Archive for February, 2010

Nail Colours for Spring

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

dieselOur hands have been all wrapped up for winter in gloves and mittens but with the first daffodils popping out in Stephen’s Green it’s time to think about nails again. As a professional make up artist you want your hands to look great all day long and then apply the same tips to looking after your clients.

Simple things to remember include always applying a base coat, using a good quality polish and finish off with a transparent top-coat to stop chipping. At work make sure your clients sit still and let their nails dry before they answer the phone or pull on shoes again. It’s very difficult to fill in bits without re-doing the nail or even the whole hand again; not good for her or for you.

You could try using the Nail Doctor as recommended on Beaut.ie - spritz it onto the final coat to speed up the drying process. You don’t have to spend a fortune to find good polish but do look for brands with staying power and a good shine. Pop into Tescos for the Barbara Daly range if you need good value polishes for practice sessions – at €5 a pop you can’t go wrong. Read about it here on the Off the Rails site. Another surprising place to find budget nail polish is Marks and Sparks; their Mini Nail Colour Collection gives you lots of scope to mix and match. But for polish with a deep pigment for that film-star glow you need to move up the scale. Our MUAs love the new Chanel colours and Lancôme all of which you can find in Dublin.

Tell us which colours you’re using this Spring!

LA Make-Up Goes to India

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

shantaWell, not quite. But Lorraine O’ Neill is over there and she’s not on holidays. Every year Lorraine leaves behind the challenges of running a busy makeup business and takes on a whole new lifestyle for a month. While her make up students are getting ready for another round of classes she’s volunteering in what she describes as a tiny village school in the Indian countryside. No poolside margaritas; more like dhal and chapatis for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can see in the photos that her love of teaching and ability to inspire students is still going strong! And of course she’s flying the Irish flag. In spite of her glamorous lifestyle here in Dublin, Lorraine never forgets how lucky we are to live where we live. Recession or no recession there is always someone out there who needs a helping hand. She is working on setting up a charity to give more regular aid to the children she’s fallen in love with; we’ll keep you updated on how that goes.

We’re so proud of her and delighted to see how the LA spirit can affect everyone!

Jobs in the Make-Up Industry

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

la-make-up

We know you love makeup but did you know how many different ways you can use that love to make a make-up career for yourself? Read this list of cosmetic careers and see what you’d like!

  1. Sail on a cruise ship
  2. Charities: helping cancer survivors look great
  3. Work on music videos
  4. Weddings
  5. Fashion shows
  6. Set up a business with a photographer
  7. Personal makeup artist to a celebrity
  8. Political make up - start with Bertie!
  9. Theatre companies
  10. Magazines
  11. Special Effects for film or TV
  12. Character Makeup for film, TV or stage
  13. Beauty counter in a department store or branded shop; advisors and managers
  14. Spas and salons
  15. Modelling agencies
  16. Teaching makeup classes and skills
  17. Direct selling with Avon or other similar companies
  18. Nail technician
  19. Beauty Therapist
  20. Advertising products or services

Which job sounds good to you?!

Treatment of the Month: Stone Therapy

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

hot-stone-therapyMassages are no longer just a simple foot rub; students on the LA Beauty Therapy course will learn about five different massage techniques. One of the most interesting is the Stone Therapy Massage.

This involves hot and cold stones; basalt and marble, which are carefully placed on specific areas of the body. These key areas vary from treatment to treatment depending on the client’s needs. Clients will love how relaxed they feel but it can also help in treating muscle pains, arthritic conditions, back pain or stress. Therapists learn how to alternate hot and cold stones with hand massage to reduce symptoms or simply create a mellow, relaxed experience. The stones are oiled before use with essential oils so they rest easily on the skin.

The basic principle is the same as those crazy Swedes jumping from a toasty sauna into a freezing lake; the change from hot to cold and back again helps the healing process. When you’re training in this treatment, just remember to tell clients to let you know if the hot stones are too hot. You want everyone to feel relaxed not sunburnt! Sounds interesting? Contact us at the Dublin office for a chat about the LA Beauty Therapy Course.

Have you ever tried Stone Therapy Massage?

Concealer for Men & Women

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

male-make-up-2As a professional make-up artist, one of your main jobs is to make the client look good. From beginners to stars, everyone wants to shine. Well, maybe not too shiny. Concealer is the secret weapon in most make up bags but it can go scarily wrong. Look at this shot of Nicole Kidman on The Style Bitches blog; we would never allow one of our clients to walk the red carpet looking like this.

Really you shouldn’t be able to look at a face and see the concealer. We’re hoping that our clients just glow and shimmer their way through the day.

There are so many great ranges out there - remember to match the concealer to your client’s skin colour. A good makeup artist will always carry a selection of colours and be prepared to blend, blend, blend to make it work. Male skin is often drier than female so use a rich product like this Clinique Concealer for Men It comes in a shiny, silver tube so there’s nothing feminine to scare them off!

Beaut.ie told us about the new Bourjois Conealer; in shops soon and with lots of pale shades for our winter skin. And there are some more tips on the LA Blog here

Share your favourite concealers with us!