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February 03, 2013

Brushing Up With Amy: Weeks 1 & 2

Hi everyone!

I am back with a follow on from my initial post here on Sophie's wonderful blog! Thanks for having me again :D If you didn't see my last post then please make sure you check it out here!

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Amy @ Following the Reader
Now my 9 week course in Retail Makeup and Skincare has finished and I passed and now am the proud owner of a certificate 2!

So you are probably wondering what it was that went on throughout the 9 weeks so I will break it down for you!

Week One: Day Makeup
There was a lot of sitting and listening while the teacher tried to bring us all out of our shells. All we did this day was get to know each other and our teacher a little better by telling everyone a little about ourselves and why we were there. As we went around the room it become apparant that most of the women, were there to further their home businesses or to complete their beauty diploma's. When it came around to me and why I was there? 'Well... For fun really.' As we went around the room I knew straight away who I would turn to for friends. Of course they were sitting on the otherside of the room to me. Typical.

After the introductions we moved onto the schools 'rules and regulations' uniforms were to be pristine, no pants skimming the floor, closed in shoes and black socks. Hair to be up and away from the face and no jewellery except one wedding band. Face charts to be done prior to each week and everyone would be assigned clean up duties at the end of the day (of course this was our favourite part of every day... not)

Then we got into the nitty gritty, we watched as our teacher performed a 'day makeup look' on one of our classmtes, showing us step by step what was expected.

What We Learnt
Skin Types:
Normal - Good moisture content, generally clear, great elasticity and supple in feel.
Dry - Low moisture content, skin can appear flakey/pealing, lower elasticity.
Oily - Sullow complexion, prone to breakouts, skin becomes oily during the day.
Sensitive - Skin is prone to irritation

Cleansing Routine:
It is important that your cleansing routine reflects your skin type. If you have dry skin, steer clear use products that are for oily skin and vice versa
1. Cleanse. Morning and night. Morning to get rid of any dirt that has accumulated over night and to create a nice base to apply makeup. Night to clean of makeup and/or dirt that has made its way to the face over the day.
2. Tone. Important to tone after cleansing to get rid of any excess dirt or makeup that the cleanser missed.
3. Moisturise. By cleansing and toning we have removed a lot of the faces natural moisture so it is important to put moisture back in and to assess any dry skin problems.

The College uses all Dermalogica skin care, and has a variety of products for oily, normal and sensitive skin types.

Makeup Routine*:
1. Prime. Priming ensures that your makeup lasts longer and it puts a barrier between your skin and the makeup. Wayne over at gossmakeup has an awesome primer video on youtube that explains everythign better than the teacher did.
2. Foundation. Apply foundation over the face, we used sponges in class for hygeine reasons.
3. Concealer. Apply concealer to the under eye area and any blemishes as required.
4. Powder. Finish the face with a light dusting of powder 
5. Eyebrows. Start at the top of your face and work down. Starting with filling in the eyebrows with a matching pencil or eyeshadow colour.
6. Eyeshadow and Mascara. Apply your eyeshadow and mascara.
7. Blush. Apply blush to the apples of the cheeks

*Routine will change for different types of makeup applied ie. evening or photoshoot (I will cover these in later posts).

Tips:
-To get a foundation match use a cotton bud and place a line at the jaw line, place the colours next to each other and choose the best match for their colouring and skintone.
- Use a makeup puff to lean your hand against when applying eyeliner or eyeshadows.
-Try to avoid touching the face with your hands or fingers
-Make sure to always have sanitiser with you
- It's a good idea to have spot brush cleanser incase you want to re-use a brush in a different colour
- Press and roll the makeup sponge, avoid wiping motions as this can wipe the makeup off.

That afternoon, we applied our day makeup look to our assigned partner in the class. I was the model for this week so I just had to sit there and look pretty ;) Everyone was nervous and not sure what to expect, for some people it was the first time applying makeup on someone else. One thing I learnt as I was getting my makeup done, apparantly I have deepset eyes, I had no idea! I was also told that I don't have much space between my lashes and my eyebrow, which can make eyeshadow hard for me sometimes.

Week Two: Day Makeup Continued
So this was the week. My first week actually applying makeup, and I was so nervous. I don't know why, I just was. Though I was lucky in that my model had really good skin already. I started with the cleansing routine, which I found pretty difficult. The makeup just didn't want to come off, I don't know what foundation she used but it didn't want to budge. Luckily after that it all went pretty smoothly and I was able to find a foundation match pretty quickly. I used a CND makeup for combination skin as my model had shown some shinyness during the day. I applied a thin layer of this over the skin with a sponge with the press and roll method. This seems to take 3 times as long as using my old faithful Real Techniques Buffing Brush or Sigma F80 Brush. However it does give a nice finish. 

My model had some serious dark circles going on and I just did not know what to do. The concealer wasn't covering it and I was starting to stress a bit. I asked over the teacher and explained the issues I was having and she pointed out a bright red concealer. Now when I say bright red, I honestly mean bright red. It was so scary to look at. But when applied in a thin layer it almost completely got rid of her under eye circles. After showing me how to do it the teacher called over everyone in the class to have me demonstrate what she had just done. eek!! But I managed and it turned out pretty good! After that I set the concealer and foundation with powder and moved onto the eyes.

My model already had nicely shaped and dark eyebrows so I didn't want to fill them in too much, so I left them as they were. I then moved on to the eyeshadow. I chose all shades of brown, since it was a day look. The colours were pearlised and so pretty. Though they were loose shadows so as soon as you opened the container it went everywhere. I chose a light shade to go on the inner part of the eye, a medium to go the rest of the lid and a dark shade for the outer corner and the crease. this part was the easiest for me as eyeshadow is my favourite part.

Then it was time for mascara. I don't know what it is about women and their need for such implements or torture, but then who am I to talk, I wear mascara all the time... Anyway. Applying mascara on someone else is SO hard. You have to get them to look down and then to their shoulders so you can get the inner and outer corner all the while trying not to poke out their eyes or get mascara anywhere other than their lashes. Tricky business!!

I chose a rosey pink blush and applied it lightly to the cheeks and that was it. DONE.

Once I could take a breath and step back I really liked how it turned out. I wish I could show you pictures but I won't be able to this week. I will be able to show you pictures of the next week so stay tuned everyone!

Are there any readers out there? Yes? Then make sure you check out my blog Following the Reader for everything reading related and to see Sophie's upcoming review ;)

Thanks for having me again Sophie!

*** 
Amy, I think it goes without saying at this point (and plus, I've said it to you a thousand times already), I'm so jealous! I'm hoping to study something like this very, very soon! Thanks again for writing this, Amy! I'm loving reading about what you're learning.

Also, guys, I thought I'd let you know that I've actually written a review for Amy's blog, Following the Reader! I reviewed one of my favourite books, Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret?. For the review, click here.

Everyone, if you have any questions for Amy please comment them down below. I'm sure Amy would be happy to answer them. You never know, she may even write a Q&A post at the end of her series if there's enough!

Always look your best,
Sophie
x

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2 comments :

  1. I loved this post! It is so interesting to hear about what you have been getting up to. The red concealer sounds terrifying! :)
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to seeing pictures! I've NEVER ever seen red concealer before, that must have been quite interesting to watch dark circles disappear though!

    ReplyDelete

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