Tuesday, June 11, 2013

About Faces Makeup Class

I attended my very first makeup class this past Sunday!!! Yaaayyyyy!!!  The class was taught by the awesome Brittany Rogers (Check out her twitter and instagram here) and held at Studio 223. It was sponsored by LA Girl Cosmetics, Sylk Cosmetics, and Key2Impressions. Here is a little more information about Brittany via RawArtists:
"Brittany Rogers has been a Make-up Artist just a few years, but has been enhancing faces since high school.  Brittany born in Washington D.C always had a sense of style and a creative ability.  Brittany studied Make-up artistry at Bennett Career Institute, in a little over a year, Brittany had worked on up to three hundred faces of different skins tones, textures and types.  Brittany has been the Key Makeup Artist for Emerge Fashion runway show for New York fashion week and at such a young age her work has been published in Touch Magazine and Black Hair Magazine.  Today you can find Brittany creating new looks, sweating it out on the location of a photo-shoot or putting final touches on flawless face"

I was really excited about taking this class as it was my first real makeup class and I am eager to to get out there and start creating my portfolio. What I wanted to get out of this class was the fundamentals...you know, the basics. And Brittany taught us just that. She outlined everything step by step...the way you would normally do a face of makeup. Now while I think that one should learn from many sources and tailor to their own needs...I believe she helped us create the foundation on how to complete a clean face of makeup. 

We briefly talked about skin care and she told us some of her go-to products for maintaining healthy skin.  We also discussed the different skin types (normal, dry, oil, and combination) and what products to use and not to use on each.  She mentioned exfoliating at least twice a week, but too much may harm your skin.  Brittany also emphasized the importance of your diet...fruits, veggies, and water is a must!  

She then started to talk about "Prep/Prime/Moisturize" (but not in that order)...that was a little jingle that Brittany taught us to remember how we should start off each and every makeup look.  I hadn't been in the habit of using a primer but I have a few of them on my "to get" list.  We then went into brows and she let us know that they should be sisters...not twins or cousins lol.  I made note of another product that I will be getting (NYX auto brow pencil) as my Kevyn Aucoin one is on it's last leg (insert sad face here). We moved on to concealers (thank you LA Girl for my new Pro Concealer) and correctors and the uses for each color (green, orange, purple, yellow, pink ,and grey).  Brittany explained the various types of foundations (cream, stick. liquid, iridescent, and sheer or tinted moisturizers) and also guided us on how to determine peoples undertones.  She told us the consistency of each and how they should be applied.  Now the next thing we talked about was where I get the most nervous...highlighting and contouring.  She gave us a face chart (click here to see an example) and shared with us exactly how to get from the face chart to a perfectly blended finish.  Before attempting to apply everything to our own faces, we quickly talked about blush placement (by the way, I had been applying mine somewhat wrong...eek!) and bronzing.  

I learned so much from this class and it really helped me to know where I need to practice and polish my skills.  Brittany was a great teacher and was able to answer any question that was thrown her way.  Her team of assistants was very helpful as well...thank you to them.  And her family was extra sweet and very supportive of her.  She will be having more classes coming up soon and I will be sure to let all of you know when they are and how you can register. If you're just starting out in the makeup artistry industry like me...you won't want to miss her classes!



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Testing the waters...

As many of you know I had a dilemma a while ago trying to decide if I wanted to pursue my love and passion for makeup artistry (click here to read) and I decided to go for it! I have been practicing my make up skills, learning various techniques, and doing lots of research. But it would not be at all possible if it weren't for my Partners in Pretty...especially my coach/mentor Shana Janelle. She answers what I feel are silly questions...and if she feels its something I need to figure out on my own...she points me in the right direction and says "Go find the answer yourself!" She won't always hand me what I want or need on a silver platter and for that I am truly grateful!

Recently Shana asked me to come along and assist her with a bridal party. She told me to bring my brushes as she may need me to do some light work. Boy was I in for a ride! She threw me to the sharks and I had to sink or swim. Needless to say I didn't want to let her down or embarrass myself. It was crunch time and I had to do this! Luckily there was a game plan which helped me to not be so nervous...but I still had butterflies. Ok they were more like huge waves that made me sea sick and light headed lol. But I jumped right in and went to work. I followed Shana with what she did and was able to get the job done. The clients were very nice and made my first makeup experience comfortable. (I'm sad I didn't get any pictures.) 

I assume I did a good job because Shana asked me to come assist her on another gig this past weekend. This time I was a little less nervous and was more comfortable with my application. And again the party was very energetic and made it a really easy going experience. 


I have signed up for my very first makeup class this coming Sunday and I'm super excited to learn as much as I can (I will post that experience next week). I hope to be as good as my mentor one day as she has inspired me to jump into this thing without a life-vest on. I will update you all as I embark on this new journey...I know it won't be easy but I have to build my confidence and keep telling myself...I CAN DO THIS!!! 

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Lovely Lilac

At the advice of my mentor, I have decided to branch out and try some new makeup products. (Review on them later.) I tried out the Revlon Colorstay foundation in Golden Caramel, LA Girls pro concealer in Medium Beige, and MACs invisible setting powder. I also picked up a lilac lipgloss at the beauty supply store and thought I might as well do a lilac look. So here it is.  Below is a list of all the products I used to achieve this look. Enjoy!

On the eyes:
Kevyn Aucoin brow pencil in Brunette
Revlon Lilac Shimmer eyeshadow on the lid 
MAC Mystery on the outer corner
Rimmel London day to night mascara
Wet n' Wild gel liner in black

On the face:
LA Girl pro concealer in Medium Beige
Revlon colorstay foundation in Golden Caramel 
MAC invisible setting powder
Milani blush in Sweet Rose
Ruby Kisses mineral powder in Cognac for the contour

On the lips:
LA Colors lipstick in Frosted Lilac
IrisColors lipgloss in Lilac