Thank You, Messy Wands! (And A Quick Update)

Look what the lovely Xiao of Messy Wands sent me!

I've been thinking about getting some Aqua Creams (and long-wearing cream shadows, in general) to add to my kit for some time now, so I'm incredibly grateful to her for sending this over! I've already used three of them and so far, I'm quite pleased. I think I still need to figure out exactly how to layer powder over them (should I allow them to dry completely? Should I apply powder straight after applying the aqua cream? Etc...) so I don't get any patches; but overall, I love having these in my kit.

The colours are fantastic, too! They're all neutral, so they would be perfect for use in weddings and special occasions. I'm going to be using them for my Evening & Bridal Final Exams in June, so I'm excited about that.

She also included these Pro Longwear Lipcremes from MAC's Daphne Guinness collection. Because she's über nice like that!

Dear Xiao, have I told you lately that I love you? <3

Here, have some Renner for your generosity! You're welcome. :)


Speaking of Makeup Kits...


Yes, I'm still in school! I haven't been posting about my progress because, well... I forget. But to catch you all up (that is, if you're interested :p), I am currently down to the last 4 weeks of Evening & Bridal. The next 2 weeks are going to be all about hair, which I was nervous about, but now I'm pretty excited. I practiced on my friend Missy (who will be my model for my final exams) last night and her hair turned out pretty awesome. So I'm looking forward to working on my hairstyling skills so that I can proficient enough to also do hair for special occasions. I'm Not quite sure I would want the extra pressure of doing hair for a wedding; and anyway, I think most brides would want an actual hairstylist. However, if I encounter a bride who wants to save a bit more money by using a makeup artist who can style hair, then I don't want to have to say no.

It took me a while to get back into the swing of things after a 3 week break between classes, but I finally got my groove back a few classes into the course. I wasn't able to do makeup every class because my instructor went a bit overtime on his demo, which I wasn't that pleased about. I've had some pretty memorable moments, as well. Top of which was creating an Indian Bridal look on a classmate who had small, mono-lidded eyes. That was probably the toughest thing I've had to do so far.

Anyway the last 2 weeks have been awesome, skill-wise. I did a glam bridal look and a classic evening look recently, and my instructor was quite impressed with both. So now I'm really focused on doing an excellent job on my final exams... There will be a photoshoot as well; each student can only choose one look (evening or bridal) to be photographed and I've chosen Evening. I've got some pretty cool ideas for the shoot and I can't wait to share the photos with you guys!

Oh! And I've also booked my first paid makeup gig! I will be helping another makeup artist with a wedding in July. There are 10 women who will need to have their makeup done, so we will be splitting the task up between us. I'm kind of excited about it, but also kind of nervous. Hopefully there'll be lots of opportunities to do makeup this Summer because my next course doesn't actually start until September.

So that's what I've been up to in my Evening & Bridal class... My kit has been steadily growing and now includes some hair tools and hair products. I also kind of went crazy a few weeks ago and got a ridiculous amount of lip products...

L-R: Airy Fairy by Rimmel, Temptress by Revlon, Blushing Mauve by Revlon, 

Yummy Plummy by Maybelline, and Black Cherry by Revlon

L-R: Blushing Berry Le Gloss by L'oréal, a Vinyl Gloss by Rimmel (why do they not put the name on the tube? >.<), Raspberry Splash Le Gloss by L'oréal, Peony Colorburst Lipgloss by Revlon, 

and Nude Touch Le Gloss by L'oréal

Have a great week, lovelies!