Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara Review

I was super excited when I heard about the Fairydrops mascara at Sephora (CDN$28).  The girl said that it was very popular and sells like hot cakes!  She also said it's similar to Fiberwig Mascara (another popular Japanese mascara).  It came in a shiny cute package!

 

It has "5 Kinds of Treatment Essences" (squalene, jojoba seed oil, pathenol, hydrolyzed collagen, sodium hyaluronate - most ingredients used in cell rebuilding and maintenance) and an "Eyelash Curler Function".  It also claims that it is water-resistant, won't smudge, and is easily removed with warm water.

Pretty standard size at 7.2ml (0.28 fl. oz).

The mascara wand was slightly curved with three fatter ball shape fibres to help catch all the lashes.  This is a very similar brush shape to the Rimmel London Sexy Curves mascara wand (in which I loved the mascara wand because it separated clumps and grabbed a hold of ALL my lashes!!!...but HATED the mascara formula!).

The Fairydrops Tokyo mascara was very similar to the Fiberwig mascara formula in that it had little fiber strands mixed into the mascara formula (can you see the little fibers??).  The fibers help lengthen and adds volume to the lashes.  However, if you're not careful to comb through the lashes, one little awkwardly placed fibre can make the lashes look weird.

My lashes are stick straight, and they grow downwards.  They're also very thin and slightly sparse...making them look non-existent.

Curling them is an essential routine every morning!

 This is with one coat of the Fairydrops Scandal Queen mascara!

 

After a few seconds of examining the results - I really felt like I needed more!  Therefore, I put on another coat.  It kind of started getting somewhat clumpy and I could start seeing the fibers stick out.

After maybe 10 minutes or so...I noticed that it started getting droopy...It didn't keep the curl as nice as a regular waterproof mascara would (e.g. Covergirl Lashblast Waterproof Mascara or Maybelline Falsies Waterproof Mascara - still my fave).  It also flaked a teensy bit onto my cheek throughout the day.  Smudging was really minimal though.

Soooo disappointing for a $28 mascara that promised me the world...I decided to see how water resistant the mascara was.  I put a few drops on my fingers and lightly rubbed the mascara on my lashes.

Umm...it definitely does not come off like the Kissme Mascara like some people have told me.  It came off pretty smudgidly...if you know what I mean...with little clumps of the mascara.  I'm not sure how well this would fair on a rainy day.  Seriously, can someone tell me the point of a water-resistant mascara?  It's either waterproof or not waterproof.

Overall, I would not recommend this mascara to someone who has stick straight lashes like I do.  If you have naturally wonderful, curled lashes, this would be an appropriate mascara.  Also, if you are looking for a non-waterproof mascara...this also, would be an appropriate mascara.  Personally, I'm probably going to return it.  Even if I were to buy a separate one for my kit, I can't use this kind of formulation on brides anyways.

Hope this helped!

Makeup Artist Resume

I got a Facebook message from one of my contacts, Stacey Mullings, from A Pleasury of A-Lines of B-Lines - that one of her friends from the East coast was doing the Taylor Swift concert and they needed makeup artists in Edmonton!  I got in touch with Bobby from Triple Point Interactions...

Bobby and I communicated via emails since his company was based in the States.  Wow, a lot had to be done to be hired as a Brand Ambassador - Makeup Artist for CoverGirl.  I had to send in a make-up artist resume, a headshot, a security/background check, and sign a confidentiality form.  They also sent over a list of CovergGirl Natureluxe products to memorize and promote.  All this for $18/hr for 2 days from 4pm-9pm...but it will be an experience! 

Because I have background in business, it was really easy for me to type up a coverletter and resume for the event.  Bobby also asked me to send the event information to makeup artists that I knew.  A lot of them did not have makeup artist resumes on hand, nor even knew where to begin...so I thought I'd share mine!

I've changed some of the font to pink.  The pink font are the words that you should be substituting on your own (e.g. your name, your information, your education and experiences relating to makeup). 

The first paragraph states which job position you will be applying for.  The second paragraph states what your education for makeup entails.  The third paragraph lets the reader know what kind of experiences you have.  With technology savvy people nowadays, put your portfolio link in there so the reader can look up your work online (especially if the job is being procured through a far away location).  The fourth paragraph provides your contact information and thanks the reader for their time.  The whole point of the coverletter is to hook the reader so they will take interest in reading your resume.

 In the makeup resume, pictures are worth more than a thousand words so add that link to your portfolio!  I started with my education, then experiences.  I juiced it up by adding my achievements and collaborations.  Your resume could be one to two pages.  Don't go over 2 pages - nobody wants to read a novel.  I thought mine was already pretty darn wordy.

TIPS:

- List the dates in each category from the most recent to lease recent

- Make sure the education and experiences you list are makeup related (no one cares that I'm an accountant by day...*instant yawn*)

- Print out your coverletter and resume and proofread it (e.g. grammar and punctuations).  It's so much easier to mark a piece of paper rather than stare at a screen.  It's also easier to look at the white space (make sure the resume is balanced and not like 1.5 pages....fill those gaps in with spaces between paragraphs so the whole thing looks even/balanced and polished).

- Get someone else to read it.  Ask them if the coverletter and resume is good enough so that it would interest them in asking you for an interview.

 
Remember, the coverletter and resume is there to hook you an interview.  Being your sassy self is the other part of securing the job *snap snap*.  Remain professional and always exude like you know what you're doing.  As a makeup artist, you are a leader - leading women by helping them feel more confident.  Good luck!

How to Cover Tattoos ...or NOT - Horrible First Time!

Sorry for the late post...I had a pretty damaging weekend.  I had one wedding at 3:45am and another one at 9:20am (and another client in the afternoon).  Both weddings had tattoo coverage issues!!!  

I am not experienced with covering tattoos!  So I thought I'd share my story in my adventures in tattoo coverage as a noob.

I use MAC Prolong Wear concealer, which is not heavy enough to cover their tattoos. I usually recommend going to a costume or tattoo shop to buy special tattoo concealers.  I don't cover enough tattoos to make it a worthy purchase for my kit  (I covered 1 in one year last year...some girl had a star on her cheek!!).

(fail as a tattoo coverage)

The first bride bought a Makeup Forever orange lipliner?!  WHY?!  The Sephora associate told her that orange cancelled out black.  The other concealer was also a cream base so the orange creaminess of the liner and the Ben Nye concealer blended in with each other...it ended up like a horrible orange splotch on the arm!

(fail as a tattoo coverage)

We took that off and tried again with using only the other concealer she bought, which was the Ben Nye concealer wheel that she bought from Karrie's Kostumes in St.Albert.  By this time, the groom was really close to barging in the door (they were playing door games at the time) so my time frame was super small and I was panicking due to time constraints!  Ugghghg...the wheel was really awesome at covering it but all 4 colors in the wheel didn't match her skin color!

(semi-failed only because it was the skin wrong color but provided pretty good coverage)

Panicking some more, I ran and grabbed my MAC Prolong Wear concealer and started going over top of the Ben Nye product.  It covered okay but the color showed through a bit.  I'm not sure if I didn't put enough Ben Nye product on or if the Prolongwear concealer took off the Ben Nye product.

After I tried matching the color as close as possible, I used a triangle makeup sponge and dipped it in Pros-Aide.

(goes over top the creamy product on the skin)

(dusted over pros-aide:  awesome for drawn-on tattoo preservation, no good for tattoo coverage!)

Pros-aide is a prosthetics glue.  I used it previously to preserve cream makeup on a model once.  I colored in her tattoo with the Makeup Forever Flash Pallette and then used the glue to swipe over it so that the cream wouldn't smear.  Then I dusted it with the Makeup Forever HD powder (translucent).  The models said she had a hard time getting it off...It's supposed to keep the cream tattoo on for days... (as per Ashly McKessock and her Makeup Artists Magazine!).

(used pros-aide over top of right arm tattoo for extra longevity and anti-smearing of creamy products!)

After dipping the sponge, I swiped it over the bride's tattoo coverage thinking I could help her preserve it better so it wouldn't smear....and then I dusted it with translucent powder.  *SIGH*  PROBLEM!

The translucent powder showed up against the glue?!  I guess it will work with colored tattoos, but not skin-covered-trying-to-cover-a-tattoo-concealer.  So I shoved on some more MAC concealer and patted it with some pressed powder (not translucent).

(I personally think it turned out looking like a bruise...pretty sure some of the black was still peeking through despite the slathered concealers....)

(she changed dresses in the evening and took off the concealers)

The second bride had a tattoo on her left chest just about her left boob...it was of a black heart thing...it was mostly lasered off so the blackness of the tattoo wasn't as black.  There was tissue scarring though.  Naomi had also previously gone to Sephora to check out Cover F/X (which is a brand known to cover tattoos) and she couldn't find her shade...she said it was too orange.  She bought a Makeup Forever concealer pencil and the Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer.

(The pencil did nothing for her faded tattoo.  Nothing.  If you're reading this, Naomi...return it.)

The Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer worked really well!!!  The Sephora associate matched her up with the right color and it was heavy enough to cover up her faded tattoo!  I didn't even use that many layers..maybe like 2 layers!  I'm not sure how it would look on a full on black tribal  tattoo...but this one was successful.  Good purchase!

In Summary:
MAC Prolong Wear Concealer ($20):  FAIL (not meant for tattoo coverage anyway)
Makeup Forever Orange pencil ($17):  FAIL
Ben Nye Concealer Wheel ($18):  SEMI-FAIL (would be a success if it were the right color)
Makeup Forever concealer pencil (US$18):  FAIL
Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer (US$30):  SUCCESS! (on a faded tattoo..and my guess, probably good on a tribal black tattoo too after a few layers!)

Check out this other blog for some other top tattoo concealers:
http://thingsfestive.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattoo-concealer-which-provides-best.html

What to do on your Trial or Wedding Day

I wanted to write a quick blog on what to do before your makeup artist arrives to do your trial or wedding makeup!

1)  Prep your skin with your daily routine - cleaning, toning, and moisturizing.   Make sure the moisturizer you are using is oil-free.  Moisturizers that are not oil-free tends to break down the makeup faster.

2)  Provide an area with natural lighting, table, and chair.   This is pretty obvious...to some people... but some people sometimes bring us into their basement (scary!) with either that yellow lighting or flourscent lighting (even scarier!). 

3)  Inform your makeup artist about any concerns you might have before hand!  For example, if you have any allergies or tattoos - it would be awesome to inform your makeup artist before hand.  I've had clients who were allergic to Vitamin E, latex, and red dyes... I usually recommend clients to purchase their own tattoo cover-up at a tattoo shop...because sometimes regular ol' concealer can't cover it.

4)  Have a camera ready!  After the makeup application, take some pictures outside in the sun (one shot with your eyes open, and one shot with your eyes closed) and take some pictures indoor (one shot with your eyes open, and one shot with your eyes closed).  This will show you what your makeup will look like on camera both indoors and outdoors.  Mind you, your photographer's camera is probably 10x better than the regular camera but at least it'll give you an idea.

 
5)  Wear a zippable hoodie because when you take off your clothes to dress up in your wedding dress or evening attire, the makeup (and hair) won't get messed up.

Hope this helps!