Makeup Madness: Girly Date with Berrymix and the NARS Workshop with Janice Daoud

Instagram pic from that day

Last Friday, I had a girly date with my friend Sheva of Beauty by Berrymix at Shang. We had lunch at Watami and attended the NARS Workshop organized by Rustan's. It was fun and a half! Here's how the day went.

Former housemates!

We had a catch-up lunch at Watami first. It's hard for me and Sheva to hang out nowadays because we live in different and far-apart cities, but being former housemates, we always always always need to catch up. We just make up for the distance with lots of quick lunches and dinners. This was one of those major kwento (story) lunches of ours where there was just so much to talk about!

  Sheva

Me

Us

After lunch, we proceeded to Rustan's. The NARS workshop by international makeup artist Janice Daoud was held at the store's beauty section. We were surprised to find that it was a small event! We knew there were several batches, but we didn't expect it to be that intimate. There were only around 20 attendees, which was great because it felt like everything was so accessible. We could hear Janice clearly, we were able to see the model's face during the demo, and nobody felt conscious about interacting with Janice. It was a great format for an event of that sort.

  

I learned so much from Janice that day! She told a few fashion and celebrity behind-the-scenes makeup anecdotes that were really amusing. Then she did a product demo on half of the model's face so we could see the before and after. It's a shame she had to skip steps like mascara and eyebrows due to time constraints. I would have loved to see how she does those too. 

The main thing that I learned from her is to never forget to prep the face before makeup. "To not prime is a crime!" Toner, moisturizer, and eye cream are essentials. She also said that the best time to apply toner is in the morning, which really resonated with me because I do it at night. 

TIP: Apply eye cream around the mouth to help your smile lines. I thought, that would probably help the dry areas around my lips as well. 

Janice explained that NARS doesn't sell a foundation brush because they believe that hands are the best foundation applicators. She did say that she uses a sponge for people who don't like having their faces touched. It made me feel better for liking hand application! I sometimes feel like I have to use a brush or sponge just because others do. [Quick story: I started applying liquid foundation with my hands when I saw a Tanya Burr video where she used the same foundation I was using and applied it using her hands. However I keep alternating between my hands and sponges even if hands were more comfortable and easier to control for me because I feel like sponges are more accepted. I don't know.] Now I have the license to use my hands, yay!

  

Janice taught us a few hand motions for applying foundation and other products. For foundation, you kind of make a light swishing movement with your hands in a the shape of the letter J. For other products, just pat very lightly, never swipe. Using your ring finger to do it also helps so you don't overdo things. I've been doing that forever anyway because I really tend to be heavy-handed with makeup. 

TIP: To apply foundation, just pat it on with a few dots all over the face, and then spread lightly. 

TIP: To brighten up the face draw triangles on the cheeks underneath the eyes with concealer. It sort of pulls the face up, making it appear tighter. 

I loved how she said we should be more adventurous and try colors other than neutrals, because you know me, I love color. She actually had on a bright blue liner on her lower lash line, and she used the new NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Timanfaya on the model, which is a mandarin red shade.  

It's funny that my love for color was pretty obvious with my look that day. When we came up to her, she told me, "Hey. You liked that lip pencil, didn't you?" I told her of course I did, heh.

By the way, Janice's look was impeccable! Well, she's gorgeous anyway, but her makeup was flawless. Everyone loved her lips and she said everything she used actually comes in a NARS set. We checked it out at the store, but I forgot what it's called. I think it's the Baiser De Feu Bold Lip Kit but I could be wrong.

After the workshop and taking pictures with Janice, we proceeded to the NARS counter in Rustan's. Sheva and I went swatch-happy! Here's the stuff I checked out:

The Multiple in Na Pali Coast. Janice used this on the model and it looked so pretty! It has a subtle glow on my skin. Definitely considering getting this in the future.

Radiant Creamy Concealer. I wanted to find out what my shade was, and Lara, the sales assistant had me check out Custard and Ginger. I think Custard is the closest to my skin tone.

I had to see the new Timanfaya Satin Lip Pencil! It was what I came to check out, actually. I mean, it's orange! I couldn't make up my mind about it though because when I swatched it, the shade seemed too close to the orange lip colors I already have in my stash. I need to branch out a bit.

NARSissists

The funny thing is, I came home with nail polish! It's Wind Dancer -- a limited edition cantaloupe orange opaque lacquer from the Spring 2014 collection. I love unique orange shades, so this was a must-buy for me. I actually already had it in mind days before the workshop, when the Spring 2014 collection was launched. I'm so excited to try it.

Just like that, it was over. Sheva and I headed to Dome to rehash the day's events and check out our purchases over coffee and tea. It was a fun, fun, fun day!

Do you have a favorite NARS product? Let me know in the comments!