TBJ MASTERCLASS: UP Diliman Kick Off

A few years ago, a lot of people were pushing me to do workshops and even become a makeup artist because they said I have the gift of gab and I'm such a storyteller, makeup demos won't be boring and corny with me; but it wasn't what I wanted; I thought workshops are too time- consuming and tiring, not to mention I thought they won't really pay me well.

But somewhere along the way, I felt something; I've been wanting to be of service to my community, but I didn't want to be pretentious and engage in something like tree planting or doing feeding programs because clearly, these aren't the things I'm interested in; I've been wanting to share a part of me for the betterment of the community while still doing what I love and makeup is the obvious choice. This feeling of wanting to be of service, it must be aging!

Makeup workshops, all of a sudden, felt kinda' right.

And an opportunity was presented to me right away!

A colleague of mine, Mica, who's now a professor in our alma mater, UP Diliman, invited me over to hold a makeup and imaging workshop for her project with DSCTA (Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts; I'm a CAL girl, btw). Without hesitation, I just said "Sure, I'll do it." I curated a topic for the group (I asked what their makeup concerns are and it's Job Interview makeup), built a module, packed my PRO makeup products and tools, and whipped up a Basic Makeup + Job Interview Makeup for my class for the day.

Even though the masterclass was announce a couple of days before the date, a good number of people had attended, still. I handled 9 girls from various departments at CAL, each having their own personality and story.

I started with skin care because I really believe that it is a pre-requisite for great makeup. I taught the girls various techniques on how to find the skin care of their choice and the important foundations of skin care; here are the highlights:

Right products for your skin type + Great products= important foundations of skin care

Cleanse + Tone + Moisturize + Protect + Exfoliate twice a week= a good basic skin care regimen

Next, I proceeded to makeup; I discussed basic makeup with the three pillars of job interview makeup: Foundation/Concealer, Contour/Blush, Eyeshadow, and Brows; I also taught them the importance of finding their skin type, skin tone, undertone, face shape, and brow shape. This pretty lady, Lian, who's a Theatre Arts sophomore was my model for the day.

Some important takeaways from this segment:

1. Get to know your skin type and skin tone; this is vital to finding the right makeup products for you.

2. Use only the makeup that you need; if you don't feel you need concealer, then don't use one.

3. Stick to mattes and neutrals; they're the easiest to use, friendliest on all skin tones, and generally job interview safe

4. For job interview makeup, remember this: K.I.S.S.; Keep It Sweet And Simple

I also breezed through Job Interview clothes styling because we only had 2 hrs. and 30 mis. for the workshop.

 Guests materializing what I taught on the face charts.

Voila! This is Job Interview makeup. :)

The ladies were very eager to listen and learn from my workshop; some were game to put makeup on their faces and the others worked the colors on the face charts; there was Mia, the eldest in the group who's a makeup lover (as evident in her Urban Decay palettes and decently blended eyeshadow!) and The Beauty Junkee reader, Crizel, a lovely morena who's embracing her skin tone, and JY, a cute, little lady whose story struck me: she asked me in class about my brow advice on women who were naturally born with eyes and brows that are far apart; when I got the chance to get close to her, I saw what she was talking about and also noticed a stitched line on her forehead, which was magnifying the gap between her brows and eyes; I asked her about it and she muttered in passing "I was bullied." Hearing that made me feel terrible so I promised that I'll do her brows after the workshop; after giving her thicker, neater brows that made the gap on her forehead look narrower, she was very ecstatic and exclaimed "OMG! I finally have brows!" That made me realize why I've been having the urge to teach through workshops: it's because of women like JY who are always seeking for the best version of themselves no matter their situation; I realized that makeup, more than a beautifying tool, is a silver lining; it's hope to start anew and become more beautiful.

Thank you, ladies for this opportunity; I've learned something about myself too.

Thank you for the opportunity and the takeaways!

There are some many interesting things that I said in the workshop and they're too many to mention here! I'd love to bring this workshop to other institutions and share what I know about makeup; let's see if this is another evolution for The Beauty Junkee!

STAY TUNED: I'm announcing the deets of TBJ Turns 7 Thanksgiving MEGA Party. Who wants in? Be sure to visit my blog on March 28, 2016 for the full deets!