Our Make Up Course- The Complete Package!

I have always been bothered by the lack of good make up courses out there. Most I looked at started at a basic level and didn't include everything I wanted to know. They give you maybe one or two advanced techniques but then suggest that you to take part in day masterclasses after completing your course to further your training more. In my mind I was always thinking- why would I pay to do stuff I already know and then still need more training?! That's why I was really excited when the opportunity to help set up a new make up course with IBHT, Newbridge came  up.

I got to help decide what would be covered in the course, the make up products to be included in the students kits and the brushes given to students for use in class. I wanted really high quality items so that the students would have the very best in their course and items that they would use professionally after they had completed their training. 

The course will run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings over a ten week period. On the last week of their course the students will style their very own photo shoot with a professional photographer and get to keep the photo's for their portfolios. Our hair dressing students will also be brought in for this to style the hair for the shoot. 

Within the ten weeks we will cover 

• Day, Evening and Special occasion Make-up 
• Bridal Make-up 
• a Trend inspired Make-up 
• Photographic Make-up 
• a High Fashion and catwalk inspired Make-up 
• Smokey Eyes 
• Individual & Strip false lashes. 

In my opinion it will cover all the essentials an aspiring Make Up Artist will need and will be a lot of fun to take part in! The course costs €865 with payment plans available and includes a 16pc AYU professional brush set worth €175. Make Up Kits will be provided by The Make Up Box and will cost €195. 

For more information or to book your place on our next course starting December 3rd 2013 click here.

Looking after your Make- up Brushes

A question I am always getting asked is “how do I clean my brushes?”

Looking after your brushes is so important- it will add years onto their life if you take care of them. You will need to give them a good clean every couple of weeks if you are using them for personal use or daily if they are for professional use. When cleaning your brushes you should NEVER put them directly under the water flowing from the tap. If water repeatedly gets up the funnel of the brush it will weaken the glue holding it together and you brush will eventually break.

What you need to do is dampen the hair of the brush (I do this by swirling it around in a little bit of water in my hand), next take your brush cleaner (this can be a specific cleaner, shampoo,  face wash or something like fairy liquid). Put a pea sized amount of your product in the palm of your hand and swirl the brush, rinse in a little bowl of water and repeat this until the brush is completely make up free and the water is clean. When drying your bushes it is important never to do so with a hairdryer- this can burn the hairs and distort the shape of your brush. You need to lay the brushes flat on a counter surface with the head of the brush sitting out over the edge of the table- this allows plenty of air to get in around the hairs and make sure it dries out completely, also it will prevent any loss of shape that you would get if you just left them on a flat surface. Leave you brushes to dry (ideally overnight).
Simple as that!
Suzie :-)

www.ayu.ie

Statement Lips for Autumn 2013

Kate Spade

Nina Ricci

Oscar de la Renta

Ayu Lip 401

It looks like the statement lip trend is here to stay this season and the catwalks were awash with them from Kate Spade to Nina Ricci, and Oscar de la Renta. So how do we Irish gals achieve this flawless finish whilst avoiding the usual smothering of product all over our teeth and clothes instead of the obvious landing destination....our lips?! Well here are a few simple steps that will turn you into a sexy siren in no time!

Step 1

Start off with clean, bare, non-chapped lips. If your lips are a little chapped as many of ours are during those winter months then work a little lip scrub to exfoliate them until you achieve a smooth finish.

Step 2

Prep your lips by blocking out your natural lip colour with your everyday foundation or concealer. Alternatively you can always use a product made exclusively for this purpose. Mac Prep+Prime lip primer is a good one. By doing this you will not only help prevent your lipstick from bleeding out but it will also allow the colour to stand out even more.

Step 3

Carefully outline your cupid's bow (the two peaks on the top of your lips) with your chosen lip liner, making it even and symmetrical.The lip liner will help to keep your lipstick in place and stop it from bleeding and this is especially important when using a bold colour.

Step 4 

An optional step is to fill in your whole upper and lower lip areas with the same lip liner. By doing this it will help your lipstick to last longer. You don’t want that beautiful bold colour to fade away inside a couple of hours of application. Using your lip brush (AYU’s lip brush (http://www.ayu.ie/products.html)  go over all of the liner so that you work the colour into any creases.

Step 5
Apply your chosen lipstick colour onto your lips by starting in the center and then work it out to the corners. Use your lip brush to achieve a more precise and even application. Apply some gloss and pat your lips together so distribute it evenly.


Step 6: 
You are now good to go!

AYU attends Social Media Seminar

I always thought of myself as quite computer literate- that is until I launched AYU.ie! With launching our website came the big scary world of social media! You have your Facebook, twitter, Instagram, pintrest, and blogger to name a but a few! I innocently thought I would be able to master them all without much effort...boy was I in for a wake up call! After countless months of trying and failing to put myself & AYU.ie out there online I decided I needed some help! 

Help came in the form of a certain Fairy!

Being a fan of Joanne Larby aka The Make Up Fairy I came across a course she was giving in Social Media so I signed myself up immediately! The course was put on by Sculpt Studio who are opening a new college in Dundrum very soon but as it was not quite ready the course was held in Jury's on the quays which was a lovely comfortable venue for the day! I have to say its been a long time since I've done a full day course that wasn't mainly practical work so if I'm honest I thought I might have found it difficult to keep my concentration for the whole day- I had nothing to worry about! If anything I didn't want the day to end! I learnt so much about all the different medias and how to utilise them for my business & I learnt about blogging(which is how I came to be sitting here writing to you)! It was so interesting to listen to Joanne tell us about her rise as The Make Up Fairy- and really inspiring! I came out of the course totally motivated and eager to start using what I had been thought! Since then I have been really enjoying using Facebook, twitter, posting pictures on Instagram, and the feedback from the public has been brilliant! I love that now I get to show my work to a huge audience and hear their thoughts on it! I would highly recommend the course to anyone who needs a bit if help like I did- it's probably one of the best investments I've made this year as social media is so important to every business these days! Below is a picture of myself and the other social media studies after receiving our certificates with Joanne.

Suzie 😊

How I Achieved Todays Make Up Look

I'm off to a wedding in the lovely Lisnavagh House in Carlow today. I am wearing a gorgeous Bastyan dress from BT2 Dundrum. Its black high neck with a gaping back. As the dress is quite statement I want to keep my make up simple but defined. Here's how it was done:

First I started by applying MAC Strobe cream all over my face- I love the glow it gives to my skin. I followed this with MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC30 applied with the AYU Duo Fibre Foundation brush. I then applied MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW20 under my eyes in an inverted triangle shape, down the centre of my nose and on my cupid's bow with the AYU Pro Blender brush to create light in this area. Next I applied MAC Groundwork underneath my cheekbones for definition, then at the sides of my forehead, the tip of my chin and the tip of my nose to disguise them with the same brush- I am never neat at this stage as next I will blend both the concealer and the groundwork until there are no lines and just perfectly contoured finish. I blend the areas with my foundation brush- I find the left over foundation on the brush helps to blur all the lines! I applied a small bit of MAC Peaches blush to the apples of my cheeks and added a little MAC Soft & Gentle to the tops of my cheekbones for an extra sheen. To set the foundation I used MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Medium all over my face as I need the make up to stay in place all day!

For my eyes I used an ISA DORA eyeshadow quartet in 44 Muddy Nudes. I LOVE this palette! I applied the cream colour all over my lid to my brow bone, then the pink from lash line to crease and blended it out. Next I applied the medium brown all over lid from lash line to crease again and blended around the crease line, and I finished with the dark brown in the outer corners of my lid and blended it up and out to lift my eye up. I applied the medium brown underneath my eye as well to give a blurred smokey effect. I only used two brushes for all of this which were the AYU problender to apply the colours and create the shape with my dark brown and then the AYU Blender 206 to blur everything out. For mascara I did two coats of MAC In Extreme Dimension Lash.

I finished the look with MAC Creme Cup on my lips as it's a gorgeous nude colour that is really moisturising and the colour does not take away from the eyes!

All AYU Brushes mentioned above can be purchased here.

Wedding Makeup Service

The best part of the job is getting to apply other people's make up and seeing the transformation. Today brings us to The K Club for wedding makeup. We've used AYU's fab makeup brushes find them here and a mixture of makeup brands to achieve the look. Ready for the ball!

Have a great weekend!

AYU Professional Make-up Brushes

Hey Ladieeeeeeeeessss!!

Our whole new AYU Brush range is available to order through our website www.ayu.ie 

Happy Shopping x

How to Conceal Pink Sensitive Cheeks

Most of us lovely Irish ladies were born with a natural blush in our cheeks, but what was cute when we were 10 isn't as lovely when you reach your teenage years and beyond! So how do we conceal that pesky pink/red colour on our faces? The following are a few easy tips on how to fake an even gorgeous skin tone!

1. Make a fresh start! Cleanse and moisturise your skin.

2. Use natural hair brushes for your make-up where possible. Natural hair will not irritate the skin like synthetic ones so will minimise the risk of any extra unwanted blush in your cheeks.  (FYI- Shameless self- promotion about to happen… AYU Foundation brushes are a mix of goat & synthetic hair but are soft enough for even the most delicate of skins)!

3. Keep your Make Up routine simple! The fewer products you use on your skin the less chance of sensitivity!

4. Use a green tinted based primer. This will help visually correct the skins colour and even out your skin tone. (I love Smashbox photofinish colour correcting primer in Adjust)

5. Use an oil free foundation and concealer. Try using a natural hair brush like the AYU Pro Blender 200 for your concealer as you will be working in areas that are prone to sensitivity (around the nose, cheeks and under the eyes). (I use MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundations & their Studio Finish concealers)

6. Mineral powders are great for setting your make up and they won’t irritate sensitive skin. (Again, I use Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Powder- I just love this powder for setting my make up or worn alone on days when I like to look au natural!!)

7. Use blush sparingly if your cheeks are of a high red colour- you don’t want to end up looking like you've gone ten rounds with Tyson!!

8. There is no 8- you’re done…pretty easy wasn't it?!!