Mastering Your Makeup

Meeting Little Kiva at Waverley Academy

22:09:00
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My First Powder Pocket Box- March Box!

10:36:00
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My Beauty Trip To Urban Dolls Blanchardstown

Hi All,

Saturday morning I got on the M50 and headed off to Urban Dolls Hair & Beauty Blanchardstown. The lovely owner Sarah had been in touch with me a few weeks ago about visiting the salon and doing a feature post. We had initially spoke about getting a makeup application and then she mentioned they are now sticking Great Lengths Extensions to see if I would be interested in these. I am very lucky to say, I have been growing my hair for the last three years and I now have lovely long locks which are quite thick. I explained this to Sarah but I did say I would help her find a blogger to feature these and she has now linked in Sinead from The Beautiful Truth, so keep an eye out for her FB page in the next few weeks and she should have them fitted.

After many mails with Sarah we arranged that I would travel out for 10am last Saturday morning and meet the team and get my treatments. I have to say ladies I was over excited to get to the salon as I was in for a real treat, I was getting my hair coloured and cut, my nails painted and my makeup done!! I mean this was an amazing opportunity for me as a blogger so I really wanted to do this post proud. I took so many pics on the day I really hope you enjoy this post and see what a fab time I had.

So firstly I felt I was being so spoiled I needed to come with something to the salon, so I nipped into Centra when I got there and picked up a few nibbles for the girls tea break. The location of the salon is pretty close to the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre only about a five minute drive. Without sounding too 'country' or 'naive' I feel it's important to say here please please don't judge a book by it's cover, the salon is located in an older shopping centre units but it has plenty of parking space outside and Urban Dolls cannot be missed with it's fantastic bright pink sign.

Inside the decor is amazing and it's a real 'me' kinda place. Marilyn Monroe wallpaper in black and white, pink accessories everywhere and black outlining the rest. I love black and pink together there really is no better combo! There was such a buzz about the salon for early on a Saturday morning, ladies in getting the hair styled, nails getting done at another station and another young lady was getting her make up done as I arrived. There are a team of five fab ladies and I was lucky enough to have three of them work on me over Saturday morning. Sarah is the owner and set up Urban Dolls in this location a year ago this June, she has over 8 years experience in the industry. For a new salon, the place is booming, they have a great number of regular clients and I can really see why seeing as all the staff are fantastic and so friendly.

I was greeted by Sarah when I arrived and we got talking hair.... I was so excited for this part. I got my hair dyed last 10 weeks ago for my Bday back in January and took the plunge and added red to my locks, this was all lovely but I had been warned, getting red out of your hair can be quite difficult. My pan for my hair this summer is to add my blonde highlights back under my hair and possibly on top also. Myself and Sarah had a good chat about my hair and we decided to add a base colour 6 (Medium Brown) all over add a few highlights under my hair to see how they take. I was under no illusion that I was not going to be blonde straight away but it was a good test to see how well my hair would take the colour. We left my hair to develop and I headed over to get my nails done. Once the nails were finished, Alison (nails) washed out my colour and gave me a lovely head massage, this was possibly the most relaxed I felt all morning, I don't generally like people touching my hair but I will deffo go back to that head massage alone!! I went back over to Sarah then to see if I needed a cut but I don't so that was great news (I hate people cutting my long hair) and she gave me a curly blowdry. I love when my hair is different to its usual straight self and Sarah pinned all the curls up while I went to get my makeup done and then we had the big reveal :)

This is my hair before picture and after picture.... I love my curly blowdry, so different to how I usually wear it straight!

I was then passed on to Alison over at the nail station. I had a Gelish application already on my nails for the previous 3 weeks so my nails had grown and the polish was growing off. I couldn't wait for a change, I am extremely impatient when it comes to my nails, I get bored easily and then want a new fancy design or a mad colour so we chose a themed nail similar to the salon, pink nails with a black thumb and a black with white polka dot ring finger. I love them!! Alison took great care when doing my nails and we chatted loads about nail care, choosing the Mani-Q by Young Nails products over Gels and Acrylics and also about tattoos. Alison has two fan tats on her arms in memory of her Grandads and I was fascinated by these as I too have a tat for my Grandad which I love. Alison buffed and soaked off my Gelish polish, prepped my nails and applied two layers of the pink and the black, added the spots and applied a top coat. I found personally the Mani-Q slightly lighter than the Gelish polish so I'll keep an eye on my nails over the week and see if I need to get more top coat added. I have extremely weak nails and I always forget this after having my nails done for so long so I'm hoping they won't break on me.

Here are pics of my fab nails....

Finally then with my hair all pinned up I headed over to the make up station to be worked on by Caroline. In Urban Dolls they use Push Make Up. I had first heard of this brand at the From Matte to Metallic workshop I attended last month. This is an Irish brand created by Katriona in Dublin. You can check them out on Facebook or http://push-makeup.com/ I really like the products, I think the lipsticks come in amazing colours and also the foundation sat on my skin beautifully for the day with only a little powder needed to keep away the shine. I have actually just been in touch with Katriona and will hopefully have some products to review on the blog soon but this is a brand to keep an eye on and one i really like!

I had said to Caroline to do whatever she liked with my face I was at her mercy, I do like to look quite done up when I head out and although I initially had no plans to head out Saturday night after all my treatments I felt I needed to show it all off. I had gotten my HD brows maintained the day before so thankfully they were nice and tidy. The products Caroline used to create this look were:

Push hd Foundation c35
Push bronzer
Push c25 concelar
Push softness creme blush
Push eyebrow and brow pallet used on eyebrows
Push black caviar eye liner
Push black intense mascara
Push Rio Lipstick (Thank you to Sarah for sending on the details)

Here is my before and after pic within the salon. I am completely barefaced and pale with my lovely tan on show so excuse this....

When I got home, I was on a mission to find an outfit for that evening seeing as I had no previous plans, I had recently purchased a burnt orange top which was the look Caroline created the makeup for but of course I hadn't tried it on and it was terrible on me so change of plan! I loved my orange lips so I decided to wear black instead. My lipstick was such a bright orange colour I didn't want it to come off and I was so delighted when Sarah gifted me the fab Push lipstick to have, that made my day as I'm such a lippy fan!! I felt with the black outfit my eyes looked a little to heavy so I did take some of the shadow from high in the socket back down. My individual lashes were just amazing and looked so natural it was great not worrying had an edge come off as I sometimes do when I wear strip lashes, there is nothing worse on a night out than discovering one of the corners has lifted and you have no glue!!

All in all I have to say I loved my time at Urban Dolls Hair & Beauty and would love to return again. It is a short trek for me about 30 mins in the car but work has me close to Blanchardstown at times so i will make it my business to get back to being a blondie with the help of Sarah and her fab team of ladies. The other two members of the team who work in the salon are Danielle and Sarah-Jane.

It's not easy for a 'country' girl like me to find a salon that can be a one stop shop for all your beauty needs but I have to say Urban Dolls Hair & Beauty are excellent at what they do. Every girl in the salon can multi-task being trained in a number of areas, Sarah has created a fantastic team around her and you can really feel the love between them and the passion for the job. Every customer that entered while I was there for the five hours on Saturday was warmly welcomed, everyone seemed to be local and well known to all the girls working and the place was booming with chats, tea and coffee.

I didn't feel the time passing at all and for me, a serous talker, I loved all the chats I had about blogging, makeup, boyfriends, moving to Dublin and all things in between. I never felt a nuisance and that is all down to the team working in the salon. The decor as I mentioned before was fantastic and I especially love this quote on the wall which is situated just to the side of the nail bar....

The salon offers you a range of services such as;

Hair Salon
Great Length Extensions
Nails- Polish, Gel, Acrylics
HD Brows
Make Up
Waxing
Callus Peel for feet

Sarah did give me the price guide leaving but I don't have it with me but will edit the post and attach it on or alternatively you can click straight over to the website and there is a pricelist available to you on that... http://urbandollshairandbeauty.ie/

One of the best offers I have seen in a long time has to be the half price days in the salon. Tuesday & Wednesday you can get loads of hair treatments in the salon, half price!! Half price is just excellent so how couldn't you love that :) Also on Thursdays in the salon you can get nail treatments for only €20 that's gel nails, acrylic nails you name it €20!!!

If you would like to find out anymore about Urban Dolls please check them out on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-dolls-hair-and-beauty/643742688999905

Twitter: @urbandollies

Really hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed my visit!!

Emma x

15:47:00
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Waverley Academy Week Four

Time for me to model!

I arrived early as usual to class on Thursday with a full face of make up on. I had had some meetings in work that day and didn't have time to remove my makeup so when Tanya (our instructor) needed a volunteer for a full cleanse tone and day look makeup I jumped at the chance to be pampered. I am a total pamper princess in the last few months, it is so wonderful to get all looked after at the hands of someone else. Yes it's confirmed I am a COMPLETE girly girl and I LOVE it!!

So back to college business... As part of your ITEC qualification you have a written (multiple choice question) exam and a practical exam on a separate day. Now for all of you who just gasped and think "No Way" and I doing that just hear me out...

The multiple choice questions will be all covered by your tutor and class group a number of times and that fact that they're multiple choice really helps, the answer will always be there in front of you, you just need to pick it out :)

The practical as well is nothing to be too worried about, last week was only week 4 and our second time trying it out so we will be pro's on the day look by our exams come late June/July. Your day look should include:

Primer
Corrective Creams
Foundation
Concealer
Powder
Highlight
Shader
Blush
Eye-shadows (2-3 colours)
Gel Liner
Mascara
Lip Liner
Lipstick

It sounds likes loads but it is all about technique and creating a subtle day time look so everyone can achieve this. We will be practicing on each other during the course weeks, we can bring our models in at any time to get the technique right on them too.

There are four looks you also create on your own time but we haven't looked at them yet in class so again I will come back to them when we have them all covered and of course I'll post them all on here.

On Thursday night, Tanya first began with a double cleanse and tone which yes you will have to do as part of your exam but I'm telling you ladies, the 14 ladies in my class are all geared up with the skills to pass these exams! The cleanse and tone is a fundamental part of the exam and it creates a flawlessly clean face for your to work on your model. I lay back and relaxed and Tanya worked her magic in front of the whole class. Unfortunately on Thursday night, the foundation available to us in the class kit was the total wrong colour for me to wear so Tanya agreed will we do feature posts of the class work over the coming weeks.

I am really enjoying my time at Waverley and I think it would be a fantastic starting point for anyone like me to get into the real MUA world. The director, staff and tutors are amazing at the college. There is a real family air to the place and everyone feels welcomed and relaxed.

We are all enjoying the course and being so encouraged and supported by Tanya that I am so confident in each and every one of us.

I do have some very exciting news!!! Derek, my fab college director has invited to me attend the final night of the brilliant Little Kiva course in Waverley. I will be ether tomorrow night n full blogging capacity, taking pics, talking to students and hopefully talking to Kiva herself, I have watched so many of her YouTube videos it's gonna be amazing!

I do apologise for this post being so late and I really hope you are finding out the info of what's involved in this class and really getting a feel for Waverley as a college. I have been moving house over the last two weekends as I am so busy in work so fitting this in when I can. Finally there now (just the shoes to go) and I shall be back to blogging normality and yes full of pics :) :)

Emma x

19:31:00
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#BOBBlogChallenge Final Post Best of Beauty Bloggers

15:00:00
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Inglot Dundrum Masterclass with Nikita.

Hi All,

So here I am again at another Inglot masterclass, this was my first however in Dundrum and my first time seeing MUA Nikita. I have been to Dundrum Inglot once before to get my makeup done with my two teds Sinead and Elaine you can read all about it here:

http://emmajcsheehan.blogspot.ie/2013/10/inglot-dundrum-three-teds-day-out.html

I know I write an awful lot about Inglot and to be fair they're probably one of the best companies you will see around but I am soon going to do a product list post on all the things I love from Inglot but what I also used to create the same looks, please don't feel you can't create these looks because you don't have the actual Inglot products, I write these posts as much as a lesson plan as the brand I love so much :)

Tonight's masterclass in Dundrum was slightly different to others I had attended before, in this class we were given a little goody bag at the end which included the fab gold glitter nail varnish (which I actually bought already so I will be adding this to my 1500 like bundle) a makeup lesson voucher while I shall certainly be using and then two testers of the primer, which has been great for me to try out and now love love love!!

Onto the masterclass: The look for tonight was a beautiful smokey purple and gold look with a cut crease. I was very interested to see how to do a cut crease as I have not mastered this at all. It does take a lot of work so do be prepared to practice this a lot!

Again with most dramatic eye looks, you are better to start off with working on the eyes first.

Eye Shadows:

Apply a base to the eye lids, you can purchase one in Inglot for €10.

You then highlight the brow bone with a matte white colour and a flat brush.

Taking the 6SS brush (fab blending brush) place a light pink into the crease and blend up towards the brow bone, not going over the white.

Again with the 6SS taking the purple colour (this is quite dark) work some into your hand first, and place this into the crease and work it slightly above the crease.

Using a smaller brush (a lip brush) take the black colour and place into the crease. A tip for doing this on someone else is to get the client to keep their eyes open and look straight ahead. If this is your first time trying this, Nikita suggested using a brown colour instead of black as it is easier to work with. Start on the crease, use small movements to work towards the inner eye. When you are close to the inner corner, straighten the line towards the bridge of the nose, not down towards the tear duct.

Taking a small fluffy brush (10S) and using the purple again, blend out the black shadow. You want to use back and forth movements for this and not in circular motions as this will spread the purple which is not what you want.

Once the harsh black line has started to buff out, you work upwards slightly.

Taking back the 6SS brush and the pink colour, blend out the purple above the crease.

Because the black is quite dark still at this point, add in a brown alone the crease to soften the black more. Only go slightly above the black with a 10S brush.

Now taking a CLEAN 6SS brush, blend out again.

*Ladies you can see from the description, you are using a lot of colours and a lot of brushes, but don't panic this is an amazing look and if you use a little bit of product each step you'll soon see it all develop beautifully*

Add more of the white matte to finish your shadows and blend out one final time.

Eye Liner:

Just a note gel liner can be difficult to place over pigment so this is why Nikita took this step next, you can go back over the liner if needed. You can use either an angled brush or a thin liner brush for this whichever you find easier.

Create your flick first, this can be as dramatic as you like, line your top lash line and then your bottom waterline making sure to join in all gaps. (I have written a post liner previous to this so I will post that again, this absolutely takes time and practice so don't worry it you need to work on this.)

Pigment:

Pigment as you can imagine is a loose product so you will need to help it set onto the eye, you can do this using a small amount of the DUO Glue, the eye shadow base or even some Duraline depending on what you have. Nikita used a 32T brush and the eye shadow base tonight and applied a thin layer of this all over lid where you want the pigment to go. Using the same 32T brush, press the pigment onto the lid slowly.

*If you need to add more liner, apply it now with your thin brush, also check your shadows again if you need to define the crease more.*

Because you applied all your makeup first, you can use a cotton swab with cleanser, a face wipe or concealer to clean under your flick and beneath your eyes also.

Face:

Nikita used YSM 51 on Brefine, this is for more tanned skin and perfect for heading out with. She didnt place foundation under the eyes but instead used the Inglot Under Eye Concealer 92. She applied this using the 4SS blending brush and this brightened the eye area. When you are blending out the concealers, run it along where you want to add your powder highlight also.

Nikita then took no.14 loose powder and the 1S brush and applied this to the face.

Next she took the pressed powder no.17 and contoured along the hollow of the cheek, and onto the jawbones, she lightly applied the bronzer onto the side of the nose. This powder can have fall off so tap your product into a tissue before applying on the face. Use back and forward motions to contour the jawbone.

Using a 4SS brush and the 65 face and body illuminator as the hightlighter, Nikita blended onto the top of the cheekbones, down the side of the mouth and in between the brows.

Shadow on under eye:

You follow the same pattern as you have on the top of your eye.
Black-
Purple- Place each of these colour along the lash line, clear off excess with a cotton bud and blend out.
Pink-

Brows:

Before applying any product to your brows, firstly brush them out with a clean mascara wand, this gets rid of any excess product on the brows. Then using an angled brush and a brown shadow fill in the brows.

Lashes:

For this look Nikita chose lashes for a bigger fuller eye. Brefine had beautiful big eyes and quite full lashes herself. A trick is to measure the shape of the eye when choosing lashes, always start in the middle n cut from there.

For dramatic looks use duo glue in black so you don't have to worry about white marks from the glue on the black liner.

*Another tip: Ask your client to look down at their knees when applying lashes so they are distracted but you can make sure they are applied right. Remember to press the false lashes down to sit on the natural lashes.

Lips:

Nikita created an ombre looking lip for this look. Firstly she used to kohl liners one plum and one black. she lined the entire edge of the lips in the plum colour, leaving the middle bare. She then added the black kohl pencil to the outer corner and blended the two colours together with a lip wand, you can use your fingers for yourself.

Finally she added the lipstick shade 175 onto the lip and the fab look was complete!!

The only info I have forgotten to add to this post are the colour numbers of the shadows which are in a separate notebook at home, I am sending this piece onto Nikita and I can edit it again tonight to add in the actual colours. This is such a different look but I think it would be lovely for a night out. Hopefully the instructions are clear enough for you to try it yourself. I'll be attending another Inglot masterclass this Wednesday in Dundrum where the look is based on Summer style so really looking forward to that. Have a wonderful day :)