Ola beauty lovers! This post is a bit different then my usual raves and rants about products. For those of you who know me well, I am not a professional makeup artist. I am just a woman who has a strong passion for make up and beauty related items. I thought that it would be fun and interesting to see the opinion of a true professional make up artist and pick apart their brain to see what they use in their daily kit on clients.
What better way to turn to the professionals and see what they use on customers, not just on themselves like us beauty gurus.
My next mission was to find a makeup artist who was not biased because they worked at lets say a MAC counter. So I found the perfect woman. Her name is Cassandra and I know her from when I began tanning at my local tanning salon. She is so sweet and great to talk too. So I asked if she would help a sista out and let me interview her. This girls eye make up looks amazing every time I see her, I was just praying that she would be up for the challenge. I was lucky, because she agreed! Before I begin please go follow her on Instagram at @_MAKEUPBYCASSANDRA . Ok let's jump right into it.
Before we begin lets paint a pretty picture, the lovely Cassandra is sitting behind the Tanning Salon desk (because not only is she a make up artist but she also works in a Tanning Spa) and she looks radiant with her bronze glowing tan, and her make up done so simple but bold. Light on the shadow, heavy on the liner, liner is winged out, her lashes are coated with mascara, rocking a nude lip, and her skin is looking FLAWLESS. OK now lets jump into it :)
MacGirl25: What inspired you into Makeup artistry?
Cassandra: I've always had a passion for it. I was always doing other peoples make up for special events, and everyone would tell me how good I do it, so I decided since I enjoy it I would just go to school professionally for it.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite part about makeup application?
Cassandra: Obviously the end outcome, the finished product. The finished look. But if I had to choose a specific portion of the process it would have to be applying eyeshadow. Creating different looks with eyeshadows.
MacGirl25: Lets talk about your favorite products to use. What is your favorite foundation?
Cassandra: Makeup Forever HD Foundation. This foundation is great for editorials, it is easy to match different skin tones with their range of colors and it very easy to blend. The foundation is a medium to full coverage foundation which helps if the client wants a lighter to full coverage.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite concealer?
Cassandra: Mac Pro Longwear
MacGirl25: What is your favorite face primer?
Cassandra: Makeup Forever face primer in the green or clear formula. Both are great, the green helps cancel out the redness and the clear helps with the PH tones.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite setting powder?
Cassandra: Mac translucent setting powder because it is very fine powder that does not give too much of a white cast.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite eye primer?
Cassandra: Mac Paint pot in Painterly. Great shade to match most skin tones, and helps keep the eyeshadow in place all day.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite bronzer?
Cassandra: Zeda powdered sun bronzer sold here at the tanning salon I work at. Another bronzer I use would be the Mac matt bronzer, or sometimes I will just use a darker shade of a foundation.
MacGirl25: How about your favorite highlighter?
Cassandra: Depending on the clients skin, I will use concealer sometimes, other times I will use a light color foundation and to top it off I will apply Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in "soft and gentle".
MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyebrow products?
Cassandra: I love to use the Makeup Forever aqua brow and / or eyeshadows.
MacGirl25: What brand of eyelashes do you prefer?
Cassandra: Ardel Lashes are great and affordable, if I am working on a client who wants a more dramatic look then I will splurge and use the Mac Eyelashes #36 and #7.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite mascara?
Cassandra: Well I can tell you right now that Mac mascaras are terrible. Even the Mac girls at the counter will tell me that, I have a friend who works there and she tells me that. But the ones I use the most are the drug store brands and if I want to splurge a bit I will use the Makeup Forever Smokey eye. In school they teach us that all mascaras are similar in formula. The key is the type of wand you are using to get that dramatic eyelash look. So I stick to my drug store brands and purchase disposable wands that I like to use for certain looks.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyeliner?
Cassandra: When I work on clients I prefer to use gel, Makeup Forever Aqua Creme black is a matt black which is great. I also use on clients Makeup Forever liquid liner and on my self I use the good old drug store brand Annabelle liquid liner in black.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyeshadow palette?
Cassandra: I prefer the Mac Palette that I built with my own choice of shadows. I also use the Urban Decay Naked 2 and 3 palettes, and I love using coastal scents for those more bright color looks.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite lipstick?
Cassandra: I love all lipsticks. My top are all from Mac, and they are, Creme de Nude, Candy Yum Yum, Heroine, and Saint Jermaine.
MacGirl25: What is your favorite lipgloss?
Cassandra: I use glosses on clients only, the ones I normally use are from Mac, but I recently purchased some from Motives Cosmetics and I really like them. My clients tell me that the Motives Cosmetics glosses are not sticky.
MacGirl25: What are your favorite makeup brush brands?
Cassandra: My top brands for brushed would have to be Mac, Makeup Forever, and Coastal Scents.
MacGirl25: Every beauty lover knows that to have a great makeup face it starts with what is underneath. What would be your best advice when it comes to skin care?
Cassandra: No matter what your age, it is very important to take care of your skin. That means you need to make sure you wash your face twice a day, make sure you take off all your make up before bed. Make sure you exfoliate at least twice a week. Give yourself masks and facials, doesn't have to be at the spa, even the home masks and facials are good. Moisturizing is very important, make sure you use an oil free, fragrance free moisturizer to avoid any skin irritations or break outs.
MacGirl25: What is your #1 Facial Cleanser brand that you use?
Cassandra: I use the St. Ives face cleanser.
MacGirl25: What is your #1 Facial Exfoliant?
Cassandra: St. Ives Apricot exfoliant
MacGirl25: What type of Face Masks do you use?
Cassandra: I don't use face masks.
MacGirl25: What are your top Moisturizer brands?
Cassandra: Dermologica, St. Ives Timeless skin and Jergens.
MacGirl25: Well that is the end of our interview, Thank you so much for taking the time out and letting me ask these questions.
Cassandra: No problem, thank you, this was so much fun to do.
Well everyone, that was my interview with Miss Cassandra. Loved interviewing her, we had such a good time talking about favorite brands, products etc. If you don't follow her on Instagram please do so at @_MAKEUPBYCASSANDRA
Here are some great photos of Cassandras work. Love her techniques.
I hope this helps you all get an idea of the great products that are out there and used by Makeup Artist Professionals themselves on clients. I intended this interview to be a helpful tool for all my wonderful readers out there. If you ever get overwhelmed and you need a new bronzer, or concealer, or foundation etc and you are unsure where to start, I hope this interview will give you an idea on what the professionals are enjoying and what you can be enjoying as well!
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