Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Make Up Store makeover with Maria Gabriel

A while back I had the opportunity to get a makeover at the Make Up Store with the inspiring Maria Gabriel, who holds the position of Creative Director and General Manager of the Australia arm of Make Up Store. I was delighted to get a chance to learn more about a brand I wasn't entirely familiar with, and even more elated when I met friendly Maria and my makeover began.
Maria sat me down and we chatted about options for the look she was going to create. I told her that she had free range, but that I'd love to have gel liner applied as it's something I have trouble with.
A sneaky mirror shot, and you can see Maria rushing around behind me snatching up Make Up Store goodies to complement my mug. I mentioned that I did bright eye looks quite a bit so would love her to show me how to do a subdued look, so that is what we went with.
A subdued palette with a splash of purple, a colour that I find hard to use.
Maria began (after removing what I had on already) with the Skin Serum as primer, which glided over my skin and was very comfortable on.
Let me tell you, Maria had her work cut out for her because my skin has been really acting up lately, and she had a ton of bad skin to cover up! She said that my skin wasn't in as dire a shape as I believed it to be, and told me that porcelain skin naturally shows redness and imperfections more prominently than other skin tones so that it seemed much worse than it really was. Morale, boosted!
Maria used Cover All Mix which is a trio of concealer colours with high pigmentation, and can be mixed to the correct colour to hide blemishes, undereye areas and general pigmentation. Maria mixed a little of the Skin Serum in with the concealers on her metal palette in order to get a more fluid consistency for certain areas, which is a tip that I think is golden. She used this under the foundation, and said applying concealer either over or under foundation is fine by her.
She finished my face with Liquid Foundation in Cream and some Wonder Powder in Sahara. Getting to work on my eyes, Maria used a mixture of neutral shades over my lids, with a touch of purple in the outer corners. The chosen shades were Glam Peach, Sibiria, Boeme, Venus and the purple Flamenco.
Maria lined my eyes with black gel liner with brush #103 from their extensive brush range, which is an amazing teensy little brush that I would never think to use for gel liner! Stored that into my wishlist, along with some tips for application that Maria shared with me. I lamented my lack of gel liner prowess, and she said that feathering liner in from the outside inwards is the best way to go about it, as doing it the other way in one go will never work due to the natural squint of the eye! It makes sense when you think about it.
My completed look was subtle, with Maria using Old Rose lip pencil under Plumb lipstick and filling in my brows. I normally lean towards more dramatic looks with my eyes, so was happy to dip my toe into this sort of style.
Forgive the shiny forehead due to flash. This is the look complete with lipstick and brows.
It was a pleasure to have Maria share her wisdom with me whilst making me over, and she was also kind enough to gift with me a few Make Up Store products to play around with at home (I will have reviews of these up once I've used them a little more)

Thank you to Keryn who arranged this makeover, and to Maria for being so lovely. For more information on Make Up Store and to find your nearest counter (worldwide!) click here. They have great classes available as well, you should definitely check them out!

Have you tried any Make Up Store products?
I would love some recommendations! I have my eye on some of their shadows, they look amazing and I adore the sturdy and stylish packaging they are housed in.

20 comments:

  1. Oooh what a nice pamper session hon! you look gorgeous :-) i've yet to try out the makeup store

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    1. Thanks Jo! I had always had a little look but never delved into their store, I'm so glad I had the opportunity :)

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  2. You look amazing! Your skin is so nice and translucent. I don't think you should worry about redness and things like that because like she said, porcelain skin tends to show that pigmentation more. My skin is very red in the mornings!

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    1. You are so sweet! I find it hard sometimes to work with such pale skin without looking ill, so it was nice to hear that that isn't the case :)

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  3. Ooh, check you out! Hubba, hubba. I've tried a few eye dusts and a couple microshadows and cybershadows. Very nice quality. Pricey though.

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    1. Ahh no no! Haha no, but thank you. Yes they are quite pricy but I think a colour or two from them wouldn't go astray in my collection ;)

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  4. What a fabulous experience! I love reading and seeing pictures of makeovers. Your dress (and the belt) is so pretty :)

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    1. Thanks Dovey! I love seeing them too, always nice to be able to share an experience. I wore that dress on my birthday to lunch, it's so lovely :)

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  5. Wowee! You look gorgeous and I love your dress too!

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  6. You are the prettiest girl! I think I always say that to you. Sorry if I'm freaking you out... lol :P

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    1. Haha no way, but thank you! It doesn't freak me out, it makes my freakin' day!! :D xx

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  7. Ack! You're so adorable. :D It looks great. I haven't tried any of their products yet, will have to check them out.

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    1. Thanks Peta:) It was so much fun, and I really love the packaging of their shadows x

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  8. I've got a few things I bought from Makeup Store in Singapore a couple of years ago and I often walk past the stand in Myer and play with the testers! Just like everyone else I noticed your dress as much as the makeup - cute! Where'd you score that from?

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    1. Yeah I perused the Thai counter but was good and didn't get anything, thought I'd wait till I go home and was able to get Myer points haha. It's just a Temt or Valleygirl I think, I saw it when out with my Mum and she bought it for me to wear to my birthday:D I love the colours in it, so autumn like. xx

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  9. very very pretty!!

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