Blog and Facebook Contest!

Hey everyone!  I'm excited to announce my first ever contest!  Yes Contest!  It's over do really.  I wanted to give my readers and those of you who are on my fan page something just for your support.

**DISCLAIMER**: This contest is not sponsored  by no affiliate company or cosmetic company!  I'm sponsoring this contest with my own hard earned money!

Now that that's out the way here are the rules!:

1) You must be a memeber of my FB fan page
2) You must live in the United States
3) You must be a subscriber to my blog

The deadline for the contest is April 23, 2011 at 12 noon!

All entries must be submitted by that time via a pic to my fan page or video to my fan page.  If you like you can also email them to me.

Now here is the tricky part which really isnt tricky or a catch but for those who don't subscribe to my blog would have to find it.(Which isnt hard because I've listed it on my fan page many of times)
Those who are subscribers to my blog may not know where to find my fan page but I will give you all a hint : It's the  name of my makeup business!  So I wish you all luck! 


Questions you may have:
How I will go about picking a winner:  I will narrow it down to 5 of my favorites.  Once I have narrowed it down to my favorites I will use an online random system to pick 1.  Giving each of those a number 1-5 and let the random site pick the winner. 

What is the prize:  The prize is a $25 gift card to MAC!

Once again I wish you all luck and if you have any questions please feel free to leave me a comment or a email.  XOXO

Makeup 101 Class

So I had my first Makeup 101 class of 2011!  It definitely was an experience!  This was my first class that I had ever had and was really a little nervous but everything came out great!

I wanted to fill 15 seats but I didnt and that was truly fine being it was my first class.  I enjoyed the few that did come and it allowed me to be more personal and give that one on one attention. 

I don't know which one I was more excited about my new banner that I desgned myself, my new director's chair or the cupcakes that a client of mines daughter did just for my class!  Lol

But even I the teacher learned from the experience.  It helped me to broaden my horizon and learn from any mistakes that I may have made or see differently.  But all in all it was a great experience!

Here are a few pics of the two models that I used:

Day to Nite Natural Beauty look!  I covered her red Acne scars!  You can't tell she had them!

Smokey Eye

The Flawless Beauty Makeup 101 Cupcakes

                                                      

SANITATION!!! A MUST!!

When servicing a makeup client are your hands clean?  Have you sanitized them?  Or do you just jump into applying makeup on someone and touching their face?  If so Houston We Have A Problem!!! 

Ok maybe I'm a germophobic and maybe not.  But sanitation is a must amongst makeup artist!  I take sanitation very, very, very serious!  I'm semi OCD with it especially when it comes to my hands and my makeup.  Our hands carry so much bacteria from handling money to scratching our scalps and so much more.  If you are a makeup artist and even if you are not you should sanitize your hands before applying any makeup to yourself or either a client.  Why is this important you may ask? Ummm let's just start with germs and then we will lead into bacteria!  Two words everyone should be familar with! 

• Germs are passed from person to person and are considered to be airborne
• Germs can be passed from hand shaking (you do use your hands to apply make up)
• Germs can be spread by sharing utensils so on and so forth 

Now let's get into that nasty word Bacteria:

• Bacteria can get in your makeup once you have encountered germs
• Bacteria can also be viral
• Bacteria also can spread like a raging forest fire
• Bacteria can get through the blood system and body through your cuticles and any open wound

Here I've just named a few common known facts about bacteria and germs.  There is plenty more but I just wanted to re-itterate the most common that should be known to most.  But if you are unaware now you are officially informed.

Prior to any makeup application I sanitize my hands either with alcohol or a hand sanitizer.  Either will do.  I also sanitize my makeup palette that I use to mix foundations or any creamy substance that may come in contact with my brushes, sponges or my clients face.

Its is aso important to sanitize your makeup palette's, lipstick palettes, brushes, utensils such as spatulas and even your brush belt and makeup bag or for pro artist your makeup kit bag or set bag.

For sanitizing these items such as my palettes which hold my blushes, eyeshadows, cream blushes, bronzers, lipstick palettes and cream shadows such as paint pots I use Beauty So Clean sanitizing mist.  But you don't have to  run out and purchase this to keep germs and bacteria at bay you can use alcohol in a small travel size spray bottle it will do just the same.  The important thing is that you SANITIZE! 

I can't tell you how many models I've worked on or encountered who may have had a small breakout or a cold sore and being the germaphobic that I am......I'm going to do one or two things afterwards.  I'm going to either throw the product away or utensil or either I'm going to sanitize it like nobody's business.  I may even double sanitize.  My biggest thing with sanitztion besides germs and bacteria is I'm concerned about my client.  I don't want them to have a reaction to anything that may have come in contact with germs.  

Im sure I've left out some other things that need to be sanitized on a regular basis but the key here is to be mindful of the germs and bacteria and how they can affect you or your client.  But not just you and your client but your business if you are a professional makeup artist.  I hope that this has been helpful!

Makeup Artist Reads and Must Have Books!!

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Insert of Bobbi Brown's Make Up Manual

 

Hey you all I'm back today with my Favorite Makeup Reads! I've been reading these 5 books for almost a year now. The Hair, Makeup & Styling Career Guide by Crystal Wright is the last book that I purchased which was in maybe October of last year and I'm almost finished. (Please visit: http://www.crystalwrightlive.com/). I normally can read a book depending on the book in a day or two or a week tops but when it comes to my make up books I've found that I need to go back and re-read a section or basically study a technique or get a better understanding of what I'm reading. Therefore it takes me a bit longer to read.

Actually I've finished Bobbi Brown's Makeup Manual. It was the first into my collection. When I decided to start my business I googled Makeup Artist technical books/handbooks and this is what came up and I purchased it off of Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com/). I also purchased Kevin Aucoin's books from Amazon as well. I still am looking to purchase Sam Fines "Fine Beauty" from there but I figured I needed to study these some more first before my next purchase. Plus I have Sam Fines Dvd "Fine the Basics of Beauty".

All of these books are very informative and go into great detail and explanation of contours of the face, colors, undertones and so much more! I really don't have a favorite out of these 5 books actually all of them are my favorite. But I will say that if you are an aspiring makeup artist and you are wondering how to take your skill to the next level and get your name out there and network and get your foot in somebody's door, Crystal Wrights book is the absolute best for this!! Hands down! My second recommendation if you just can't seem to understand how to get that seamless contour and highlighting to work for you or your client, Scott Barnes book delivers that and so much more! I love Scott Barnes book for the simple reason it's in color and shows great detail and has step by step bullet marks and guides. It's definitely any aspiring makeup artist's must have.
Here is some of the detail that is done inside of Scott Barnes Book! Amazing transformations.

Here below is some pics from Kevin Aucoin's book which also goes into great detail but half is in color and mostly illustrated step by step. But you get the picture and is very detailed and informative.

Once again all of these books are very informative and helpful when trying to master the art of makeup artistry. It's just not necessarily limited to a makeup artist but a makeup lover as well who just wants to look good and wear her makeup well! I hope you guys enjoyed today's post. I'm dedicating myself to posting more often. If you'd like to add a few of your favorite make up reads please by all means comment below. Thanks for reading!