No Shortcuts

I haven't been blogging since I almost lost ALL confidence to do makeup. It's not just one of my PMS moments but this one's true, yung tipong can't sleep at night, naiinis and feeling stupid moments. I've invested so much time, money and effort learning the art of makeup and when I felt so high and ready for it ka-blam, I'm back to planet earth!

My trip back to planet earth started when I went to enroll for airbrush makeup in another school, proud na proud pa naman ako to say that I already took basic and bridal modules from Maquillage Professionnel. Little did I know na I was making fun of myself because what I know and what I learned from my previous lessons were short of basic. I know experience is still the best teacher but I was merely hoping that I have enough skills to at least do the basic, but as it seems I still have a long way to go, long way to my most coveted BASIC. Nangamote ako, I can't even perform at par with the other girls who also took basic lessons from another school. I was like a headless chicken, lost and walang pupuntahan!

Pardon all the negativity and frustration, I know there's no one to blame but myself and the wrong decisions I made. I still want to do makeup but right now I'm going back to learning the fundamentals, I feel lost and I'm just going where the tide takes me. Who knows, bahala na may work this time.

Bridal Makeup 101

To supplement my makeup skills, I decided to enroll in Bridal Makeup classes also offered by Maquillage Professionnel. I wanted to further enhance my skills in bridal makeup since module one only allotted 2 days for this look and I think I'll be needing more than 2 days if I wanted to be good at this. I needed mooooooore practice and here are the bridal looks I created in the 5 day course. Bridal makeup is about enhancing the bride's face, she should look like herself, correct that her best self on her big day! Here are the looks I created, let me know what you think! If you want tot have your own makeover hit me up!

Day 1 was more about doing basic day bridal makeup

Day 2: Night bridal makeup, we focused on eye liner flicking on this look

Day 3: was focused on creating the perfect complexions

Day 4: Bridal Smokey Eyes

Building my PRO Kit!

Now that graduation is done, the exciting part of building my pro kit is next!! The word Pro actually excites me (yes may kilig factor!!), I know, I know that title has to be earned and madami pa akong kakaining bigas, but I'm simply ecstatic that I've at least discovered something that I actually love doing! Now on to the fun part! Prior to go attending makeup school I'm always caught in makeup counters looking, testing and err buying makeup in fancy, girly packaging. I love SAs who are passionate about makeup and not just there to sell. I actually collected quite a number of makeup membership cards, thank you to my shopaholic tendencies.

Building my PRO Kit is different I have to make sure that I have a good variety of products that have different textures, colors and use. It is hard to put my personal biases aside but biases or no biases shopping for makeup is F-U-N!!!!

My go to stores were: Makeup Forever for everything that has to do with foundation and makeup base, Beauty Bar for brands like Smashbox, Precision and Art Deco, Shu Uemura for the holy grail in eyelash curlers, our neighborhood drugstore for L'oreal and Revlon lipsticks and my personal favorite Lancome for the biases I was talking about earlier! Online stores are also a blessing for makeup enthusiasts since they offer brands such as Urban Decay, Physicians formula, NYX Sleek and Sephora which can only be found overseas.

This is how I choose to orgaize my stuff, in the beginning it was manageable... but as I my stuff piles up my Zuca backpack is slowly becoming obsolete

Eye stuff this part of my collection has grown exponentially since this pic was taken

Face Stuff, have to add more!!!

lip stuff, my lipsticks have multiplied as well!!

This was me carrying my backpack when it was new.

I still have so many stuff to invest on (uyy invest daw!) and my kit contains only the essentials. I promised myself to buy stuff at a slower pace and not to buy on impulse, God help me on this part! So what's in your kit? Let's exchange ideas in what and where to buy :)

Maquillage Professionnel Graduation

I've long wanted to go to makeup school and after years of putting it off, weeks of putting aside work to go to class, I finally did it! I'm done with basic makeup and there's even a certificate to prove it!! yay!!

For our last day we were asked to do the look we had difficulty in doing, I ended up doing bridal again just because I wasn't very happy with my first bridal look. Here's my "bridal graduation look"

My fresh, glowing bride!

 

The mandatory closed eyes to see the effect!

Now on to the graduation photos! 

That's my no makeup face with my makeup teachers

Me with my batchmates

Ms. Mikee is so good at wacky pose! emote kung emote!

So what's next for me?! Will I go pro and make a living out of makeup? Maybe in the future (pag may K na ako!! haha!), I'm taking small but sure steps, but honestly, I still don't know. Makeup excites me, it's something I enjoy doing and something that simply makes me happy. I'm just taking in every bit of information and making the most out of the experiences that come my way. 

For now my goal is to put on as many pretty faces as possible! Want to join me in my journey? hit me up anyacreyes@gmail.com :)

Maquillage Professionnel: Day 11 & 12 (Avant Garde Looks)

We're down to the last stretch baby!!! The last 2 days were all about creating avant garde looks that are suited for editorial and runway. Unlike most of the other looks, these 2 looks have very little rules and imagination key. I didn't quite get the techniques in class, coz hello, who does these looks on a day to day basis?! So I practiced on, no less than my husband!!!

Isn't he charming?! bwhahaha, enough of the comedy! Here are my audibiche & evantrail looks on the first try.

Maquillage Professionnel: Day 9 & 10 Bridal Makeup

Days 9 & 10 were all about bridal makeup! Who doesn't love weddings?! I was a bride once upon a time and boy, it was indeed a roller coaster ride. Bridal makeup as simple as it looks takes into account so may considerations: time, venue, theme, gown, bride's preferences etc, etc and therefore should also entail preparation, patience and communication with the parties involved. We were taught to do 2 bridal looks, the classic look which enhances the bride's features without totally altering the way she looks and a second look which suits edgier brides who are willing to put on that extra drama.

Whatever look the a bride chooses she should be fresh, glowing & beautiful! A good makeup artist should help the bride feel her best in the biggest day of her life! Here are my bridal looks as done on Maquillage's in house models:

Look #1: Classic Bridal Look 

Very simple barely there

fresh & glowing just like how brides should look

Look #2: Arabian Eyes Bridal Look

Subtle cats eye for the extra drama

Perfect for evening weddings or for second looks

I'll end this post with my very own bridal look almost 4 years ago, this was done by my MUA using conventional make up, because airbrush was unheard of then!

photo c/o Mimi + Karl

Ripped Off

This blog entry might have a different tone than the usual but I feel that it's important to let makeup enthusiasts know the existence of FAKE Urban Decay Palettes around. What's even more saddening is that it's being sold by a reputable makeup retailer in Manila! I've been eyeing the Naked 2 palette for the longest time since I knew that the colors are well pigmented and can be adjusted to work well with brides and as well as bolder smoky looks.

My friend got the same palette from the same store and she attested to the authenticity of their items. I'm slowly building up my makeup set and even though the retail price in Manila is a bit higher than the $50.00 USD SRP, I figured that the additional few hundred pesos was all worth swallowing for a much coveted palette (I paid Php 2,550.00 for this palette, and I've got my receipt and a credit card acknowledgement to prove it).

It didn't come in a clear plastic box, no lip gloss freebie either

the tin container is flimsy, the plastic & tin parts feel like they're going to fall apart

the pans weren't filled to the rim and the hairs on the brush when compared to the original one is sparse

I went to the store and I immediately noticed that the Naked 2 palette they had on stock didn't come with the plastic transparent box and the freebie on the side. I asked the ladies manning store why it was packaged differently and they just said it was a new shipment and stocks of the one with the old packaging was just recently sold out. I repeatedly asked if it was original and they were very nice and patient in telling me that yes it was original. Since the ladies were nice I even got myself some falsies and gladly paid for my purchases. I even promised to return by next week to get a makeup chair and a makeup mirror.

Just to assure myself that what I got was original I tried searching google on how to say if the UD Naked Palette is authentic or not and my worst fears were confirmed, WHAT I GOT WAS A FAKE!

I'm not writing this to put the store in bad light, because who knows the owners might not even be aware that their supplier gave them counterfeit items. I will just be bringing back the palette and will be requesting for a change in item or a refund.  If they do refuse then that's a different story altogether.

For me this is a lesson learned, never buy outside the official distributor and for brands not in the Philippines it's better to buy online and let Johnny Air do their thing.