Today I am going to let you all in on some of the tips and techniques used during my time assisting at a makeup masterclass, run by Lynne Mills. Lynne Mills is an established makeup artist based in Edinburgh. She has worked with celeb’s, such as, the great British bake off team (Mary Berry etc), And as well as owning her own professional makeup team who are regularly called out to weddings, and high profile events, she herself done the make up for MR and MRS Keatings (Ronan Keating and his partner) wedding day, which was featured in OK magazine. Talking of magazine’s her art has also been featured in Vogue and Cosmopolitan.
She also invented false eye lashes with a twist. When Lynn asked 100 brides to be what the most daunting part of doing their make up for their big day was, eyeliner came out on top. Armed with this inside information she created a set of false lashes that came with an added extra, a little bit of black sticky material which fitted perfectly along the lash line for the most perfect flick. She also has her own line of brushes – Girl Meets Brush, as pictured below.
The class is held in Edinburgh at the very prestigious establishment “The Dome” – such a beautiful venue.
Tips and Tricks used, recommended products used.
Foundation tips:
During the prepping of the skin, a flat top foundation brush was used to apply the primer, this improves coverage and is more hygienic, the product used was Illamasque primer.
The crosshatch technique was used during the actual application of foundation, the technique goes like this, apply a little foundation on the back of your hand, dip foundation brush into the foundation, starting with the forehead apply strokes in a diagonal fashion the in the opposite direction diagonally, so the strokes are crisscrossed, this gives a more airbrushed finish, and leaves no streaks.
After using the cross hatch technique take a flat top foundation brush for blending which should have, tight fibres and a flat top, blend the foundation using circular motions for an extra airbrushed look.
Apply concealer after foundation, Foundation (after primer) is the base, concealer is for the finishing touches, applying concealer first then foundation, will just wipe the concealer away while blending the foundation.
Undertones pointers:
Hold a white t-shirt or top against yourself, then do the same with an ivory coloured t-shirt or top. If you are suited to the white better then you have warm undertones, if you are more suited to the ivory then you have cool undertones. Knowing this will help when picking shades,
Always test foundation shades at the corner of the mouth.
Contour and Highlight:
Highlight is to bring forward
Contour is to take back
Contour shade is to be 2 shades darker than your normal shade.
Use foundation for contouring as opposed to powder
When contouring the cheeks you should create a triangular shape with the widest part being at the jaw line
For the appearance of fuller lips shade just under the bottom lip where a shadow would naturally be cast if you did have full lips
For the highlighting use 2 shades lighter than your normal shade
Also use foundation for this part, a highlighter can be used after the foundation application to give more of a, glow from within kind of look
The areas that are most commonly highlighted and that any face shape suits is: above cheek bones, in the centre of the face I,e down nose, and on the cupids bow to create fuller lips, this would be where light would naturally hit the lips if you had full lips
Only ever highlight the chin if the chin is delicate, remember, highlighting is doing just that, we do not want to highlight the fact that we have a strong manly jaw, we highlight what we love and contour what we do not. And if you love your manly jaw then so do I!!! Uniqueness=Beauty
After applying your contour and highlight, firstly blend with a beauty blender, apply a little water to the blender to ensure flawless blending, and press the beauty blender against the skin do not run back and forth as this will just rub off all of your hard work
secondly, take a flat top foundation brush, and buff, use a circular motion, with upward movements
Top Tip: when blending or buffing a part of the face that has what I like to call peach fuzz (Fine Hair) then used downward strokes, this helps smooth the hairs down wards making them less noticeable
Eyebrows:
For the natural brow;
I know there are many products out there to choose from when it comes to our face framers, powder was the recommended product to use to create a natural looking brow, the powder used was from Smashbox
Use an angled brush, it should be narrow with tight fibres
choose a colour closest to your natural colour, saying that, it really is personal preference, as I am blonde and when I use the lighter colours from most eyebrow palettes I find that my brows tend to look ginger. That is not the look I am going for so I always opt for the second shade in a palette which is normally a light brown as opposed to a beige.
Apply a little colour to the brush, remember and pat the brush off your wrist to shake off any excess powder
Gently brush through brows starting at the arch and paying close attention to the top of the brow, try and follow the natural line of the brow
After each application of powder, brush a spoolie through the hairs, brushing the hairs upwards
I personally like to apply a little of the beige shade just to the start of my brow, it makes the brow look less harsh but this step is optional
HD Eyebrows:
Start with your spoolie and brush the hair upwards
With HD eyebrows they are meant to be a wow factor so you can have some fun with this and go a slightly darker colour than the one used for the natural brow, you can also use the same colour, again this is personal preference (remember there are good ways of doing things but makeup does not have a rule book, its meant to be fun, personal, and unique = personality)
Use a pencil for this, in your chosen shade
Now, draw a line from the bottom corner of the beginning of the brow, to the highest point of your arch
After that, get your spoolie and brush the hairs downwards
Now, draw a line again but this time from the top of the brow from where to brow starts and draw a line along to the highest part of your arch, you should have two lines, they may resemble a triangle shape, the point ending at your arch
Now draw a light line along your natural brow hairs to create the end or your brow, Top Tip – always check your brows from the side too
Fill in your triangle shape with fine hair like strokes
Be very light handed at the start of the brow, getting heavier at the arch
The recommended product for this was Benefits goof proof pencil, which is a personal fave of mines too
This technique can also be used for plucking, after you have drawn your lines just pluck away any hairs that are outside the triangle shape for beautifully defined brows
Eyes:
Always use eye primer, eye primer is created to deal with the extra oil that our lids create. Product used during the lesson was an eye primer by urban decay
Use an eyeshadow applicator brush, which is a flat brush used for packing on colour
Use the brush to apply your eye primer
Then take a base coat Ivory or Beige
Stop the base colour 1CM before the brow
Now take your fluffy blending brush and grab a nice mid-tone colour, a light brown.
Go back and forth on the crease with your blending brush, gently build the colour
Do not go past the centre of the eye with the mid-tone shade
Take your flat eyeshadow brush, used for packing on colour and apply a darker shade just at the outer corner of the eye
Now take your blending brush and blend the colour
Top Tip: When applying colour to the eye, another technique that can be used is creating a C shape at the outer eye, Use a mid tone all over with a Darker C shape, then use a darker colour again and go back over C shape.
The entire technique can be re-done if you want your eye to be even darker
How to spot a good blending brush:
When squeezed together a good blending brush should create a dome shape, a good blending brush should have loose fibres that are not to tightly packed, the bristles should be short at the side and longer in the middle, this is what gives this brush its amazing blending capabilities, by squeezing the bristles together you can clearly see the dome shape that is created. The lesser the Dome shape, then the less it will blend the colour together.
Eyeliner:
The recommended product used here was Illamasque precision ink, although the main thing the tutor was trying to get across was that its best to use a gel liner as opposed to a liquid liner or a pencil liner
Lift the eye slightly
The tutor also used a tiny pointed eyeliner brush from her brush kit rather than using the applicator that came with the liner. The brush used was similar to a synthetic lip brush, very small and pointed for precise application
The secret!!! This was the most interesting and most amazing piece of information from the entire class. The aim is to get right in to the base of the lashes, now, where your lashes sit, the skin curls round, yes, the skin actually curls round in to your eyelashes, try this!! After you have applied your eyeshadow gently lift your eyelid and look right at the base of your lashes, you will actually be able to see where the skin folds round as it will be bear where you have not been able to get your eyeshadow, every time you apply your eyeliner from now on make sure you lift your lid and get in to this area, the difference is amazing, your line will be straighter, lashes will look thicker and prevents gaps in between blonde lashes.
If you encounter a bumpy line and you are in a hurry, just smoke the line out with some black eyeshadow
Also, you can use black eyeshadow to pro long your eyeliner, just use your tiny lip brush to pack eyeshadow along your eyeliner ensuring you keep it in line with the gel liner
Always start from the outside and work inwards
If you are not to good at drawing a straight line, then use dots, if I asked you to draw a long straight line, then this may be difficult, if I were to ask you to join the dots to create a long line then drawing a shorter small line would be easier right?? Use this theory when applying your liner and draw a line of dots along the lash line then join them up
Tight-lining:
Look down, then take your thumb and push your lashes up, this will expose the upper water line
apply gel waterproof eyeliner to this area, this defines the eye for a more clean cut look
Waterline:
Pull bottom lid away from the eye
apply gel waterproof eyeliner to this area, or use a bright coloured gel liner for a flash of cool colour, very on trend
Mascara:
Start with applying mascara to the bottom lashes instead of the top, this prevents smudges
Wriggle brush at the base of the lashes, concentrate on the base more than the tip of the lashes
Zig Zag the brush as you bring the brush to the tip of the lashes
Coat both sides of the lashes
Top Tip: If a smudge does happen do not try and wipe it off when its wet or this will just smear it across your beautiful face and destroy all of your labour, wait until it is dry and flick it off using a q-tip, or your finger
Blusher:
Blusher should go in between your highlight and your contour
Apply on top of bronzer for a beautiful pop of colour
When going from office to evening apply a brighter shade of blush on top of your normal shade to really wake your skin up
When selecting a shade, pinch your cheeks and try to select a colour that is most similar to that
Or you can play it safe and sensible, go for a pale pink, (which looks extra amazing on fair skinned blondes) this colour suits anyone
Top Tip: The darker the colour of the skin, the more of an orange tone of blush can be used, olive skin with a pop of bright coral on the cheeks looks stunning.
Pictured below is Lynn Mills herself, modelling her false lashes.
There are many, many more tips I have for you guys, all about eye shapes, how to correct them, colour correcting, gosh I have learnt a lot and that was only attending one class, don’t get it twisted, I in no way shape or form have attended one masterclass and now think I am some kind of professional, I am currently at college studying beauty therapy and plan on taking the make up course after I graduate, but I am no where near being a professional (I wish and dream) I am just letting you guys in on the tips I thought would benefit any other girl the way it has me. I can also write all of this knowing that every word of it is 100% the correct way to apply the technique, I have watched loads of YouTube videos, and to be brutally honest I think some of them should come with a health warning, just because you see it being done on YouTube does not mean that person is a professional and that it is being applied in the correct way. Remember when we all thought it would be a great idea to suck on a shot glass to get the Kylie Jenner look? Yeah, what a bunch of idiots we are. Its easy to get swept away in a fad. Just remember to be cautious when watching videos on YouTube, it is a brilliant platform for people with real talent, to showcase their talent and become recognised. I aint a YouTube hater. I do have my own channel you know!!
Anyway, see you all on my next revealing blog post.
Live, Love, Slay
