HAUL: MUFE, MUG, MAC, Catrice and Rimmel

I know you all got the silent treatment these past few weeks but if you think I didn't do any beauty shopping during that time, you're dead wrong.  And I'm ashamed to admit that I've gone a bit overboard the past week as wel, think concealers (two different brands!), moisturizer, some lip colors  and eyeshadowpalettes.  That's right eyeshadowpalettes, as in more than one.  Don't judge,  it's not like I'm hurting anyone here and in my defense the eyeshadowpalettes are limited edition and one of the concealers was restocked after being sold out for a couple of weeks so I had no choice but to buy it now.  You know I'm right about that!

So here's a little* haul with some first impressions and reviews.

First up I ordered some plastic make up bags from Make Up Forever.  Nothing really special about these but I really love plastic make up bags.  I use them when I travel to put in liquids because they are just so easy to clean and if a liquid was to explode the plasic would keep the product inside (as opposed to a cotton makeup bag where all your clothes would be affected).  I ordered 3 because I couldn't make out the size online.  

The material is really sturdy, which isn't a bad thing necessarily because it shows that these aren't made of some crappy cheap plastic but they will take some breaking in to get them more 'easy going'.  The largest one is a different model than the other two and I was hoping that this one was a bit taller and I could put some MUFE Ultra HD foundations in there standing but that's not the case.  

I recently discovered the charms of palettes you can customize.  Buying a prepaid palette is usually a lot cheaper than buying all the colors separately, but there are always a few colors in there that you'll hardly (if ever) use.   Making your own palette is a solution to that.  I bought a large empty Mac palette with the blush insert.  

That's one lonely Sculpting powder in 'Sculpt' you're seeing.  Sad isn't it?  Maybe I should go out and get her a new friend so she's not lonely anymore ;-)

I couldn't just order the makeup bags and in all fairness, I am lacking in the lip pencil department so I bought 2 Make Up Forever Aqua Lip Pencils.  I love these!!  I used them every day when I did my course at MUFE and they are so easy to work with but because they are water resistent they stay on like forever (unless you're eating oily stuff but since oil dissolves all makeup that's normal).  Safe to say I will be getting more of these babies soon!

I got the color 2C Rosewood (top swatch) and 18C Coral (bottom swatch). 

The iconic 5 Camouflage Cream Palette has been on my wish list for a while.  I'm not the biggest fan of camouflage but sometimes you just need a bit extra and this palette provides that.  A very creamy consistency and not tacky at all makes that these are very easy to use (when you know how to use them anyway).

I already said that I would gradually be expanding my Makeupgeek collection and this month these 3 beauties joined the ranks.  

From left to right: Grandstand (foiled), Americano and Beaches & Cream.  Like the other shadows these are great quality.  The foiled eyeshadow really surprised me, so creamy and blendable while being very pigmented.  Nothing but love for these!!

Another lip pencil but by Rimmel this time.  They recently launched new lipsticks and their lip pencils are the same (or almost the same) colors.  I had bought a few before but really wanted this color.  The only bad thing about these lip pencils is that they are really soft and therefor they break easily while applying.  It's a system where you turn and the product comes up and you really have to make sure you don't turn it too high because it will just break off.  But other than that they apply easy and are a great base for your lipstick.  I went out to dinner with this one as a base and the matching lipstick on top and after dinner the lipstick was almost completely gone but the pencil was still there.

I got the color 018 Addiction.

Lastly I got me some Catrice eye pencils.  3 Kohl Kajal colors and one Longlasting eye pencil waterproof.  This may surprise you but I don't have that many eye pencils and I wanted some Kohl pencils to use as a base for a smokey eye.  

From left to right: Longlasting Eye Pencil Waterproof in 100 Pearly Bird, Kohl Kajal in 210 Brownzer, Kohl Kajal in 140 Chocwaves and Kohl Kajal in 010 Ultra Black.  I haven't tried the Longlasting Eye Pencil yet but if it is indeed waterproof I will get some more colors, you can't go wrong for 2,39!  I do have mixed feelings about the Kohl Kajal pencils, they worked great for the smokey eye I had in mind but when I used Bronwzer at the roots of my eyelashes to accentuate them on a normal working, the color didn't stay put at all.  Not even until noon!  I usually wear an Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil and they stay put all day.  I think I'm going to get a dark brown Longlasting pencil to see how that one holds up.

So there you have it.  It turned out to be a bit of a longer blogpost than I anticipated but hey, it is weekend so there's plenty of time to read.  If there's anything you see that you want to know more about just leave a comment.

* little is open for interpretation ;-)

Where to buy:

Make Up Forever: makeupforever.be (or your local MUFE website)

MAC: maccosmetics.be (or your local MAC website)

Makeupgeek: Beautybay.com (Europe) or makeupgeek.com (internationally)

Rimmel: at the local drugstore

Catrice: Kruidvat.be

The week I've spent at Make Up Forever Academy

I got certified #mua

2016 is going to be the year of no more excuses I told myself, no more excuses not to do things.  One of the things that I always wanted to do but somehow was afraid of doing was taken a makeup course. Sure, I've been to MAC techniques lessons and I've seen more youtube video's than I have nail polishes but I always wanted to do a real course.  So why did it take me so long?  I really don't know, there were always these stupid excuses I made up not to do it but if I'm being really honest, I was afraid.  Afraid people were going to think I'm being ridiculous (39 years old with a good steady job in a very conservative business sector), afraid there was going to be pressure (by myself or others) to do something professional with what I'd learn but most of all I think I was afraid I was going to suck at doing someone else's makeup.  Can you imagine the horror?  I love all things makeup and everyone around me knows it.  Could you imagine the shame of not being able to do a proper makeup look on someone else?  Putting on your own makeup or someone else's ... these are two totally different things.

day 1: "show me what you got", our teacher wanted to see what our level of  skills was - featuring my bestie 

Last fall I decided not to give in to those excuses and fears anymore and I started looking around for a makeup course.  Let me tell you, these babies are expensive!!  And I've seen the schools/courses that are less expensive but they force you to buy their products or a starterskit through them.  Since I already have most everything you need for applying makeup I really didn't want to go to a school where I was forced to buy stuff.  Price is one thing, reputation is another.  I really didn't want to go to a makeup school that has a shady or no reputation.  Even though makeup is no real science and once you have the basic techniques down it's artistic freedom from there on, it is important to learn those basics to perfection (meaning the hard way: first foundation and than glitters/pigments, no cheating with fall-out by applying your foundation after the eye look).  The last thing that was important to me was the timing.  I work full time and there are no courses in my hometown (we are not hip enough here in Leuven I'm afraid) I knew I had some traveling to do.  I only had 2 schools in the running, one offered evening classes during the week, the other offered a week class during the day and for my own comfort I decided on the last one.  So the first week of January I commuted to Brussels every day for an intensive training at the Make Up For Ever Academy.  Yes, you heard it right: Make Up Forever Academy!!

day 2: "the gradient" with 3 different colors on the lid - featuring my eye infected colleague (no, I did not stab her in the eye with my makeup brush)

What I loved about the whole set up was that even though we got a pretty good discount, we weren't forced to buy anything.  All the MUFE products were there for our use, we had to bring our own tools but were told that we didn't have to use their brushes as long as we had enough brushes to do what was taught that day.  Another thing we had to take care of ourselves: models!!  We needed a model everyday for a whole afternoon.  I have to say that this was almost another excuse not to do it. I thought: "my friends all work fulltime, who is going to take an afternoon off for me?"  But I think it took me 3 days to find 5 different models.  3 days!!  I was so touched by how fast my friends reacted this and how supportive they all were.

day 3: "natural bridal makeup featuring the classic lift" - with the gorgeous sister of a friend who was nice enough to help me out

But the one thing everyone wants to know is 'how was it?' ... The truth?  I can't describe the feeling in words.  I've never really known the feeling of coming home physically exhausted but mentally pumped.  These were long and tiring days but I still had so much energy when I came home (even though when I came home I knew I still had all my brushes to wash and repack everything for the next day).  And I was so relaxed!! Or as my man said it "you only reach this level of relaxation on the third day of a vacation".  It truly was a dream come true, a whole week of fulltime playing with makeup and learning all about FET's, shaping, lip correcting, eye correcting and applying them to models.  At the end of the week we received a certificate and even though I'm not an emotional personal I really teared up.

day 4: "the classic smokey eye" - featuring one a high school friend (yes we go way back) and one of the fiercest women I know

The makeup looks we did were very natural (aside from the classic smokey eye) but it's all about technique and blending ... blending is everything!!

day 5: "mature skin with classic lift" - featuring a great friend that wasn't offended when I called her mature

I still haven't decided if I want to do something with it professionally.  I would love to do experiment on my friends but I really don't want to put pressure on myself because I'm afraid (yes, there's that word again) that I'll loose the fun of it if I 'have' to do it.  One thing I do know: this definitely won't be the last course like this that I'm going to take, there's still so much to learn!!!

closed eyes to show the shadows

Oh, and in case you're wondering: yes, I did buy some MUFE goodies and I still have a little wish list so I'm going to buy some more very soon.  I'll be doing a blogpost of this soon.

*note: all pictures were taken with my iPhone and I did no editing whatsoever