When I attended the Malene Grotrian studio show, I entered the door prize draw and won a $50 gift certificate for Mary Kay cosmetics as well as a free session with Mary Kay consultant Angela Murphy. I invited Food Fanatic and MizzJ to come along with me to Angela's home for the session last Thursday.
40 minutes, a bungled bus ride, and a sheepish call to Angela later, we arrived at her house. Angela had set up makeup stations for all of us. The evening passed by in a blur of girl talk and makeup and skincare know-how. We started off exfoliating and moisturizing our hands, then cleansed and primed our skin and began applying makeup. As we experimented, Angela offered advice and factoids.
I definitely learned a couple of new things:
- There are 5 steps to proper skin care: cleansing, toning, moisturizing, exfoliating, and applying a protectant.
- Foundation acts as a protectant; that is, it's the layer standing between your skin and the pollutants floating around in the air. This means that dirt and pollutants will stick to your makeup instead of your bare skin.
- Massage in upward motions when you cleanse your face and neck to prevent wrinkles.
At our request, Angela also went through our makeup bags and reviewed our makeup and colour choices. I was so afraid she would pull out a palette or a lip gloss and say "What were you thinking?!" and toss it out, but in the end she approved of most of my choices. One extremely old lip gloss and a tawny pale lipstick didn't make the cut, though.
So, at the end of the evening, what did I end up spending my money on?
The TimeWise Night Solution promises to rejuvenate skin as you sleep and purify pores. Cool, I could do with some rejuvenating.
I've wanted to try eye primer for ages now and see if it makes my coloured eyeshadows stick any better. Now seemed a perfect time to spring for one.
I love Mary Kay! One of my cousins is a consultant!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of steps.
ReplyDeleteAnd...um, wouldn't moisturizer count as a "protectant"? Also if you have sensitive skin, you probably don't want to exfoliate every day but more like every 2-3 days. Also, I'm not so sure about the toner. My derm said it wasn't really necessary, so I'm curious if all these claims made by cosmetic companies are true, or to what degree they're true.
Anyway, sounds like a fun, girly night.
megs
Sounds like a fun make up session! I absolutely love talking about make up and finding out new tips and tricks, so thanks for sharing what you've learned with us.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Mimi
Eee that was such a fun night! I gather you haven't gotten our group photo yet either from her :( I'm wearing the bronzer right now and it's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI do have to say that I have the same doubts as Megs about the foundation as protectant thing and I'd like to see some further proof of this claim.
Megs and MizzJ, I'm a bit skeptical myself of how effective foundation is as a protectant. And Megs, you're right about exfoliation being more of a "once a week" thing. As for toner, I find it too drying on my skin to use every day, but sometimes it feels nice on my skin in the summer.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! Lucky girl; great choices :)
ReplyDeletexoxox,
CC
sounds like a fun night.
ReplyDeletei was at the body shop yesterday, and they told me that toner is used to take off any residue that may be left on your face from cleansing. so i take that as it's less important, but if you can afford it and have time, then do it. comparing from when i do and don't use toner, i don't see/feel much of a difference.
maybe the idea of foundation as a protectant is because moisturizer is suppose to hydrate your skin, rather than stay on top of it (think how oily you'd be!), so foundation is meant to stay more on the surface creating a barrier between pollutants and your skin. not sure if that is actually it, but makes sense, i suppose.
I'm too lazy for too many steps. I'm happy if I wash my face and slap on some Aveeno once in a while.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun night.
ReplyDeleteI had something like that once with Mary Kay and ended up having a huge allergic reaction to all every little thing. Glad you night was good
Yikes Namine! I wonder if it was a specific ingredient that caused that reaction.
ReplyDeletetotally unrelated, but i LOVE and ADORE the new banner!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Macky, and anyone else admiring the banner! Truth be told, I can't take credit for it--the Russian designed it for me. =)
ReplyDeleteLucky you! I'm biased with the make up I use. I only use Bare Escentuals. It's really just because that's all I know how to wear.
ReplyDeleteI've never tried Mary Kay products, but that TimeWise Night Solution sounds cool. Let us know if you see a difference!
ReplyDeleteI've never won anything in my life! Lucky you! Makeovers are always fun =))
ReplyDeleteOoh, I've heard things about eye primer. It seems sort of like...'another thing', you know, but I'll admit, I've been tempted by the eye primer in Sephora. You'll have to let us all know whether it's helpful!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great experience!!
ReplyDeleteI actually went to the exact same makeup session at a coffee shop nearby here. I like it, I just with the consultant would stop calling me, trying to get me to sell her products. I have FIVE unheard voicemails from her received in the last week.
ReplyDeleteAlso, is their makeup remover not AWESOME? I ended up buying some of that and the hand and lip treatment.
ReplyDelete