A couple of weeks ago I was kindly invited to a make-up masterclass put together by the lovely team at my local Make Up Forever counter in Debenhams, (shoutout to @dsamakeup for passing on my deets!) where the absolutely incredible Marc Sinclair shared his make-up tips with us and even did a live demonstration of a gorgeous, bold look on @cosmetics.junkiee. This was my first event in a long time, and it was wonderful to meet and speak to some local bloggers, however I wasn't able to stay for the entirety of the event which is why this post will probably come across as a little hodge podge. Today I'm going to share with you all some of the great tips and tricks I learned at the masterclass and also give you a little peep at the products I received in my very generous goodybag too!

As much as I love my make-up, I am most definitely not an MUA by anybody's standard, and I'm also not the biggest fan of devoting my time to diving into the sea of videos and tutorials that exist on the world wide web. I know exactly what works for me and how I like to put on my face. However, I am open to adopting nifty little tricks to make my morning routine that wee bit easier, and that was probably one of the biggest things I took away from the masterclass. It's one thing to watch your favourite artist pump out tutorial after tutorial on Youtube, and follow along desperately trying to figure out exactly what it is they're doing, but watching a real life tutorial take place in front of your eyes is quite different. Marc was considerate, careful and really informative about everything he was doing which I feel is often lacking in make-up videos. He was able to take his time and thoroughly explain how he does his make-up from brows, to shadow to lips and everything inbetween, and here are some of the biggest lessons I took away from the masterclass.

BROWS AND EYES FIRST: This is a hotly contested debate amongst beauty bloggers, and normally I sit on the "face first" side of the fence because I prefer to get the quickest and easiest part of my routine out of the way so that I can focus more of my attention on my eyes. However, after watching Marc carefully construct the most perfect set of brows and a bright, bold eye look, then simply brush away the fall out in two seconds flat, I've been converted. 

Other eyebrow tips I picked up were to create a fine line along the base of your brow, and flick upwards when filling them in. Using a shade darker will also create that HD ombre effect that's so sought after., and using concealer on the flat side of a fluffy but wide brush will help define and draw attention to the brows. 

TILT YOUR HEAD BACK: Another conclusion we came to at the masterclass was that you can pack on as much of your base shadow as you want. If you use a lot of concealer to define your brows, blending it towards your eyelid will create a base anyway, so you won't have much need to add a base shade. I personally have a go to base shade that I use every single time I want to create any sort of eye look, however I don't apply nearly as much as some people do, but it's all down to personal preference! Tilting your head back when you go to apply your other shadows will allow you to look at your entire eye shape and judge the amount of space you have to work with. Usually I just pack my eyeshadow on with my eyes open wide so I can do it as quickly and as easily as possible, which results in a very heavy amount of colour along my crease and not a lot elsewhere, and I have noticed a massive difference in my eye make-up since introducing this trick into my routine!



SNAP YOUR LASHES: As someone who has never worn lashes before in their life, this tip doesn't apply to me as much as it might to some of you hence why I want to share it with all of you. Apparently, snapping your lashes (not totally in half, just a little snap before you apply your glue) will allow them to fit better to your eye shape and stop them from hanging off of your natural lashes. For those of us who don't use lashes, another tip is to scrape your mascara wand along the the edge of your tube, as this will help you make the most of your product. 

As you can see on my little make-up list sheet, there were a lot of different tips and tricks I jotted down at the masterclass, however I don't want this post to get too wordy so I'm going to skip on to the fun part - the goodybag! (But also, feel free to send me a message if any of the words on the sheet catch your eye and you want to know more!)



I first of all want to say a big, big thank you to Make Up Forever, for such a varied, and generous amount of products. I have no previous experience with this brand, so I've had a lot of fun over the last couple of weeks playing with these products and incorporating them into my routine.


"ARTISTS ROUGE CREME LIPSTICK" in C305


 

I mentioned this gorgeous lipstick in my most recent "July Favourites" post, but now I want to go into a bit more depth about it. Nowadays I'm very much used to liquid matte lipsticks, that have totally dried out my already very dry lips, but I still continue to use them because I haven't found a lipstick that's as bold or as easy to apply. But this lipstick totally surprised me. 



The colour is much more vibrant than it appeared when I swatched it, instead turning out a bright, vivid pink shade. The texture of the lipstick itself was quite creamy and really moisturising on my lips, but it also dried in quickly and didn't leave me feeling as through I couldn't do anything for fear of it rubbing off on everything - not that I needed have worried about that! It lasted all day on my lips, even after eating and drinking, and I only needed to reapply once. It was great to give my lips a break from the harsher, more mattifying products I'm used to, however bright colours don't always look so good contrasted against my pale skin so I think  this lipstick might be better suited for some of my brighter and bolder looks!

"WATER BLEND FOUNDATION" in R370




No swatch of this one as unfortunately the shade is far too dark for my skin, however when I did put it on my hand it felt lightweight, and it blended easily over the back of my hand too. As the base is 80% water, it seems like it would be fairly easy to build coverage, and hydrate at the same time, perfect for those of us with dry skin. Plus look at the size of the bottle - imagine how long that would last you! Although this shade isn't suited to me, I am definitely open to giving this foundation a try in a shade that's a little closer to my colour.


AQUA XL LINER in DIAMOND GOLD


The line at the top is the true width and precision of the eyeliner, and the swatch underneath is so you can see how much the pigment builds up, just to clarify. I haven't dipped my toes very far into the pool of coloured eyeliners on the market so far, but hey, I'm always open to trying new things. One thing I love about this liner is the thickness of the brush, however I did find it a little hard to build up the colour and I ended up using quite a lot of product to show off the colour. On the other hand, the eyeliner is waterproof and holy shit MUF are not joking when they say waterproof because my regular cleanser could not budge this from my arm, which bodes well as I quite fancy trying this eyeliner out in the classic black shade when my current one runs done and I'm looking forward to create something a bit different with this product!

"AQUA XL COLOUR PAINT" in M82"FUSHIA PINK"


I was a bit baffled at first by the final product in my goody bag, and like me you're probably wondering "what the hell is colour paint?" Well, basically it's a highly pigmented waterproof cream / gel eyeshadow with really good coverage, and when I say really good coverage I mean absolutely phenomenal coverage. I used it to cover up the remnants of the eyeliner, hence why my swatch is a little patchy, but that's not important. What is important is that this product is one of those rare products that lives up to exactly what it claims to be. The colour is true to how it's presented in the packaging and it swatches like a dream. The actual base feels creamy, heavy and it stayed on my arm for a day and a half even after vigorous scrubbing with my favourite shower gel and a shower puff. If you don't feel up to creating a bold look, they also have a range of light shimmery shades too!

I want to apologise again for how rambly this post was, but I hope you enjoyed taking a peak into my MUF goody bag, and enjoyed the tips I picked up from the masterclass. I also want to say another massive thank you to the wonderful team at Make Up Forever Belfast team at Debenhams for an absolutely wonderful event and experience and I will definitely be back to pick up more products and try everything else on offer!

Thanks for reading, until next time

Rachel