Private Lesson

So I did my private consultation/lesson today that was postponed last weekend and it went so well! I know this sounds weird but sometimes I get more nervous doing private lessons and consultations then I do going to a shoot. I guess b/c the model has no real say in what I do to her at a shoot so I don't care whether she likes it or not but obviously that's the main goal in a lesson. I'm always paranoid that the women aren't going to feel like they learned enough or anything new to make it money well spent or that they are going to have unrealistic expectations as to what I'm able to accomplish w/ a makeup brush lol.

I was a little nervous about this one for two reasons: 1) She's Asian and sometimes Asian women are skeptical that I can teach them how to do their makeup since I am obviously not Asian lol 2) From talking to her husband I got the impression that she already knew quite a bit about makeup and had quite a bit of makeup so again I was worried I wouldn't be able to teach her anything new

She's only 24 and had fabulous skin but I was able to give her some good suggestions on skincare and prep before makeup aka moisturizers and primers for the skin. Overall she had good base knowledge for her day look I just helped her spice it up a bit and taught her how to incorporate eyeshadow into a day look as well as how to fill in and finish off her eyebrows a bit w/out making them look too done. Plus she really liked the tips I gave her about contouring/highlighting her cheekbones a bit plus how to highlight/contour the bridge of her nose just a bit so that it was a bit more pronounced and not as flat but still totally realistic for the daytime.

I think the biggest thing she ended up being excited about was learning how to do a day time and night time smokey eye. I think every lesson I ever give though that is the one thing every woman wants to master is that elusive smokey eye. I had to be careful w/ her b/c her eyes were quite slanted and a bit small so I had to make sure not to make them smaller by going to dark on the makeup but she really loved what I was able to teach her. She already had a pretty good makeup collection but just didn't know how to use it so that helped a lot. Plus she was a really quick learner which made things so much easier...seriously sometimes I just don't get how women can not understand how to hold and use an angle brush it just seems natural to me but apparently not! I think sometimes the reason I undervalue the knowledge I'm giving to these women is b/c to me it just seems like common sense. Like I just mention random things that I think nothing of but then I realize that to so many others these things are like the most amazing tips they've never thought about or heard of before. Something simple like blending is really what made this lesson for her. She had tried and tried to do a smokey eye before and couldn't get it and then I taught her all about blending and having the right brushes (the one thing she does need to go buy) and it was like I handed her the greatest piece of information ever...I never thought of blending as that big of a secret but I mean it does make sense I can always tell an amateurs work from a pros by their ability to blend. So yeah...feels great to make this young woman so happy and for her to have a birthday gift she won't ever forget!

Only problem...slight setback on Detox Day 5. Her husband was very sweet and brought us lunch during the lesson. Lunch unfortunately for me consisted of: croissants, jam, orange juice and fruit...so basically we have everything I was trying to avoid all right there - bread, sugar and baby oranges...ugghh...of course I had to have a little bit I mean how rude and weird would it have been to not eat something after he went out and bought it for us all. Back on track tomorrow though!

P.S. I'm sorry my fellow Canadians that I mocked you yesterday w/ my talk of the weather. It's friggin' cold today in Shanghai...like Canada style cold -3C but feels like -11C. I know it's no -23C like you had before but still it serves me right rubbing my nice weather in your face lol.