I attended a Masterclass with makeup artist Emma Chen and learnt all about skin prep, products and her top techniques. Here are all the tips and tricks I learnt.
To say I was excited for MECCALAND was an understatement. If you know me, you know I live and breathe for makeup, so just the idea of a makeup festival blew my mind. I made sure to buy my tickets the day they came out and I treated myself to the Pro Pass experience. I really loved the idea of having a master class with a renowned makeup artist and when I saw Emma Chen (an Australian makeup artist known for her signature bronzed, glowy and my-face-but-better makeup looks) was one of the artists giving a class, I knew I had to go. In preparation I pinned potential makeup looks on Pinterest until I found the one and did my research on what new releases were being showcased.
Meccaland far exceeded my expectations and I had the best day immersed in all thing‘s beauty, free samples and festival vibes, so-much-so I had to end the day with a face mask to recuperate. The highlight of the day for me was learning makeup from Emma Chen. This blog post will focus on all the tips and tricks she taught us and the products she and Mecca gifted us to recreate her look at home. So get out your note pads and let‘s get started!
All of my makeup knowledge comes straight from watching YouTube tutorials, so having an intimate face-to-face Masterclass with a makeup artist was a new and really cool experience for me. As part of our class we were given a goodie bag full of makeup hand-chosen by Chen herself that we would use to recreate her look. These are the products she chose:
- By Terry Baume de Rose Face Cream. This is a new favourite as it sits under makeup perfectly and smells divine.
- Mecca Max Liquid Light in Rose Quartz.
- Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops.
- Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna. Can you believe I have never owned this cult product? I was so excited to finally add it to my collection.
- Nars Oil-Infused Lip Tint in Orgasm. I love this lip oil. It’s so nourishing and adds that iconic Orgasm colour to the lips.
- Urban Decay Perversion Mascara sample.
- Mecca Cosmetica 5-piece brush set. Who doesn’t love getting free brushes? Especially when they’re as soft and fluffy as these ones are!
- Mecca Max face sponges. These are the only things I didn’t like as they’re really hard and tricky to use. I prefer my Beauty Blender as it’s much softer, applies product better and doesn’t soak up all my product.
The class was mainly focused on complexion and you can bet I was taking notes as Emma was demonstrating! Here are some of the key points I wanted to share from our lesson.
- Give your skin time to absorb each layer of skin care. Often by the time we get to foundation, we have already applied serum, moisturizer, eye cream, primer and illuminator. That’s a lot of product and if we don’t give each layer enough time to absorb, our foundation will slip around and not melt into the skin.
- Liquid products such as bronzer, blush and highlighter add dimension to the face rather than coverage. Typically, powder products add coverage to the face and if you’re layering lots of products, it can become a bit cakey. To avoid this, Emma recommended going between liquid and powder products to add dimension instead of unwanted coverage.
- Emma blended in her model‘s foundation using a brush and recommended to use one that’s soft and fluffy. This allows you to create a more airbrushed finish. One of the Mecca staff added, “Soft fluffy brushes = soft fluffy edges”. Emma also applied the foundation to her hand first and worked the product into her brush before applying it to the face. This added to the airbrushed finish.
- When applying foundation, Emma built up the coverage gradually and spot concealed where necessary. A thinner layer of foundation with targeted spot concealing wears better throughout the day.
- Emma loves using liquid products on top of her base makeup and her tip for applying them without lifting the product underneath is to use very little product on a fluffy blush and layering it up gradually. She used the Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Sunshine Drops as a liquid bronzer and applied some to the back of her hand first and picked up small amounts with her brush. She uses the same technique with liquid blush and highlighter.
- To minimize the appearance of texture, keep illuminating products away as they can emphasize these areas.
On top of these tips, Emma mentioned throughout the class other products that she highly recommended. I made sure to jot these down!
- Laura Mercier Radiance Foundation Primer. I bought this after the class because it was so nice and dewy and I have been wearing it ever since – it’s a beautiful product.
- Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer. Emma recommended this when I asked her what product would be a good for filling in pores and she said this is perfect for evening out any texture on the face whilst also acting as a primer.
- Nars Liquid Blush in Luster. This is one of Emma’s favourite liquid blushes and it’s a beautiful sheer golden apricot. I’ve got my eye on this one.
- By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder. Emma couldn’t stop raving about this ultra-finely milled powder that she always uses to set the face. This is the height of luxury when it comes to powders (a full size will set you back $89) but it honestly made my face feel so smooth after it had been applied.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Pro Pass Experience at MECCALAND as it made me so pumped for the rest of the day’s festivities. I left the Masterclass feeling really inspired and invigorated to play around with new makeup products and techniques and push myself out of my comfort zone. Being able to be surrounded by likeminded people who all share the same love and passion for makeup was a truly awesome experience.
I hope you discovered some new tips or products to try out in this post! I would love to hear of any makeup application tips you may have or what you thought of MECCALAND if you went!