Monday, March 26, 2007

Just saw this great article in Yahoo News about how retailers are moving ethnic beauty products to the front of the stores!

I'll be back later for a full report of the Bridal workshop I attended last week. I promise!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Bridal Makeup Workshop

I signed up for a MAC Pro Master class in Bridal Makeup. The great thing about the Pro classes at MAC is that for the money you pay, a certain amount is redeemable in makeup. In this case, all of the money I spent was redeemable in makeup so I was really happy about that!

I had no idea what to expect since I'd never taken a master class at MAC Pro before. I do not in any way consider myself a pro, let alone a master, so I was afraid I'd be intimidated by all these real professionals around me. It didn't help that I showed up late because I got confused between the MAC store and the MAC Pro store on 5th Avenue. When I finally arrived, they told me they didn't have my name on the list and they never charged my credit card! Everything got straightened out quickly and I discretely joined the group of makeup artists scribbling notes on everything the presenting makeup artist was doing.

I dug through my purse, looking for the notebook I usually keep in there to jot things down and of course, it's not there. I improvised with blank deposit slips from the back of my check book. I was tired from a long day of work, plus I was leaving the next day to go away for the weekend, but all of the stress I had previously felt went away after a few minutes in class. Makeup is my Zen. I really got into the demo the makeup artist was doing. The audience absorbed every word out of his mouth, that is when he had an opportunity to actually speak. Most of the time, before the makeup artist could open his mouth to explain which brush he was using, hands were raised and questions were asked. Much of the time was spent dealing with a few ladies in the audience firing question after question. The makeup artist didn't seem to mind, but one of the ladies stood up and said, can we get back to what he's doing. Because he had started working on the model's lips and, God forbid, we had no idea which lip liner he was using or what color!

A few techniques he used that I thought were really cool was using a darker face powder as eye shadow, Not putting foundation on the cheek area and using cream blush on the bare patch of skin because the makeup will adhere better especially during a wedding where it may be hot and the makeup may melt off. He used alot of products from the limited edition collections like the Raquel Welsh and the Barbie collections. the model he used for the main demo was white, but I still found many of his techniques useful for women of color. At the end of the demo, he took a woman of color out of the audience and showed us how to use airbrush makeup without the airbrush. Her face looked great afterward. I put the airbrush makeup on my list. Other products on my list art the tinted brow gels and pigment in "Helium".

After the class we had 45 minutes to shop for everything the makeup artist mentioned during the presentation. Unfortunately I had to run home to pack for my trip, but I'm glad I did because I didn't have time to take in the grandeur of the MAC Pro Store. If you think the regular MAC store is like a candy store, the MAC pro store is even more amazing. They way everything is presented is so appealing it's all looks too good to be true. After the class, people were everywhere grabbing as much as they could. I figured I'd go back in a few weeks when some of their stock is replenished and I won't have to fight a girl for a lipglass.

Monday, March 5, 2007

So out of the loop

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog is that it would give me a great excuse (as if I needed one) to keep up with all the new makeup trends. My actual job has kept me so busy lately that I haven't really gotten my glam on, and I usually wear no makeup to work (I know. How could I!? I work in a very casual environment though) and after work I just head home and catch up on "Lost" and "Heroes" (I never said I wasn't a nerd at heart).

Last week after my friend J and I went out to dinner in Soho, we stopped by makeup mecca Sephora and checked out some goodies. I realized I've been out of the makeup loop for a really long time. There were so many products I just didn't know about. I didn't understand how I let myself get so out of touch! Like any other makeup maven, I read Allure every month, but I guess that's just not enough. Here are a few products I checked out...

Cargo Purse Gloss, $16.00
The packaging looks cute, but I think the best way to tell if packaging works in the long run is to check out the testers and see how gross and messy they are. These were pretty gross and the colors looked a little sheer. Cargo lippies tend to be a little low on pigmentation so apply at your own risk. Plus I didn't see any colors that appealed to me. Pinks and berry/fuchsias just don't do it for me. Sigh...I'm getting older.


Fiber wig Mascara - $22.00

I already had mascara on my top lashes so I only tried this on my lower. Can't say this made much of a difference, but I did notice that I had a little something on. Mascara is one of those things I go cheap on because you have to throw it out every three months so why bother spending over $20 bucks on the stuff!






La Vanilla Vanilla Grapefruit - $56.00

I really like this! I usually hate vanilla scents on my body, but the combination of the citrus with the vanilla works well. I may have to save up and splurge for this on my birthday. I'm not a big fragrance girl, but I'll spend money on something I really like.

Well that's all for now! Until next time!

all photos courtesy Sephora.com