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The Colors of Love by Nicole Hill

Last time you heard from Nicole Hill on Ben Trovato was on New Years Eve just about 6 months ago. We’ve finally, well most of us, recovered from our Ben Trovato New Years Eve, and today we’re substituting champagne, balloons and confetti with a feast of colors! Nicole brought model Jennifer McManis, and her team, to the legendary Salvation Mountain in Niland, California, in order to shoot her third Ben Trovato story, The Colors of Love.

“This story is all about being bold and not being afraid to be who you are.”

Nicole describes her story with great enthusiasm, and continues: “It’s about a girl who is bold, strong, courageous, colorful and free.”

Salvation Mountain and Leonard Knights, the artist who created Salvation Mountain, were actually Nicole’s two main sources of inspiration while planning and shooting the store. “Leonard’s hope in building Salvation Mountain was to spread the message of love. He wanted the world to see this message so that people everywhere would show more love and compassion for their fellow man. He did whatever he could to spread that message. His strength really sparked something in me and inspired me to shoot this story.

As Nicole has shot model Jennifer McManis before, she knew Jen would fit the role of a bold, courageous, colorful and free spirited girl perfectly. “Such a babe, an absolute wonder to work with!” she tells us. “I have shot with Jen several times before, she is such a crack up, always fun, never complains and has a great attitude. Love her!

She has also worked with both makeup artist and hairstylist KC Whitkamp, and stylist Chesley Tolentino before -who actually styled our New Years Eve shoot as well.

Since we decided to shoot at Salvation Mountain, a man-made masterpiece, we wanted to take the clothing and styling to a whole new level,” Chesley explains. “The location was filled with amazing colors, I wanted to make a bold statement with using a lot of color in the outfits as well! Highlighting the top Spring/Summer trends, I styled Jennifer with tons of mix-printing, vibrant color blocking, head to toe florals, and printed maxi-dresses.

“The result: a vibrant, bold, and eccentric piece of art!”

Credits
Photography by Nicole L. Hill
Modelling by Jennifer McManis @ Photogenics
Styling by Chesley Tolentino
Makeup & Hair by KC Whitkamp