'London Baby!' & Daniel Sandler Make-Up Masterclass!

Bonjour!

About this London thing then...I'd booked myself a rare treat of attending Daniel Sandler's Make-Up Masterclass, run by The Simon Seminars at the London College of Fashion near Oxford Circus - Saturday 13th April. We decided to take the kids down for a whirlwind trip - and whirlwind it was ...!

Left crack of dawn Friday morning - (I didn't sleep much the night before - always worry that I'll not hear the alarm and we'll miss our chosen method of transport!).  Turns out I wasn't the only one who didn't get her full quota of sleep ... my little girl started to write her diary page whilst on the train and this was the result (with her permission to publish the pic of course!) which had us in stitches ...

That afternoon we somehow managed to visit three museums one after the other (not at all tiring but when in Rome etc) and then met up with my brother Mike (who had the night off gigs!) for the rest of the evening and some dinner.

Amidst all the madness I'd not had time to paint my nails before travelling down but brought my polish with me so - the middle of the night saw me crouched on the bathroom floor against the bath with my new Barry M Gelly - trying to do a fairly neat paint job in the most awkward of positions! I couldn't sleep as the heating thingy in the room was so bloomin' loud and the bed was one of those squishy ones that rustle every time you move! Off I went back to bed with my newly painted nails and the resolve to wear my specs the next morning to try to conceal my inevitable bags and dark circles from no sleep!

I was actually the first to arrive at the venue (friends of mine will be reeling in total disbelief!). We watched Mr Sandler create various make-up looks designed for 'real women'. Part 1 of the demo was aimed at  natural 'daytime' make-up to help us look 'younger and healthier'. First up was a soft smokey 'everyday' eye look using an eye pencil - building up the look gradually. Next was a subtle contoured eye using a shimmer eyeshadow (yes - older girls can wear shimmer too according to Mr Sandler - we just have to be careful where we apply!) - in this case it was restricted to the lash line and just below the brow bone - with a taupe shadow applied in the socket.

A couple of pics from the session - on the left is the lovely Gina Potter having her soft daytime smokey eye  done. Gina is a 'Kicker of Bowel Cancer's Butt' - and played a pivotal role in the organisation of the event. Inspirational or what!  On the right is Daniel's friend and QVC model Isabella having her shimmer/taupe eye shadow blended - I have my eye on that palette in Mr Sandler's hand!

We then had a short break during which I got to say hello to Mr Sandler (complete with a hug!) and then proceeded to the second half of the session which had more of an 'evening-time' air about it to help us look  'sensational but not over-made up'. First up was a lesson in contouring where the message was to (within reason) apply as much product as you want as long as you 'blend, blend, blend!' - this was then teamed with a bright pink lip. Finally Gina's 'daytime' look was 'smoked up'  - which included adding eye-shadow (keeping the darkest colour to the outer corner of the eye) and grey eye-liner.

It was fascinating to watch and Mr Sandler made it look so easy! We all received a lovely goody bag ... here's mine...!

Daniel Sandler Long Lasting Waterproof Eyeliner in Grey Velvet
Daniel Sandler Eye Delight in Peach
Daniel Sandler Concealer Brush
Urban Retreat 'The Hydration Mist'
Urban Retreat 'Shaving Gel for Girls'

So - cheers to Mr Sandler, Gina and of course Mr Simon Seminar (Mr Simon Vallance!) It was a lovely event (despite the fact that I had one of the worst bad hair days in my huge history of 'bad hair days' and poor Mr Sandler must have thought he was talking to a scarecrow - but hey - we live and learn and that's another blog post in the making!).  I've taken loads of tips away with me (few of which I've actually had time to put into practise yet mind!) Sorry Daniel - I'll let you know how I get on with that purple eye-shadow suggestion at some stage!  There are more pics from the event - taken by Gina's hubby - over on The Simon Seminars website - here! Feel free to have a browse!

Right - apologies that I've waffled on even more than normal but honestly I could go on all night - but of course I won't - really going now! See ya!


Jen x