Dex New York Makeup Lesson

A few months ago, my friend Tracy talked me into buying a Groupon with her to get a makeup lesson. I had a while back made a promise to myself to stop buying Groupons because I never use them. I had a change of heart for this specific one for a few reasons.

1. I’m an idiot when it comes to makeup. Seriously, the lesson would help.
2. After looking at the company offering the Groupon’s website, Dex New York, I learned not only are their products not tested on animals (they have the bunny logo!), but all their products were vegan as well.

We made our appointment for a few weeks later and went together.

Dex is located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and isn’t so much a makeup store, but a makeup studio. They train makeup artists in their craft and they specialize in event and red carpet makeup. Though they are a studio, they sell all their products, which are mineral based, via their website.

Upon arriving, we were offered some refreshments and then asked to remove our makeup to get ready for the lesson.

Throughout the lesson we were given a face chart to complete so we would have all the information we learned to bring home with us and recreate. Step by step, as we went through the process our instructor would do one side of our face, with us replicating it on the other side. We’d then fill out the chart with the step, product used and brush used prior to moving onto the next step.

Our makeup artist, Rebecca, did a fantastic job not only explaining why she was choosing the products she was for us, but also why she was applying them the way she was. She did an analysis of our bone structure and our eye shape, and from there explained the best ways to apply makeup to bring those features out.

For my lesson, I had asked to learn how to best pull off a bright lip, which is something I’m pretty horrible at. I also wanted to learn a good day to night smokey eye look. Rebecca reviewed both with me.

Tracy asked for a lesson on camera ready makeup.  She does a bit of television work for her personal training business and wanted to learn how to apply makeup that showed up well on camera.  It was interesting to sit in and listen to her lesson being a lot of the tips Rebecca offered for camera ready were not necessarily things I would have thought of myself.  I picked up several tips which have since resulted in better photos for myself as well.

Here’s my finished result.

I wound up treating myself to an early birthday present and buying most of the products Rebecca recommended for me. I loved they were all vegan, and featured color names specific to New York (like Montauk and Wall Street Onyx). Their packaging is also very eco-friendly. All colors come in steel tins which snap in and out of a pallet. I love the pallet because you have all your makeup for your entire look in one slim pallet which easily fits in a purse or clutch. Plus, when you run out of something you don’t have to replace the entire pallet, just snap out the tin you’re out of and replace it.

Another reason I love it, the products do what they advertise.  My makeup has looked amazing in photographs lately, even when I do my makeup all by myself.  Can’t hate that.

Have you ever taken a makeup lesson? I’d love to hear your experience.

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Solving Confidence Idiocracy

I was looking some email newsletters this morning and came across the most recent GOOP one where Gwyneth Paltrow talks about how she’s basically an idiot when it comes to makeup.  Reading this reminded me that OMG, I totally used to be one too!  In fact, it was a real confidence issue for me.  I’d get anxious anytime I’d be in a makeup store that I’d chose the wrong color and look like a clown.  Or that I’d apply it wrong.  I actually still am a klutz with makeup.  Difference is I took some time earlier this year to solve the issue and regain my makeup application confidence.

Basically all I did was I realized the value of having someone who really knows what they’re doing show me how to do it.  I needed step by step instructions.  Hell, this can apply to any sort of thing you ‘re lacking expertise or confidence in. For example, if you’re a crappy cook, hire a personal chef to teach you how to make 5-7 really easy meals that you can rotate and repeat.  It’ll cost you some money upfront, but think of what you’d save (and the weight you’d lose!) in the long run not ordering out or relying on pre-made, unhealthy food.  If you’re style challenged, another example could be hiring a stylist to go through your closet and teaching you how to wear what you already have, and how to shop for what’s most flattering for your body type.  Costs some cash, but you’ll save in the long run by not buying clothes that don’t fit properly and by getting more use out of what you already have.  Plus you’ll look awesome which will boost your confidence and more.

So what one of my fellow make-up challenged friends and I did was we made an appointment at Sephora to sit with one of their consultants.  We gave her a list of what we were trying to accomplish, and then took her advice.  You can do this with just about any sort of beauty boutique, including department stores.  Sephora in particular has a $100 purchase minimum, but when you consider the quality of the products and how long they last, it was well worth the investment.

My list for my consultant was:

• Items had to be vegan/cruelty free
• Organic was a plus
• It had to be oil free.  My skin breaks out easily.
• I need everyday makeup.  If I was going to invest this much, I needed it to be stuff I would wear daily.
• I also needed an evening “look” that flattered my face, and was easy to transition to from my day look.

The result of my consultation was the photo above (the sample evening look).  Though I did end up spending a tad bit more than the $100 minimum, I purchased all these items nine months ago and I still have more than half the product left.  Plus I got exactly what I wanted (i.e. vegan),  it’s super versatile, I was taught exactly how to apply it, and I now have the tools needed to create a variety of looks without having to think about it.  Makeup problem solved.  And to think to date it only cost me around $10 a month when you take what I spent and divide it among all the months I’ve been using the products, makes it well worth the investment.  Hell, I wasted way more money monthly on drug store makeup that the colors looked horrible on me or didn’t match and I had to replace it. Considering how well this experiment worked for me, I think what I’ll probably wind up doing is making an appointment once a year to be sure my look is relatively current.

What’s the one thing you find yourself not confident about and what will you do to gain that confidence back?