Makeup tricks for small eyes

Makeup tricks for small eyes

A lot of people often struggle making their eyes appear bigger with makeup and never know what products to avoid when doing this, that is why I have put together the number one makeup trick for people with small eyes.

To make your eyes appear bigger and stand out, WHITE eyeliner is simply the trick. Black eyeliner can make eyes looked closed up when placed in the waterline especially if you are wearing a dark smokey eye.

Natural product?

My go to product for a natural white eyeliner is NYX jumbo pencil in milk, it doesn't look over the top and can simply be worn with minimal makeup during the day.

Here is a before and after picture of what the product looks like when placed in the waterline and inner corner of the eye.

Dramatic product?

If you have a more dramatic makeup look on for a night out, I would recommend the Inglot eyeliner. This is a very bright white and would instantly stand out from the dark eye shadows you have used on your lid, making your eyes look bigger yet still dramatic. Place this in your waterline with a thin liner brush.

How to make it last?

To make the liner last through the day/night simply use a white matte eyeshadow and a small flat brush and place it above the eyeliner in the waterline with small movements. This will make the liner stay put without affecting the original product too much, I use a flat brush which was just a eBay brush and my white/cream matte eyeshadow from my morphe 35N eyeshadow pallet. 

I hope this makeup trick has helped you to make your eyes look bigger, but this makeup trick can simply be used for anybody wanting their eyes to stand out more. 

Thanks for reading,

Jae x

My top 4 go to Lipsticks

My top 4 go to Lipsticks

I decided to go through my makeup kit and pick out my top 5 favourite lipsticks, I have picked out a range of products which are all very different and some more affordable in order to suit everybody! Below is a quick review of the product and the colour outcome to expect.

1. Velvet Teddy- MAC

Velvet Teddy is a shade which goes with so many different makeup looks and suits a lot of different faces, it has a matte finish and is a dark nude/brown colour. It is £15 from any MAC counter and is very long lasting, I would definitely say this product is worth it but just to make sure you like the matte finish of this colour before you purchase it.

2. Abu Dhabi- NYX

This product is a liquid lipstick which dries matte rather quickly, I love this product as it lasts so long on your lips throughout the day and once again suits a lot of different people. It is a nude matte colour and doesn't dry out your lips like a few liquid lipsticks can do. It is just £5 from any NYX counter so it is really reasonable and worth it.

3. Myth- MAC

Once again this is a MAC lipstick and is £15 from any MAC counter, I love this light nude shade as it looks great when you team it with the MAC 'Spice' liner and gives a satin finish. Although, this shade does not suit everybody; it tends to suit people with fair/medium skin rather than dark skin as it can come across looking slightly like 'foundation lips' on darker skin. It would be best to test this product before you purchase in order to check you like the shade.

4. Pretty Please- MAC

I have this lip shade in my MAC palette which is always a favourite when it comes to my clients, it suits a lot of different makeup looks and doesn't come across too harsh as its very glossy on the lips. This suits many skin types but especially suits more mature skin as sometimes a matte finish can come across too harsh. I presume this can be bought as a single from a MAC counter which would be £15.

I hoped this helped if your thinking about buying a new lip shade and gave you a better idea of what finish/colour suits you!

Thanks for reading,

Jae x

What Brow product is right for you?

What Brow product is right for you?

I am going to do 3 product reviews on the brow products in my kit, this is to show the effect each product has on the brow and which product is right for you. Brows have became a huge factor in the makeup industry in the last couple of years and has created a lot of alternative looks for people to choose from. This type of trend has also produced many different opinions on how brows should be worn.

Structured Brow- Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pomade

To create a structured and defined brow this product is the way to do it, its comes in a range of colours and is a thick pomade in a small jar. To apply this product it is best to use a angled brush and to build the product up slowly to avoid using too much. The product is very long lasting as a little bit goes a long way and at a reasonable price too, I got mine for £15 on beauty bay. The only bad thing I would say about this product is that it can dry up making it harder to apply the product as it doesn't drag as easily.

Natural Brow - Mac 'Brun' Eyeshadow

To create a natural brow using an angled brush with a matte eyeshadow is easy to do and buy. It doesn't necessarily have to be a MAC eyeshadow, just a good quality matte one so it is long lasting throughout the day. My eyeshadow is £10 from the MAC store/counters. Remember to buy the right shade for you as this eyeshadow may be too light or too dark, although you can build on the product to make it appear darker and fuller; depending on how natural you want your brow to be. This just makes your eyebrows slightly more defined without being too noticeable, this is especially perfect for somebody who does not wear a lot of makeup or for somebody wanting a more natural look throughout the week.

Natural yet shaped- MAC Eyebrow Pencil

If you prefer to use the product by itself and not by a brush, this eyebrow pencil might be better for you. Unlike a lot of eyebrow pencils, you can build the product up as you twist the pencil in order for more product to appear unlike other pencils where they can appear quite harsh if sharpened too much. The product comes in a lot of different shades to suit everybody and is £15 from any MAC store/counters. The only bad thing I would say about this product is that you cant tell when you are close to running out so in order to avoid this I usually purchase 2 and stay stocked up! I have this in shade Stud and Lingering.Using this product can create a natural brow but can still be used to add shape e.g. more of a arched eyebrow.

I hoped this post helped you if you are needing a new eyebrow product and gave you a better idea of how you want your brows to look.

Thanks for reading,

Jae x

Cleaning your Makeup Brushes- Makeup Artist or not

Cleaning your Makeup Brushes- Makeup Artist or not

This post is all about the process of what I do to get my Makeup Brushes clean. Hygiene is absolutely essential for makeup artists but it is important that everybody cleans their brushes from time to time as a lot can travel through makeup. I will be explaining two processes in which everybody can use!

IPA (isopropyl alcohol)

IPA is a great brush cleaner especially for makeup artists, it is 99% alcohol and cleans cross contamination easily. Makeup artists mainly use this between clients as its easy and dries the brush quickly too which is helpful for in-between clients. You can buy this off Amazon for between £7-£10 for a 500ml bottle, I bought a smaller spray bottle with mine as it makes it a lot easier when carrying it around. Overall I would say this product is perfect for Makeup Artists but not essential for anybody not needing it for this purpose, unless you want a quick way of cleaning your brushes and want to make sure they are completely bacteria free!

Baby Shampoo

A cheap alternative is using baby shampoo on your brushes, I do this once a week to ensure all makeup is removed from my brushes and to keep my brushes in good condition. All you need to do is run hot water in your sink and scrub the head of your brushes with baby shampoo and then rinse, do not soak your brushes in the bowl of water as if any of your brushes have wooden handles it can make them more prone to cracking and also the head of the brush may slowly start to come away from the handle (depending on the quality). After this I leave my brushes on my window sill to dry overnight and they are clean by morning! This is more convenient for people just needing to clean their brushes now and again but can be more time consuming.

I hope this post gave you a good idea of how to clean your makeup brushes and how often to do them, just remember not cleaning your makeup brushes can be very dangerous as it can clog your pores from the bacteria and dirt on the makeup brushes, encourage cross contamination and your makeup will definitely not go on as smoothly due to the build up of makeup already on your brush. Either process or both processes will do the job, just pick which is more convenient for you!

Jae x

Hand makeup- Step by step process

Hand makeup- Step by step process

I decided to create a step by step process on how to create an eye makeup on the back of your hand, this was my first attempt of creating this and I found it fairly easy to do so. Carry on reading if this is something your interested in creating as it is fun and fairly quick to do.

Firstly I started out by drawing the shape of the eye, I used Blacktrack gel eyeliner by MAC to do this. Remember to create the inner flick on the eye (thin line) and your winged liner at the end of your eye (thicker line). This line doesn't have to be perfect as you will be able to go back over it in the next steps. I then used a fluffy brush and used eyeshadow 'Frappe' by Makeup geek fairly high above the line I just created, use quite a lot of product in order for it to show up.

Next I used shade 'Embark' by MAC and pressed it on with a flat brush in the outer corner, I then blended the edges with a fluffy brush making sure it blended into my 'Frappe' shadow.

After this I got my Fix plus by MAC and sprayed it on to my flat eyeshadow brush, I then used shade 'Sin' from my Urban Decay shadow box and began patting the product on, making sure to make an eye shape with the eyeshadow. Using fix plus made the eyeshadow more pigmented and noticeable when applying it to my hand.

To create a dark Smokey eye I used 'blackout' from my Urban Decay shadow box, once again patting it on with a flat eyeshadow brush in the outer corner and blending the edges with a fluffy brush. After this I went back in with my blacktrack eyeliner and started to create more of a shape and thicken up the line.

I then used my Blacktrack eyeliner to start creating the lashes, also going in with my MAC liquid eyeliner to make them appear blacker. Make sure your lashes are going in the right direction and appear smaller at the start of the eye. This step I found was the most difficult as it is hard to get the detail of the lashes.

Finally I used my Anastasia Beverley Hills dip brow in dark brown to create the brow, start of by tracing the shape of the eyebrow and building it up slowly. Last but not least I added Makeup Geek eyeshadow 'Rapunzel' under the brow to show highlight.

I hope this post helped you if your thinking of trying this hand makeup out yourself, this was only my first attempt so it wasn't the best but I hope to try doing more of these in the future and improving! Thanks for reading,

Jae x

Beauty UK Show - N.E.C Birmingham

Beauty UK Show - N.E.C Birmingham

On the 23rd of May I entered a Makeup competition with my fellow students from my college, I decided to write about the process of the day to inform people of what to expect from these type of events. This was my first competition I had entered which was a great experience but allowed me to do things very differently if I was to enter a Makeup competition again.

Morning

To start the day off I was up at 5am in order to have time to travel to my college and then to Birmingham, when we arrived we had to do the boring stuff like signing in and getting our ID badges. I entered the LansLondon fashion category which was inspired by Lan Nguyen- Grealis' book 'Art and Makeup' and wasn't taking place until the afternoon. The other four categories were Bridal Makeup, Special effects Train Wreck and Body painting Star Wars inspired. This gave me chance to observe the Bridal and Special Effects competition, have a look around the beauty UK show and give me time to prepare for my look.

Afternoon

I started by making sure everything was in place e.g. products, applicators, bed roll and so on. Hygiene is very important in these competitions so I needed to have hand gel, brush cleaner, disposable applicators, wipes, a small bin, a spatula, a palette, towels and more. I began to apply a product called 'Fullers earth' which gave a cracking and dry effect to the hair, I then added paint splatters and pigments to create more texture. Next I started to complete the Makeup, I already had a good idea of the process I needed to complete as I had practiced many times before the competition. I finished the look by adding more pigments and paint splatters over the face and body to create colour and texture. During the competition judges would observe your work and ask about the products you was using and why you was using them, this is nothing to worry about as long as you are honest and believe in your process you will be fine! Below are some images of the look I created on the day.

Evening

After waiting for an hour, we finally received the results for each category, competitors were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for makeup and then for hair too. Unfortunately I did not win an award but everybody was given a certificate for taking place. After the awards took place, I got to meet amazing makeup artist Lan Nguyen- Grealis and gain feedback from her, Lan told me she liked my look but thought my makeup needed to be stronger in order to stand out against my models hair. I completely agree with her advice and think her feedback will help me with my work in the future. We then left the N.E.C and got home for about 8pm.

Overall

The day was very long and tiring but most definitely worth it, I gained a lot of experience and advice which will really help me with my career in the future. For the next Makeup competition I enter, I will do things a lot differently as I know what is expected and what kind of looks need to be achieved. If you are a aspiring makeup artist, I would recommend entering a similar competition, purely for the experience.

Thanks for reading,

Jae x

My Kit Co Nude Launch

My Kit Co Nude Launch

On the 20th of June I visited the Hilton Hotel in Manchester to attend the My Kit Co Nude Launch. Upon arrival we received a free goodie bag, a drink and popcorn of our choice with the event being held in Cloud 23. There were many people visiting who were part of the makeup industry as My Kit Co specialise in providing products which are high quality but affordable for makeup artists; products were sold at a discounted price which included brushes, set bags and more.

Goodie Bag

My Kit Co went out of their way to provide amazing goodie bags for all of their guests. Inside the goodie bag included a beauty blender, a powder brush, a small My Kit Co badge and a free drinks voucher to purchase a drink on the night.

This is the first time I have owned products from My Kit Co and I can honestly say the products are of such a high standard. I will definitely be purchasing from their range of products in the future. 

Selfie

The event had a fun and friendly atmosphere as soon as I entered, we was greeted by many of the My Kit Co members and was told about the selfie competition, at the end of the night a photo would be picked at random and a brush set could be won by tagging #MKCNUDE. It was great fun as there were props to use and everybody was joining in.

Demo

A demo was then completed by James Molloy, amazing makeup artist and designer of My Kit Co. The demo consisted of natural yet stunning makeup which allowed the models features to be enhanced. I picked up some great tips especially for creating glowing skin and got a better feel for the products sold as each product was explained in detail.

I was extremely pleased with the event and how the night ran so smoothly, it gave me a much better idea for the My Kit Co products and I had great fun too! All makeup artists or makeup enthusiasts should definitely check out this brand as I can guarantee you will love the products.

Thanks for reading,

Jae x

Anastasia Beverley Hills Product Reviews

Anastasia Beverley Hills Product Reviews

With their constantly growing company, Anastasia Beverley Hills are always bringing out new and individual products. Starting with their signature perfect brow look, they have expanded to bringing out contour kits, concealers, eyeshadow palettes and many more. I am always looking to try out new products from this brand but I am going to give my opinions on the products that I have already tried.

Contour kit  (Cream,Medium)

This was the first product I ever tried from Anastasia, I was starting out as a makeup artist and heard such good reviews about this product so I had to get it! On my holiday to Florida, I visited one of many department stores and purchased it there. Obviously converting English pounds into dollars is always cheaper, the contour kit worked out to be around £30.

The contour kit certainly works to all it's purposes, allowing you to create a flawless and dramatic contour. I have used this product occasionally when creating a dramatic look but have mainly converted to using a powder contour as its easier and quicker to work with. This is perfect for individuals who love to contour and have the time to use and blend this product, it is long lasting and has a range of shades to work with making it suitable for different skin tones. Although I think the powder product would of been a better option for me.

Dipbrow Pomade (Dark brown and taupe)

This product is amazing! I bought this product about a year ago and have never looked back, it is so long lasting as I am only coming to the end of the product a year later. I bought both shades off beauty bay for just £15 each with a free 2 day delivery.

If you love structured brows this product would be perfect for you, it is so easy to use as a little goes a long way and is great for carving out your brows with a concealer. The product lasts on my brows all day and unlike other brow products, doesn't smudge or move about. These two shades are great for my makeup kit as they suit so many different clients and you can allow the product to go darker or lighter depending on the amount of pressure you use with your brush. I like to use a angled brush to apply the product and then a super sharp angle brush to carve them out with a concealer. This is a must have product for all big brow enthusiasts!

Glow kit

The glow kit is the latest addition to my makeup kit. I previously attended a makeup masterclass in Manchester city centre about two months ago where the Anastasia contour kit and glow kits were being offered at a discounted price with 50% off. With the glow kit being £39, I managed to purchase the kit for £19.50 with a £5 delivery fee.

Even though this product is great for individuals who love to glow, it is perfect for makeup artists looking to expand their highlighters in their kit. With the glow kit having 4 different shades (Sunburst, Golden Bronze, Bubbly and Dripping in cold) it fits different skin tones perfectly. The highlight is super pigmented and is easy to build up to create a more intense highlight, although highlighting isn't for everybody I would say to only purchase this kit if you know you like this glowy look. I understand people may think the glow kit is quite pricey at £39 but is most definitely worth it in the long run.

I hope these product reviews helped you if you are considering to buy any of these products in the future, Anastasia Beverley Hills is a great brand and produce amazing products which are worth the price. Thanks for reading!

Jae x

IMATS HAUL

IMATS HAUL

Last weekend I visited IMATs in London, Its a huge makeup trade show with many different brands there such as MAC, Urban Decay, Inglot, Zoeva and so many more, each providing a discount on their products. The show is great for makeup artists and aspiring makeup artists to build their kit and gain inspiration from the many speakers that were there giving industry tips and showcasing their work.

MAC

When visiting the MAC stand, every student or professional with a MAC PRO card received 35% off or 15% if they didn't have one. The MAC employee's were all so nice and helpful, recommending their favourite products to me as I wasn't sure what concealer to purchase. I bought the pro longwear concealer, velvet teddy lipstick and a eyebrow pencil in the colour Stud, coming to a total of £30.

Urban Decay

The Urban Decay stand was also very helpful and provided 20% off for all students in which I bought the Urban Decay all nighter spray, this was my first purchase as I knew how popular it is and didn't want it to sell out, this cost me around £18. Later on I went back to the stand to look at the eyeshadow pallets and decided on the colourful shadow box, using my friends Pro Card I gained 35% discount costing me around £14. I've decided Urban Decay is one of my new favourite brands and will definitely be shopping there more often.

Brushes

For my brushes I visited Nanshy, this brand didn't have a certain discount on as each product was just reduced to its own price. I picked up 3 smaller brushes for £4 each and a face brush for £7. These brushes are amazing quality and a great buy if you are just looking for a few add on's. I then went to Royal Langnickel who I hadn't heard of before and picked up a sharp eyeliner brush for just £1!

Extra's

Most items I bought after that were individual, including an white gel eyeliner from Inglot which was £8, Ben Nye banana powder for £10, Eldora lashes in H160 for £3, a NYX matte lip cream and glitter for £10 and a makeup forever HD Foundation for £17. Some stands didn't have much discount on at all but I guess it saves you paying delivery if you were to order it online. I am new to the makeup forever collection but heard such amazing reviews about their foundation, I have now tried it myself and love the feel of it on my skin and think it provides a good but not too heavy coverage.

ZUCA

I have finally picked up myself a ZUCA which is perfect for makeup artists, I don't have to worry about carrying all my stuff around as it fits so perfectly in this case. The ZUCA comes with 5 bags to store your makeup in and a little metal seat at the top for makeup job emergencies, it also has many compartments in and around it to store. This ZUCA cost me £156 from Inglot.

Cost?

Overall I spent around £290 and half of that was the cost of my ZUCA. IMATs was definitely worth while for me and I will be going again next year, it is such an inspirational day and motivates you as a makeup artist to push yourself in your career.

Thanks for reading!

Jae x