Monday 9 December 2013

YouTube Channel

Hello!

Just a quick post today to let you all know about my new YouTube channel!

I have been wanting to start you tube tutorials for a while now and I have finally got around to it!

I am a complete beginner at YouTube and filming myself doing makeup, but hopefully i'll get the hang of it!
I have uploaded a few videos already, concentrating on quick 1 minute tutorials.

I would love it if you would take a second to have a look at my channel and subscribe if you like what you see.

You can find my channel here >>Makeup By Kerry

I would love to know what you all think!












Thanks everyone,


Tuesday 26 November 2013

1000 Likers Giveaway

My Facebook page is creeping closer to my goal of 1000 likes!

I'm holding a giveaway on there at the moment and I will pick a winner once I get to 1000!

You could win this prize worth over £70 - Here's how

Just go to my Facebook page >>HERE<<

All you have to do is *Like* and *Share* my page, and then comment on there when you're done! I will choose one lucky winner at random once I reach 1000 likes 


Here's what you could win:
•Mac veluxe pearl fusion shadow pallete in 'Smokeluxe'
•DKNY Golden delicious 30ml perfume
•Handmade gold plated bracelet with pink glass charm
•Eldora B131 false lashes



Good luck <3





Makeup Artists That Inspire Me

Karla  Powell

I discovered Karla a little while ago on Instagram. For me she is probably one of the most inspirational makeup artists out there at the moment, for people brand new to makeup all the up to top professionals. Its amazing to see how far she has come through her own hard work and commitment to makeup and her career.   
Her passion for makeup is unbelievable, not to mention her incredible talent. Every look she pulls out the bag absolutely blows me away. So much skill, creativity and planning goes in to every look she produces and she always shows each stage to her fans and followers through her social media sites which is great to see. 
Its great to see someone with so much success and talent stay humble and grounded. I can't wait to see what she does next. 

Check out her blog at www.karlapowell.co.uk






Alex Box

This lady is one of the main reasons I got in to makeup in the first place. Her work is so unique, interesting and unpredictable. Her makeup style is so distinctive, you can spot her work a mile off. 
She pushes the boundaries in all aspects of art and makeup. 
Alex Box is also the Creative Director of makeup brand Illamasqua (a brand I have loved and adored since becoming a Makeup artist 3 years ago) 

Some is Alex's accomplishments:
  • Make-up shoots in titles such as Vogue, I-D, Dazed and Confused, Another Magazine, Stylist, Numero and V Magazine.
  • Celebrity clients have included Lady Gaga, Azealia Banks, Robyn, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Courtney Love, Sienna Miller, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Eva Herzigova and Claudia Schiffer.
  • Awarded Doctor of Design by Southampton Solent University in 2011.
  • Make-up Director for fashion weeks in London, New York and Paris for designers which include Gareth Pugh, Karl Lagerfield, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Chanel.


Read about Alex Box and her work here thealexbox.com





Val Garland

Val Garland is MAC Cosmetics most acclaimed makeup artist. 
She is known for not only getting creative with makeup but also the tools she uses. For example, applying makeup with a potato, cotton wool and feathers. 
She has made up just about every celebrity face you can think of. 
She continues to inspire me with her crazy creative and bold makeup looks.

You can follow Val Garland on Twitter to keep up with what shes up to  @TheValGarland



Lauren Shurney

Better known as Queen of Blending. I discovered Lauren a couple years ago on you tube and have loved watching her tutorials ever since. Her looks are bold, colorful and usually sparkley!
Her looks aren't your usual every day natural beaut looks but its fascinating watching her put together looks. 
She loves to boast that your 'unwearable' is 'wearable' to her. Its great to see MUA's standing up for individuality and not being afraid to break makeup habits and create a work of art, what better place to show case your artwork than on your face?

You can watch Queen of Blendings  YouTube tutorials here  http://www.youtube.com/user/QueenofBlendingMUA






My top 5 INSPIRATIONAL MUA's to follow on Instagram 

@SSSSAMANTHAA - 




@VALERIEVIXENART - 


@SAMERKHOUZAMI - 

@LUCIFERISMYDAD


@VEGAS_NAY



 I would love to hear who inspires you? 

Thanks for reading,
xx

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Starting a Professional Makeup kit


One of the things that I found really daunting when I started out as a makeup artist was where to start with my makeup kit. It wasn't until I started doing regular jobs that I realized all the little things that are so important to have in your kit.

I have put together a little list of the main things that I really couldn't live with out now on any makeup job, big or small.


Building your kit can be very costly at first so I have given some great cheaper alternatives as well as the higher priced items.


The first thing you need to get is something to put your makeup in.

These clear toiletry bags from boots are one of the first things I bought for my kit and I still use them to this day. They are fantastic and at £8 for the set of 3 you can't go wrong. I always use clear bags to store my makeup, it makes rummaging through looking for what I need a lot quicker and easier. 
You can buy these from here
As my kit grew, so did my storage. I now use a Zuca, which is one of the best things I've ever bought. It it sturdy, small but holds a lot inside, and is easy to travel with on trains or in the car. It also doubles up as a seat on long packed out train journeys. It has pouches that you can buy separately to organize your makeup neatly. I couldn't believe how much you could fit in these things. I bought mine from here.  They are a little pricey at around £180 but so worth it if you are serious about becoming a MUA.




Essentials

One of the most important things is to keep your kit tidy and hygienically clean.
Always have brush cleaner, it is SO important to clean your brushes with a brush cleaner that will kill any germs, soap and water will not to this. Mac brush cleaner is my favorite because it drys quickly so you can wash your brushes in between clients with out having to wait too long in between for the brushes to dry.
70% isopropyl alcohol is good to have to disinfect your products, especially things like lipsticks and eyeliners if you're using them on different people. You definitely don't want to be passing any infections on to your clients.
 Tissues are a must have, you'll need these for all your brush cleaning and disinfecting, not to mention any spills you might want to mop up. 
Hand sanitizer is something I always carry with me and am sure to use it before every client. 

Brush cleaner- Mac Cosmetics £10 | Hand Sanitizer -  Soap & Glory £2.50

Its also important to have disposables in your kit for hygiene. 
Mascara wands and lip gloss brushes especially. Its also a good idea to get some sponge wedges and powder puffs. A great website that sells these pretty cheap is EYES LIPS FACE.



Always have cotton buds, cotton pads and makeup wipes to hand. These are a life saver for any little slip ups and mistakes. You never know how many looks you may need to do on a model/client or they may already have makeup on which you would need to remove. Try to also get a good eye makeup remover for sensitive skin. 


Accessories 


Sharpener- very important for obvious reasons. Need that precise point on your lip and eye pencils. 
Tweezers- Helpful for many things. Putting on lashes, precise application in creative makeups, tweezing stray brow hairs for perfect shape. 
Scissors- important for trimming false lashes before applying.


Brushes

Foundation brush

Mac duo fiber stippling brush #130 £30
OR
Real technique foundation brush £9.99 
OR
Crown Brush Deluxe Foundation / Camouflage £11.19


Eye brushes

Mac eyeliner brush #210  £16.50

 Mac Blending brush #217 £18

Crown brush oval fluff £2.39


Powder/ Blusher brushes

Mac powder brush #129 £27

Crown brush blusher brush Badger angle brush £8.69


Other brushes

Mac angle brush #266 £16.50

Charlotte Tilbury lip brush £18

These are my basic go to brushes. Crown brush are brilliant for affordable and quality brushes. This is a great place to start to build your brush collection. Also Real Techniques are another option.
I love my MAC brushes as they are fantastic quality and last forever, although they are a little pricey. I have built my Mac brushes up bit by bit so its more affordable. 

Makeup

Skincare & Primers

Moisturisers- I use a variety of different moisturisers, its good to have one for oily skin and one for dry.
Primer- My favorite primer to use is Mac Natural Radiance £29 or Smash box photo finish £25
both give a fantastic base to create your makeup looks on your clients. 


Foundation/ Concealer / Powders

When buying your first lot of foundations, you do not need to buy every single colour. I started with a  light a medium and a dark, then you can literally mix any colour. 
I recommend MAC Studio fix £21.50, its great coverage on its own or you can mix with moisturizer for a lighter finish if desired.



Same goes for the powders, light medium and dark. I recommend MAC  Mineralize Skinfinish £22 or MAC blot powder £20 to start with. These are both great for setting the makeup &  getting rid of shine. You could also get a translucent powder for setting as one colour fits all! 



MAC concealer palettes  £35 are fantastic and are pretty much the only concealers I really use in my kit. The palette contains 6 colours including 2 colour corrector shades. buying them in the palette also is a lot cheaper and keeps your kit nicely organized too. 


I recommend getting a couple of the Sleek blusher pallettes £9.99 to start off with. They are such beautiful colours and so well pigmented. You get 3 in each palette and for £9.99 that's amazing value! 



My go to bronzer is MAC Matte Bronze £20. I use this on almost everyone, it suits all skin tones is matte so can be used for contouring as well. 


Eyes

Naked palette should be the first set of eye shadows you get your hands on. It contains your staple colours and you will find you use it so much! £37
I love the sleek eye shadow palettes too, they do a great neon palette that is so handy to have in your kit. £7.99



You could also buy a MAC 15 pro palette. You buy these empty and then fill up the eye shadows as you go along. The empty casing is about £20 and each pan refill eye shadow costs £10. Buy the eye shadows bit at a time and you will fill it up in no time, and it wont be such a hit to the pocket!


Get your hands on some pencil and liquid eye liners - Basic colours Black, Brown, Blue.
You'll also need some mascaras in your kit, and remember to always use your disposable wands when you apply it.


Lips 

I find the easiest and most affordable way to start your lipstick collection is to buy the lipstick pallettes. not only is this a lot easier to find the colour you are after, it is also a lot cheaper than buying all your lipsticks individually. 
Sleek have some great lipstick palettes in a variety of colours for £8.99


Mac also do some brilliant lipstick palettes with 6 lipstick colours in for a higher price of £35

Lipgloss- Get your hands on a clear gloss to start with and then build up as you go along. 
Lipliner- Also start with a few staple lip liner colours, I recommend to get a red, pink and neutral/brown. 


I hope this helps all of you new MUA's out there. Please let me know  what you think and if there's anything else you would add!



Monday 29 July 2013

Depotting your MAC eyeshadows


Hello!

This week I finally got around to depotting some of my single eyeshadows (that have been laying around forever) in to a lovely shiny new palette. Its so much easier having them all in one place. I have used a large 15 palette for these ones, but you can get x2 or x4 palettes too which are ideal for traveling! I have only used MAC eyeshadows for this technique, other eyeshadows may be slightly different in terms of packaging so double check before you try this with any other brand! You can also use the exact same technique with the MAC blushers! 

Here goes;


 Step One: Take your eyeshadow, using you scissors wedge the point gently in to the join between the top and bottom part of the eyeshadow casing as shown in the photo and pop the center casing out. 







Step Two: Take the inner part with the eyeshadow in and place it on to your straighteners. Leave there for 10 seconds and then take it off. Be sure not to leave it on for too long and the plastic will melt on to your straighteners. 


 Step Three: Once you have taken the eyeshadow off the straighteners you will need to take your scissors again and very gently prise the eyeshadow from the plastic casing. The heat from the straighteners will have melted the glue making it very easy to remove the eyeshadow.
Please note: You need to be VERY careful at this stage not to smash or damage your eyeshadow. Also be careful not to burn yourself as the plastic, metal casing and glue will be hot!





Step Four: Cut a small bit off of your magnetic tape and stick to the bottom of the eyeshadow. Then make sure you remember to label your eyeshadow with a sticker so you don't forget what colour it is.




Step Five: Now your eyeshadow is successfully depotted, all that is left to to is drop it in to your empty palette!









There are lots of other ways of depotting, but this one works for me the best! I would love to hear what worked for you. 

Thanks for reading!
Lots of Love