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2.09.2014

Contouring and Highlighting with Sephora



This morning I got the opportunity to take part in something really awesome that select Sephora stores offer, I took part in one of their free beauty courses. These courses are offered to anyone who is signed up to be a free member of Sephora. To be a beauty insider, you simply need to sign up on their website or in store and you can redeem points for every purchase you make. These points can get you amazing rewards and once you've made it to a certain number you can even become a VIB (very important Beauty Insider) and they receive special deals with Sephora all the time. It's really an amazing program. Anyway, as I was browsing their website I saw that the Sephora near my house was offering a Contouring and Highlighting Class today, February 9th and I was super excited to get the chance to take part of this awesome course. Now, I went into the class knowing I would be blogging about my experience and telling all of you exactly what the in and outs of the program are. I did not mention that I am a beauty blogger until the course was drawing to an end so I got the real experience that any one of you would as well if you were to take one of these classes.

The class itself was two hours long and there were six of us who got to work one on one with some amazing gals. The women that were helping us included Alyssa, Yasmin, Denise, Stella and Kellie. Each girl had a different complexion, shape face and used different techniques so it was really a versatile program in which we, the students were able to find out exactly how to contour and highlight for our specific faces. It was a introduction to contouring and highlighting but the rest of the students and I were all varied in our knowledge on makeup. I really enjoyed how open we all were about our specific goals for the class. Alyssa was our main representative who talked us through most of the program and what I loved was that she constantly took the time to ask us exactly what we are looking for. She made sure to individually address our personal needs while still teaching a broad subject and I think we all broke the ice together when we admitted contouring and highlighting can be pretty tricky. I also loved the ethnic pool of ladies I was surrounded with. We were a group ranging from African American to latino and even had a gorgeous Asian gal. I like to mention the ethnic diversity simply because our face shapes depend a lot on our skin tones and bone structure and every ethnicity has certain attributes that we really learned about and focused on. I know the ladies with darker complexions were taught to contour with lighter colours to really define their faces and Jenn, who had Asian features really learned to elevate those cheek bones and define her round face. 

One thing we had to clear up right away was which shape group we belonged to. The four basics were introduced - square, round, oval, and heart shaped and we all went around the room helping one another determine which category we fell into. I have a face that's a bit hard to categorise. We ended up choosing more of an oval face shape however, I do have heart shaped features as well. It can be really tricky placing ourselves in one distinct shape group because sometimes it's not that simple.  We're all different and beautiful in our one ways and you can't categorise that. We then moved on to learning about the triangle of light which is used for highlighting. That's basically just the areas that you really want to elevate and pop out with a bit of a highlight. I openly admitted that my skin flaws cause me to hide away from highlighters a lot of the time because the shimmer in some just accentuates the texture in my skin. Alyssa and the girls understood right away and steered me toward only matte shades so that no shimmer or glitter would hinder my contour and highlight. I ended up using the YSL Touche Eclat in the Shade #2 and that provided just the right amount of highlight without being too harsh or too noticeable. Moving onto the actual contour, Jasmin found me a beautiful matte bronzer and it's actually the one I already use and own at home so it was refreshing to see I'd already picked out a bronzer that was ideal for my skin tone and complexion. I used the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzing Powder and applied my contour using a Sephora Pro Precision Powder Brush #59. I fell in love with this tapered brush and something I had been struggling with for such a long time was which brush to use in order to get the ideal contour. This one has a long handle and a tapered flat brush that just applied everything so wonderfully. My only complaint would have to be that it did shed quite a bit which was bothersome. Something Alyssa taught me which I found super helpful was that we should hold the brush on the end so that we have a lighter hand with the product. I always feel like I'm applying too harsh of a contour and when I simply moved my hand down the handle a bit more, I saw an immediate difference. I contoured my cheekbones, forehead, brow bone, jawline and nose. That seems like so much work but it came out beautifully and slimmed my face, accentuating my features so much more. I even went in with a gorgeous blush to complete the face look. I believe it was Nars's Taos which was just the perfect cherry ontop of this highlighting and contouring workshop. 

Overall, the class was so much fun. I really got along with the girls and felt like the ladies that were helping us were so genuine and lovely that I was sad when it was over. It didn't even feel like two hours and I felt confident in my contouring and highlighting when I left. Another thing that I really enjoyed was that we were the ones applying everything to our faces. It wasn't an easy, oh here let a professional do it kind of thing it was a learning experience and we were simply guided throughout the way. Everyone was so friendly and I really felt comfortable with the group of students and the lovely teachers. Our questions were all answered and there will be more workshops coming soon so I'm super excited to see if I'll be able to make it to a few more. The Sephora store was then opened up to us and we got to consult with the ladies on products we wanted to purchase. I didn't end up buying anything because I am the kind of person that really likes to think about what I'm buying and research  before actual purchase. Beauty products are not cheap and I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my buck. I was going to pick up the Sephora brush I used to contour but it was on the pricier side and since it did shed, I felt like I needed to think it over some more and maybe research similar brushes, etc. etc. I had an amazing time and experience and the girls were all super supportive at the end when I mentioned I would be featuring this experience on my blog. They're all such lovely people and it was a learning experience. If anything, this course has encouraged me more to continue to advance in my makeup artistry and that I really do want to do this as a career one day.

What did you think about this post? Would you want to attend a class like this too? Let me know, down bellow!

Stefanie xx
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8 comments:

  1. Ooh! Lovely post! I would recommend that next time you perhaps use one photo inbetween each paragraph cause it appears a little text heavy!

    Love,
    Eleanor from In Eleanor's World

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    1. Thanks for the comment and I'll take your feedback to heart (:

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  2. I would love to attend a makeup class at one of the Sephoras near my house! I should check into this!! I love reading your post, and that makeup looks gorgeous on you!! Beautiful girl! It's really nice that you actually learnt something that will be useful to you! :)
    xx

    Alexandra | The A Style | Beauty and lifestyle

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    1. Alexandra, I really recommend it if there's a Sephora near you! Thanks so much girly (:

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  3. This is a really nice subtle contour, I'm so heavy handed mine always looks ridiculous!
    www.hmfjewels.wordpress.com

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    1. I am usually as well don't worry! Just try some of the tricks mentioned above and hopefully it won't be so heavy!

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  4. You've done this really well and it really suits you, you have good cheekbones already but this has definitely defined them!

    Just discovered your blog & am now following on BlogLovin'
    Brunette in Louboutins -
    BlogLovin'

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  5. I've been keeping an eye on the Sephora website for classes at the one nearest me, but I haven't yet seen one class offered! I'm thinking of treating myself to one of their classes for my birthday in April, and hopefully they can help my highlight/contour because I'm terrible at it. I absolutely love how it looks on you, I have to say. Like, awesome. It's great that their classes are so great, and that you had a pretty small group.

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