This Charlotte makeup artist showed me that I’ve been doing my makeup all wrong

If you’re anything at all like me, you may be responsible of sticking with the same make-up merchandise and strategies way far too extensive (I’m on the lookout at you, substantial university Bare palette).

Which is why, previous week, I fulfilled with Caitlyn Dominic, a Charlotte-spot make-up artist who features individualized makeup classes for purchasers looking to enhance their make-up expertise.

  • I expended the afternoon in Dominic’s in-property Matthews studio studying an everyday make-up regime. It’s a service she’s just lately launched by her business enterprise, Make-up by Caitlyn Michelle.

Her new individualized makeup assistance, which specializes in a “soft glam appear,” aims to instruct make-up to consumers of any age and talent level — from “teens just starting to dress in make-up,” to “adults who have zero information of what steps to do and goods to use,” Dominic claimed.

Why it issues: In the age of unlimited make-up tutorials, trends and solutions on the marketplace, mastering even fundamental make-up strategies can sense like info overload. With this in mind, Dominic began rolling out just one-on-one particular makeup classes a few months again.

Flashback: Dominic has labored in the make-up industry because 2012, specializing in wedding make-up and distinctive instances.

  • In Might 2022, she still left her job in corporate promoting to operate her make-up enterprise total-time.

A self-taught artist, she’s educated with superstar makeup artists like Mario Dedivanovic, “best recognised as Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist,” she instructed me.

Caitlyn Michelle

Caitlin Dominic runs her comprehensive-time small business, Makeup by Caitlin Michelle, out of her in-property studio in Matthews. Image: Courtesy of Erica Serrano Images


Here’s how the lesson performs:

Very first, you’ll get there at the studio bare-confronted with all of your latest makeup solutions. You’ll chat about your existing schedule and what you hope to increase. For me, that included contouring and eyes.

Then, you will do a whole makeup application course of action action-by-action, from primer to location spray. You’ll use your individual makeup and test out solutions from Dominic’s qualified package with models like Dior and Charlotte Tilbury (rely on me, it’s no joke).

But here’s how you really understand: She’ll utilize the makeup on 1 aspect of your face, then you are going to copy and do the other aspect, setting up with the eyes, then deal with, then lips.

  • It was humbling to endeavor winged eyeliner in entrance of a skilled, but this was ideal for a visible learner like me. Beforehand, traces I’d utilize ended up a small critical. Also, I acquired you’re supposed to use your eye make-up initially, ahead of the relaxation of your experience.

The lesson doesn’t end when the makeup glimpse is completed. In 48 hours, you will get electronic notes recapping the overall lesson, together with hyperlinks to solutions you talked about including to your particular arsenal.

  • She suggested incorporating cream blush, an eyeshadow palette and a number of brushes to mine.

A just before and following of my “soft glam look.” Photograph: McKenzie Rankin/Axios


I also questioned Dominic if she experienced any “makeup non-negotiables.” Here are her 4 strategies and tricks:

1. Well prepped skin: Do your skincare regimen prior to your makeup. Use a moisturizer to prep your facial area. “It’ll assure make-up solutions mix nicely,” Dominic mentioned.

2. Light levels and blend:  Implement make-up merchandise in slender layers and be sure to blend, mix, “and then mix some additional,” she notes. Ahead of my tutorial, I was not mixing my contour lines as a great deal as I should really.

3. Use a powder puff: For applying loose or pressed powder, a powder puff is essential to a seamless under eye seem that will not doesn’t crease.

4. Lean back: If you’re asking yourself whether or not your make-up is symmetrical, lean back again, states Dominic. “Sometimes when you are staring far too closely into the mirror, you can not see the full picture of how things are searching.”

Particulars: Dominic’s one-on-a single makeup lesson is $300 ($200 for a virtual lesson). You can also e-book the encounter with a mate or modest team for $200 per person.

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