November 27, 2013

My MUA training with Louise Constad at Beauty Queen mastering make-up course.

My make-up bag.
I can finally share with all of you guys the most exciting week I have had in a long time (and this won't be a short blog post I'm afraid).

In the last year I have been getting more and more interested in make up. What I really enjoy about it is not only the "crafty" side, using your hands, brushes and mixing up the colours; but also making decisions, using your own judgment and imagination. Most of all, I like the whole idea of beauty and the fact that you can express yourself using people's faces as canvases.
This is the reason why I have decided to attend the Beauty Queen, mastering make-up course with the award-winning international make-up artist Louise Constad.

After reading Louise amazing biography and acknowledging her lengthy 20 years of experience in the make-up world (she is the make-up artist of choice for many celebrities such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Tina Turner and make-up artist for the Oscar winning film "The English Patient), I thought that I couldn't find a better intensive training and a better teacher than Louise.

Now let me tell you a bit more about the course: It was a one week intense course, morning until evening, where each morning was structured with talks, lectures and demonstrations and each afternoon / evening was spent practicing on models.
The course was run by Louise in her flat and with 7 other students, all with different backgrounds and the same burning passion for making the most of Louise's shared knowledge.

My make-up kit.
As soon as we got in on the first day, we were given our  very own make-up kit (Christmas in a bag), with all the products you need to go on your first job as a MUA. The kit contains products from fantastic brands, such as MAC, Benefit, NARS, Dior, BellaPierre, Lancome etc.
After some initial talks about the importance of keeping up to date with the latest trends in fashion and make-up (Vogue is my new Bible) and the importance of using the right light when you are putting make-up on somebody, Louise started to demonstrate how to create a perfect flawless base, choosing the right foundation for different people to match their colours and also their skin type. Also she taught us how to stand in front of a person and the best way of brushing foundation on a persons face. We spent the remaining afternoon mastering foundation and concealing dark circles and blemishes on models which I found really important and useful.

On the second day Louise spoke about the importance of building up your own website, portfolio and business cards and what's the best way of doing it in the morning. Then we worked on eyes, where Louise showed us how to make a perfect (not joking here it was perfect) eye liner and cat eye, then a smokey eye and lastly a more colourful blending eye look. Now, we all know what a struggle it is applying eyeliner on ourselves (especially the famous little "wing" at the end of the eye - proven by the millions of videos you can find on You Tube), but do you know how hard it is doing it on somebody's else eyes? After a few goes you actually start to think the line on YOUR eyes isn't so bad after all! Anyway the afternoon mainly consisted of practice practice practice. God bless all the models that had the patience for letting us perfect the eye liner on their eyes. And God bless eye make-up removal wipes.

The Third day involved going through how to create an interesting CV, how to assist other make-up artists and then demonstrations of contouring and highlighting and finally lips.
If we thought we'd have an easy ride after the cat eyeliner, we had to think twice after tackling lips. There is a real art here in applying a red lipstick with a brush which is fascinating and daunting at the same time. Doing the lips was the most challenging aspect for me however it's unbelievable focus and practice can improve your skills :)

On the fourth day we were really lucky to be introduced to Louises agent, Mandy Coakley Represents, who spoke about their job and how they help and assist MUA in their career. We also had some really useful words of wisdom / advise from some MUA that attended Louise's course a few years ago, on how to behave when you assist during a job. Lastly we learnt how to do nails with the very talented Aleksandra Fryzlewicz and then we started to practice a complete make-up in 30 minutes, very challenging but really good fun.

The fifth day was my favourite day, it was the day of the photo shoot with an established photographer, hair stylists and models. It was also the most scary day of the week and we were all really nervous because we wanted to do a good job and apply all the things learnt during that time. Also Louise organised the whole photo shoot so we could have some photographs to start our portfolio with, so big pressure!
I was surprised on how focused and calm I was feeling throughout the day which made me really enjoy myself.


It was such a fantastic experience, the make-up, the photos, the colours, the ideas, the hair, the nails, the talent of so many people made it a really precious day. There is something really special and gratifying in looking at the results of what you created only 40 minutes before where you put your skills, creativity and passion in it.

As I said back at the start of this blog post, it has been a really intense week, but worth every second which I couldn't recommend more if you are looking to train as a MUA. During the course I learnt so many different techniques and it really improved my confidence and my make-up skills. I just can't wait now to put it all into practice :)

If you guys are curious to have a read at Louise's blog, you can find it here, with extra photos of our photo shoot.
Lots of love x

11 comments:

  1. I love the three pictures at the end - the make-up is lovely, and you look amazing! Such an exciting week - it sounds fantastic. I didn't realise you were interested in becoming a MUA? Are you planning on taking it further? xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you thank you :) Yes I've decided to follow this passion and a new career path and let's see what it will bring :) I keep my fingers crossed xx

      Delete
  2. Sounds really interesting. I'm still struggling with applying makeup on myself, I can't imagine what it's like working on someone else's face ;) You do look calm and happy on the pictures. You did a great job! x Liz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Liz :)

      Thank you so much! Eheh it needs practice and dedication but it's a really gratifying job :)

      Ila x

      Delete
  3. Looks amazing and like such a fantastic experience. The makeup look at the end looks great too :) x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :) So happy to read these positive comments!

      Ila x

      Delete
  4. The whole course sounds great & your results look fantastic. I was thinking of taking this course last year & found another blog with info about the 1 week course also. I am surprised however to see that the kit you received varies drastically from the one that the girls received in previous years. They seemed to get an awful lot more, including the Bobbi Brown foundation sticks in various colours. I wonder why Louise is now giving liquid foundations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello hello!! I loved Louise course, it has been a really precious experience which I would really recommend.
      I think Louise as a very experience Make up Artist loves to try new products I guess that's why each kit it's slightly different. However every one has all the products necessary to get you started in the job which is great :)

      Ila x

      Delete
  5. Ooh, love having a look around another mua's kit! Great that you were given a starter kit. I'm with you on the challenges of the dreaded flick and red lip! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad I am not the only one, ah ah:)
      My kit it's now growing and growing, I will need to start to think of storage solutions soon!

      Thanks for passing by Carrie :)

      Ila x

      Delete
  6. Informative post.. I love make up n I love to put make up on others too.. I am learning the basics of make up in a beauty training course ..hope I will be more confident for applying make up on others after completing the course.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

”related
 
The Cleanser beauty blog © 2013.

Design by The Blog Boat