Hi my loves, I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the week. Yesterday I attended The Napoleon Perdis Masterclass. Can I just firstly say how nerve racking it is to be posing with models who are absolutely stunning? Ahh but the lighting though, you guys know I cannot deny a good photo! Now lets get into todays topic!

You all know how much I thrive off of people who share their success stories, it inspires me! Napoleon Perdis was nothing less! As he got on stage in front of all the excited make up lovers, he started of by talking about himself, how he started off and how he managed to make Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics a line that is well known and all it’s glory.  For some of you guys that have been supporting me from the beginning you know that this is my passion and I do want to make this my career. It was amazing to be listening to someone who has such passion and love for what he does and he worked hard and made that into his career. He talked about how he asked for things (from God or the universe, depending on your beliefs), from this he asked us all to get a piece of paper and write down what we want in life and ask for it. We kept that paper somewhere safe so later we can look at it and actually take a moment and ask for it. We have to work hard, yes but also asking for it makes that goal or whatever you want a reality by actually saying it out loud (If that makes sense). I am not someone who is just inspired by one person, I get inspiration from everyone and everything. This masterclass was by far one of the best classes I have ever attended.

Now getting into the actual teaching part, Napoleon made sure that his believe system is different, which means not everyone has to agree necessarily. He began by talking about the social media frenzy and how using a bloody egg on your face is just stupid especially to be gaining more followers on social media. You all know I love make up and we have all had our make up mistakes but the way in which he explained really did make a lot of sense. Don’t get me wrong I love watching make up videos on youtube, but the reality of it is that the amount of make up applied is not actually properly shown on camera. Just like when you take a photo and you’re like “uhmm where did my bloody contour go?!”, I understood this because when I’d do make up photos I would have to apply more than what I would just so every part of the make up is seen. Unless you have a damn good camera sometimes it doesn’t pick up all the different shades etc you took hours applying! (I am guilty of this!)

I am no professional, I am self taught and I want to further my knowledge but for beginners going online and watching a 50 step natural make up look can be so scary! like why is this girl applying red lipstick under her eyes or why is there so many dots on her face?! Napoleon simplified this by just saying lets go back to the basics and that was really taking your time on preparing the skin, when the skin is prep’d properly then you use less of the actually make up. This was a very important piece of advice because through social media we are sort of stamped with “you have to be using three different contour kits and 5 different eye shadow palettes to achieve this look” When Napoleon did the make up look on the first model he took his time just ensuring the skin is hydrated and prepared so that there is less work to be done.

The photo above is Napoleon explaining the different face shapes, eyes and tones and understanding that each one is different, especially when it comes down to make up. He had a few tricks for manipulating the shapes on the face without heavy contouring. One of my favourites was using a light concealer to bring the eyes up and really just change the shape. “Using concealer as a reflective contouring” that was an amazing tip which I will use in my routine from now on. Another really helpful tip was to be using tapping and bouncing motions on the skin rather than any streaking or tugging.

Also an interesting fact which I had no idea about was back in black and white tv they used different colours to contrast so that the camera could pick up on the different tones that can really shape the actor/actresses face. So if you saw them in real life they would have red, blue and all the colours of the rainbow on their face! I couldn’t believe this, but it was so interesting.

He completed two different looks and as you can see one is more dramatic, he went into detail about the Egyptian style of using bold colours. This model had bold blue eyes and a classic red lip, now lets be honest if you saw someone wearing that you would say “what in the world” but he made it work and the model rocked it. Napoleon said “don’t be scared of blush” which was great because I have been using more blush the last few months, I feel like it brings the look together rather than just using browny colours for contour and the skin does have a natural flush to it. You are allowed to have fun with make up and there is no rule about only doing one bold thing. If you want do bold eyes and lips, it all comes down to how confident you are. I am so happy Napoleon did two different looks both just as beautiful! It shows that beauty is confidence, no matter what level you are on. Hats off to his skills that he completed both looks without even a set of false lashes!

I love Napoleon Perdis because he has this positive vibe to him and he just knows how to empower people! I am so lucky that I got a chance to go and experience his awesomeness first hand. He has such an amazing way of expressing his art and knows how to make a crowd laugh. So much love and respect for him!

You guys are more than welcome to contact me if you would like to know more tips and tricks I learnt. If you have an opportunity to go to any upcoming masterclasses of his, I recommend it 100%

Much Love – Dusk Avenue