I’ve always loved getting my makeup done, sitting in the high chair, getting pampered and seeing my eyes and lips and face transform – but I’ve never been able to recreate the perfect look.

Going to events is a huge part of my job, most of the time I’m at at least two events a day, and there’s always pictures being taken so I am quite self-conscious when it comes to my hair and makeup.

So I jumped at the chance to attend the Urban Decay makeup masterclass in Debenhams.

I headed to their Dublin store on Henry Street, I went to my first class this week which covered all the basics, from taking off your makeup, priming the skin, picking the right foundation, to shaping your brows.

Here’s what we covered and the products we used.

Taking off your makeup

(As if I was going to show you that)

Urban Decay is well known for having amazing stay power when it comes to their foundations, concelears and powders so you need to make sure you have something strong to take your makeup off.

Our masterclass teacher recommended the Meltdown makeup remover and it did exactly what it said on the tin.

Eye shadow, mascara, blusher, bronzer, foundation – everything was gone in a few easy swipes and my skin was left feeling super soft.

Using cotton pads I took everything off and got ready to play around with the Urban Decay products.

 

Primer is vital

I started using primer for the first time only about two years ago – and now I’m always on the look out for the best one because I’m obsessed.

Not only does it help take away some of the red tones in your skin but it preps your skin perfectly before you start building your foundation.

There’s two different types of primers that we were shown – with the Brightening and Tightening being my choice.

It has a lovely shimmery texture and gets your face super smooth before the foundation application begins.

Picking your foundation

So I’ve always been a disaster when it comes to picking the right tones for my skin – I always go for darker tones because I have sallow skin, but I end up doing a lot of blending to get it right.

But the good thing about working with a qualified makeup artist is they are always spot on for picking your perfect colour.

So I was given the NAKED Skin Liquid Makeup in shade 3.0.

I loved the yellow pigments in this foundation, and even though at first I panicked thinking it was too light the girls said I could build up a warmer tone using bronzer and powder.

The best way to figure out what foundation works for you is to blend the foundation along your jaw line and make sure the colour is the closest match to the skin on your neck.

I’ve got a sample of the foundation now for the next week so I’m going to keep trying it out.

 

It’s all about concealer

Before joining the Urban Decay masterclass the one Urban Decay product I was always a fan of was their NAKED Skin concealer.

I got the lightest colour (which has a yellow tint) a few months back and was completely addicted.

While most concealers are pastes or crayons, this is liquid and while it’s really light on your skin it gives amazing coverage.

Like all Urban Decay products you can build up the concealer if you want strong coverage or else use it lightly if it’s just for blemishes here and there.

I’m big into contouring these days so I use it under my eyes (the typical triangle blend), on my chin, the line of my nose and in between my eyebrows.

The girls on the course pointed out that using it just above and below your eyebrow is a really easy way to shape the brow before you get working on your shape.

 

Bronzer, blusher and highlighter for building

So I love full coverage, so I built up my foundation and concealer before moving on to the powders.

We used the Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing powder before moving on to this lovely Naked Flushed set.

First I used the bronzer on my cheekbones and rounded it out on my cheeks before using the blusher on the apple of my cheek.

The Urban Decay girls said always make sure to smile when applying blusher and tap the brush first because it’s not easy to get rid of a blush stain.

I’m not a huge fan of blusher so I only used a tiny amount, then I moved on to the highlighter which I  used just over the blusher and under my brow line.

 

It’s all about the brows

The last thing we did on our first class was colour and shape our brows.

These days brows are nearly more important than your actual foundation – so getting this look right is important and there are so many products to chose from theses days.

Urban Decay have loads of great eye brow products, but my favourite is the Brow Box – made up of a wax and two brow powders.

The box also comes with two tiny arched brushes (perfect for creating shape) and tweezers.

I love strong brows and the best tips the Urban Decay girls gave me was to use the wax first and build from the mid-brow out.

 

The result

So from taking off makeup, picking the right foundation, building up coverage and shaping some strong brows I was delighted with my first look.

I’ll be taking part in the Urban Decay masterclass for the next month and we’ll be exploring everything from creating the perfect eye look, the best lip and how to use their top products.

All of September’s classes are booked out – but you can sign up for October.

The classes take place in the below Debenhams stores;

Debenhams, Henry St Dublin 018147280
Debenhams St. Patricks Street, Cork 0214648452
Debenhams, Limerick 061460630

The course is €200.00 and this is redeemable against product.