When an email inviting me to attend a makeup masterclass with Seventa Makeup Academy via Obby, the hip, new booking website for cool things to do in London, landed in my inbox, I was immediately excited. A 3 hour class by makeup experts learning new techniques? Yes please!
Obby is a one stop shop for things to do in London – from floristry and terrarium making classes to cocktail making and cheese tasting – you’re bound to find an activity to keep you busy. Search for classes, then book directly through the Obby website, and you’re good to go! The whole process is quick and easy – your confirmation is emailed to you directly, and they even send you reminder emails to make sure you don’t forget about that class you booked two months ago.
I even have an awesome discount code for you – £10 off a class with code ‘JODETOPIA10’.
Being a beauty addict, Obby invited me to attend a makeup and skincare masterclass with Seventa Makeup Academy*, but if this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea then I highly recommend you to have a look at the other classes Obby have to offer – you’re spoilt for choice!
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the masterclass – but I can definitely tell you it exceeded any prior ideals I had! The morning of the class, Obby sent me an email with detailed instructions on how to find Seventa Makeup Academy – it was a short walk from Chancery Lane tube station, but the directions definitely helped make finding it a lot easier.
Upon arriving, we were taken up to the classroom – a beautifully set up room stocked full of makeup (seriously, just look at the pictures below – goals or what?!), with individual dressing tables for us to each sit at. I instantly knew I was going to enjoy the class – the set up was extremely professional and just so pretty – I fell in love with the mirrors – don’t they just remind you of the magical mirror in Snow White?! There were only 6 of us in the class, meaning that we had a lot of 1 on 1 time with the makeup artist, and had plenty of time to ask questions for our individual needs, or ask for help on a technique we weren’t sure on.
We were introduced to Linda Burns, the makeup artist who would be teaching us, and I was impressed to hear that she’s worked on a vast variety of professional shoots – from editorial to cat walk, she had a ton of experience behind her. We knew we were in good hands! Linda was all about promoting natural beauty – stripping back to plain skin then using makeup to enhance natural features, not caking the makeup on and covering up your natural beauty. This concept worried me slightly – it was *that* time of month, so I’d massively broken out and had a multitude of spots, so I wasn’t sure how well this natural look would work on me…but fear not, Linda looked after me!
All of the products we used in the masterclass were the professional skincare and makeup brand Ten Image – I’d not heard of this brand before, but it is used by professionals, so I knew it had to be good!
First up, we had to take off the makeup we were already wearing to start with a plain canvas. Linda spoke to us about how important a good skincare routine is – look after your skin and use the right skincare products, and you’ll need less makeup, as you won’t need to fake the healthy glow – your skin will already be glowing! We took off our makeup with micellar water (I got a little told off as I normally skip this step and use a hot cloth cleanser to take off my makeup!) before applying a thin layer of a Balancing Clay and Fruit Mask to take off the dead skin cells and avoid dry skin.
Taking off your makeup and applying a mask or cleansing balm should be two separate steps.
We also discussed the importance of using skincare products without all of the extra perfume and chemicals that high street stores like to chuck in – you want skincare products with as few ingredients/chemicals as possible.
After we’d removed our makeup, applied then removed the mask, my skin was already glowing – I looked so healthy! We amped up the natural glow by applying the Vital C Serum – an antioxidant serum with vitamin C to brighten the skin and avoid the effects of ageing. We then used a water based moisturiser and a ton of lip balm to deeply hydrate all of our skin.
Give your moisturiser time to sink into your skin! On a shoot, a model would get their hair and nails done after the MUA has prepped their face with skincare, to give the moisturiser plenty of time to sink in, plump and hydrate the skin before applying makeup.
It was then time to get our base done! Linda asked one of the girls to pop up onto the chair and demonstrated on half of her face – we then copied after. We used the All Day Make-Up HD 18 Hour foundation – using a disposable sponge (hygiene, gals!) we used a heavy hand to spread the foundation ever so thinly – starting from the centre of our face and pushing outward. Linda told us how if we’ve matched the foundation exactly, you won’t need to put the foundation up into your hair line or down your neck – it should blend seamlessly into your skin, without being caked on like a second skin.
There’s no need to put foundation on your eyelids – the skin is very thin, and it will just crease anyway!
We then used the Lighting Up Concealer like a pencil to dot over any blemishes, and apply sparingly to our under eyes. No huge under eye brightening triangles, here – the less product we used, the better! I was absolutely stunned at how flawless my skin looked, yet I had only used about a pea size of product!?
I actually loved the foundation SO much that I ended up buying it at the end of the masterclass… I can’t wait to see how I get on recreating this flawless base in my own home!
Set your base with translucent powder – no need for setting spray!
We then got started on eye makeup. Linda talked us through a super quick and easy way to achieve a smokey eye look. Some of the stand out points for me are below… maybe you’ll learn a thing or two from these techniques like I did!
Apply eyeliner by putting the pencil into the lash line then doing short upwards lines to create a thicker, fuller lash line. It’ll be messy, but don’t worry – blend it out!
After applying a messy eyeliner, we used a flat head brush to apply shadow in upwards strokes – start down in the lash line, then pull upwards. Slowly build up to the shape of your eyelid, then blend in a lighter colour with a fluffy blending brush.
Blend, blend, blend! Avoid hard lines and get a soft gradual fade by using a fluffy blending brush back and forth in the crease of your eyelid.
If you want to bring colour under your eye – use a cotton bud! Such a good idea, as you get a precise, smudged look. I’d never thought to use a cotton bud before!
Make your eyes ‘pop’ with a light, shimmery colour in the inner corner of your eye and in the centre of your eyelid.
Once our eyeshadow was complete, we applied mascara on both lashes, before moving onto our eyebrows – we brushed them out, then followed our natural brow shape with the waxy Eyebrow Design pencil. I got a little told off for doing mine too heavily (I love a strong brow!) so Linda proceeded to brush them out to make them more natural looking. Whilst it isn’t the look I’d normally go for on a night out, it was definitely a brow look I’d wear to work on a daily basis.
We finished the look with a little bit of bronzer around the outside of our face, forehead and neckline, used a small brush to apply a small amount under our natural cheekbone, and then swept highlighter around our eye socket, upper cheekbone, top lip, chin, nose and forehead. A small amount of blusher on the chubby bit of your cheeks, a pop of lip colour and our look was completed!
Overall, I am SO happy with the completed look! My blemishes had started to show again by the end of the three hour session (it was a hot day, guys, and those little suckers were fighting to be seen!) but all in all the makeup had a fab stay put power. The techniques I learned were just absolutely brilliant – Linda was a great teacher, taking everything slowly and helping us where needed.
I would definitely attend the Seventa Makeup Academy again, and I can’t wait to use Obby to book another class. I’m debating between an Organic Soap Making class and a Build Your Own Terrarium class!
Don’t forget! You can get £10 off a class at Obby with my code: ‘JODETOPIA10’ x
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