A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend an Estee Lauder Makeup and Skincare class at my local Macys. I was really excited because I hadn't attended a class like that before and I was hoping to learn some new tips and tricks. The class was taught by the Estee Lauder national artists, whatever that means. I had some thoughts on that which I will be explaining later. The class was free, but of course I knew the point of the class was to sell their products and so I knew I would walk away with at least one purchase.
The class started off by one on one consults with a skin care expert to determine the type of skin care that each individual should be using. We then proceeded to do a color and formula match for foundation. The makeup artist put a large dallop of foundation in one of those plastic, 6-well artist pallettes. She filled 2 other wells with my matching concealer and powder. Us students then moved into the area pictured below.
We were in groups of 4 and we started off at the skin care station where the skin care experts explained the benefits and use of the skin care products selected for each of us. We "washed" our faces with their wipes, applied toner, then then applied the appropriate serum, moisturizer and eye cream suited for our needs. This was actually my favorite part of the class because I discovered some new products that I liked, which I will explain later in this post. We were given this handy dandy sheet that shows all their products and as we talked about what was best for us, we would mark that item on here so we could remember what it is later at home.
We then moved to the face makeup station. There the makeup artist taught us how to apply foundation, concealer and powder. The really cool thing about the class was that the artists did not simply apply the products on us. Instead, they showed us how to do it, and each of us applied the products on our own. We had our own set of brushes and mirrors so we would learn to do it ourselves. I really really liked that because most of the time artists apply products on you and you go home and have no clue how to replicate the look. In my situation, I knew most everything they told us, but for beginners or those who don't wear much, this was a fantastic way to learn!
The next station was the color stations. This is the other side of the handout that shows how to achieve each of four different looks. We were told to do a classic look. The right side of the sheet was for us to write down the exact product and color of the stuff we used on ourselves.
There was a large selection of colors and again we had our own brushes. The artists selected the colors for us based on our skin tones. We applied eyeshadow base and shadow learning how to use 4 colors, applying the darker color in the crease. Ok, so yes I knew that, but some of the ladies did not know how to do that so it was super helpful for them! We applied eye liner, mascara, blush, lipliner, and finished the look with lipstick.
Ok, so now my thoughts:
The class was super fun and they had delicious Godiva chocolates, brownies, cookies and iced tea to refresh us. Free chocolate and I am there. Of course I always enjoy doing my face up so I enjoyed that too. I did not learn very much about application techniques but I was ok with that.
I did learn about some great skin care products and I am excited to try them out! I picked up the Advanced Night Repair Serum. This baby has been on the market for over 20 years and has only been updated twice!!! The formula is so amazing that they have not had to modify or change it many times. The last update recently took place so the newest formula had just been released and it is better than ever. This is supposed to repair all the damage that our skin encounters throughout the day and repair the cells at the DNA level. It fights aging, helps shrink pores, and helps with all the other yucky skin stuff we women have to deal with. We all got to put a drop on our hands and one of the artists sprayed both our hands with water. The hand with the serum held onto the water. The water on the other hand started dripping off and moving around. This was to show us how the serum helps retain moisture when you apply moisturizer after. I was sold. Then another lady at the table said she had been using it for years and she was in her 50s and she looked 20 years younger. Needless to say, this baby came home with me.
The other product I really liked was the new Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lipstick. Unlike most long wear lipsticks this does not dry out your lips and it really does last and last and last. A review on this is forthcoming.
All in all I had a blast except for some of the pushy makeup artists trying to sell the products instead of teach us. Some of them kept trying to ask, "so what will you be purchasing" every 2 minutes just trying to make the sale. My opinion is, if you have good products, which Estee Lauder does, then you shouldn't have to try so hard since the products will sell themselves. Of course the pressure does affect some people, but it annoys me rather than persuade me to buy more. I mean one of the makeup artists trying to "show" me how to apply the shadow just kept taking my brushes from me and picking up tons of product on the brush and trying to put it on me. Ok, seriously, the point is to teach me not be pushy and get it over with. These were their national artists for goodness sakes and they should have excellent customer service. I am not dumb and I can tell when something does not look nice on me. Rushing me and making me look ugly will not help sell products, it will make me not want them. If any of them are reading this, please take a hint and listen to your customers. Trust me, meeting our needs is going to help make more sales and gain a loyal following. Ok, glad I'm got that off my chest.
Anyhoo, if you ever get the opportunity to take a class like this, do it!
