomena"

Actor in a Leading Role

Bruce Dern - "Nebraska"

Chiwetel Ejiofor - "12 Years A Slave"                                                    

Matthew McConaughey - "Dallas Buyers Club"

Christian Bale - "American Hustle"

Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Actor in a Supporting Role

Barkhad Abdi - "Captain Phillips"

Michael Fassbender - "12 Years A Slave"

Jared Leto - "Dallas Buyers Club"                                            

Bradley Cooper - "American Hustle"

Jonah Hill - "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"

Sandra Bullock - "Gravity"

Judi Dench - "Philomena"

Meryl Streep - "August: Osage County"

Amy Adams - "American Hustle"

Actress in a Supporting Role

Sally Hawkins - "Blue Jasmine"

Jennifer Lawrence - "American Hustle"                                                                                           

Lupita Nyong'o - "12 Years A Slave"

Julia Roberts - "August: Osage County"

June Squibb - "Nebraska"

Animated Feature Film

"The Croods"                                                                             

"Despicable Me 2"

"Frozen"

"The Wind Rises"

"Ernest & Celestine"

Directing

Alfonso Cuaron - "Gravity"

Steve McQueen - "12 Years A Slave"

Alexander Payne - "Nebraska"                                                                

David O. Russell - "American Hustle"

Martin Scorsese - "The Wolf of Wall Street"                                                                      

My expert predictions for the winners are in red :) Enjoy this start studded event.