It’s been far too long since my last blog post! If you follow my social media, you will know that I took a break from blogging while I studied for my final year exams. They’re finished now, thank God, so I’m back into blogging with a bang! I have lots planned for the summer and kick started things on Thursday night for a Make Up Masterclass with Waterford based make up artist Laura Dempsey.
For any of you that aren’t familiar with Laura, (you probably all know her at this stage!😜), she is a qualified make up artist and beauty blogger. Her salon is based in Tramore, Co. Waterford and her skills are just incredible. I really love the looks that she creates on Instagram, (here) and her Snapchat tutorials are brilliant to follow. She really explains everything so well and gives tips that are easy to understand. When she asked me to model for her, of course I jumped at the opportunity!
The masterclass took place in St. Michael’s Theatre in New Ross. It was organised by St. Michael’s Theatre Musical Society. Their next production, Legally Blonde, is coming up in November so the event last night was in aid of that.
The Masterclass
When I arrived there were people queuing outside the doors already. The bar area upstairs was full to capacity where ladies were enjoying cocktails and mocktails before the show began. I think both myself and Laura got a shock when we saw the set up for the demo; it was incredible! Imagine that ‘Make Up by Mario Masterclass’ style – Laura’s station was set up to the side of the huge stage, with ring lights and a camera facing where I would sit. This was projected up on to a massive screen that was the length and breadth of the stage!! Probably the closest I’ll ever get to being like Kim Kardashian, but it was great because it meant everyone in the audience could see exactly what Laura was doing with ease. There is a video here so you can see exactly what I mean.
The room filled up quickly and Laura began working her magic. She created a half cut crease eye shadow look, complete with glitter and a matte lip. What I loved was that she used a variety of products, from Penneys to MAC and everything in between. It meant that the look is easily recreated and all of the products she used are readily available. Laura used the Note Cosmetics Detox and Protect foundation and I’m definitely going to buy it over the weekend. It felt really light weight on, but as you can see from the pictures, it’s a good medium-full coverage foundation.
Other products that Laura used for the base included the Maybelline Eraser Eye Concealer (which I actually use myself everyday, it’s one of my holy grail products!), the Kat Von D ‘Shade and Light’ Face Contour palette, the Note Cosmetics Bronzing Powder and Aimee Connolly’s Sculpted palette.
Laura’s Favourites
The Cailyn Gelux Eyebrow is Laura’s favourite product for filling in the eyebrows and she used the shade Cocoa on me last night. For the eyes she used the Blank Canvas Master Series Palette One for the majority of the shades to create depth and smoke out the edges. This is another product that’s now on my wish list. The variety of shades in the palette make it really versatile and the pigment is great. To cut the crease, Laura used MAC Select Cover Up Concealer before setting it with a light eyeshadow and using DUO Glue, (available in Penneys) as the adhesive for some Glitter Express glitters. Just look at how gorgeous those glitters are, seriously unreal!
Laura also used a couple of cult products that are a must in everyone’s make up bags, like the Inglot 77 Gel Liner, Rimmel’s Cappuccino lip liner and the Make Up Revolution Setting Spray. Also from Make Up Revolution was the gorgeous blush. It’s from their Hot Spice blush palette and it’s super pigmented. You only need to use a little bit for a stunning, natural flushed look. The highlight was from the Sculpted by Aimee palette also.
Lip Talk
The matte lip completed the look and for this, Laura used the NYX Lingerie lipstick in the shade Corset. NYX is actually now available in Shaws Department Store in Wexford town; so handy for us Wexford girls, as well as in Sam McCauley’s in Waterford for anyone that’s down in the Déise.
Tools wise, Laura used a mixture of brushes from Blank Canvas and Nima Brush, as well as the Blank Canvas Beauty Sponge. Any of my own Blank Canvas purchases have been on Laura’s recommendation actually, and now I have even more added to the wish list. They’re an Irish brand and are very reasonably priced.
There was a short interval before the Q&A session with Laura and a raffle for some fantastic prizes! All in all, it was a brilliant evening and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. I even learned so much while in the hot seat so can’t you imagine the tips everyone else picked up by watching Laura. I have to say, she made me feel totally at ease and the whole masterclass ran so well, she’s such a lovely girl and chit-chatted with the audience throughout. You can find all of Laura’s contact information on her Facebook page here.
Finally…
Thanks again to Laura for asking me to model for her and to everyone that came along and supported St. Michael’s Theatre Musical Society. Also, thanks for bearing with me while I finished out my Bachelors Degree. It’s great to be back blogging properly again, I really missed it! Make sure to follow me on Facebook and Snapchat to see what I’m up to this week including the Xposé Beauty Bus with Vichy and the Glitz and Glam Masterclass with Grace Mongey and Dominique Nugent, where I’m styling the outfits from New Look in the fashion show, (a limited amount of tickets are still available for the event on May 25th here)
