Makeup School: Session 2, Day 1

In a full-time class, this would just be the second half of the first day. We went through the last bit of paperwork (Numeracy and literacy 'test') and spent the majority of class going through the given Course Manual. Sifting past the topics of school policies, workplace health & safety and etiquette blah blah, here's the three main, interesting points I took away:

Class Necessities

I've already listed much of the bits and pieces in Tools of the Trade: Part 2, but here's just a few more as tips from our Trainer:

Our Trainer recommended we get most of these items from The Reject Shop or Crazy Clarks as most can be substituted as long as it 'does the job' (ie. using a blunt butter knife as a spatula or tiles/mirrors as a mixing palette). However, it does tend to look unprofessional (and you may be held up in customs on travels for that butter knife!), so probably worth investing in the proper tools for client work.

Basic Makeup Product Types

Just a quick overview of the different types of products, their characteristics, and best uses. Like, not selecting a greasepaint foundations for an everyday makeup look or knowing to use a sealer to activate cake eyeliner.

Alright, I didn't have loose dust handy, but powder can sorta demos it too

Makeup secret demo: Loose eye shadow dust — 1 product, 3 ways

The secret to all this is moisture. Essentially, water would work the exact same way to make colours vibrant as more product adheres to the surface. However, it would not be as durable on the skin and easily flake or come loose within the hour.

Brush Overview

Perhaps it's just our Trainer, but she essentially implies there are no set rules to makeup (just don't apply your foundation under primer, for example) and this apparently flows into the use of tools. It's just 'whatever works' and 'whatever you're comfortable with using'. Given news of makeup artists (MUAs) testing nail polish as lipstick, common sense is flung out the window in the name of experimentation and cutting edge fashion.

But I digress. Below is the list of brushes that comes in the Gorgeous Cosmetics brush roll, as recommended for use by the Academy of Makeup (AOM). As previously mentioned, it is not compulsory to purchase their brand and the Trainers would try to describe the brushes they're using rather than calling out a brush number, so feel free to use this as comparison to other options (see Tools of the Trade: Part 3 for my brush set):

You may note there is almost a duplication of brushes. As a makeup artist, it may not be possible to clean brushes in between models, so it's much more convenient to just grab the next similar brush.

Next session: Prepping the face, colour theory, concealer, foundation, and powder. Finally getting started!

xxEva