YSL Beauty Workshop



I always love to go to brand beauty workshop because 1) I get to learn new tips from a famous makeup artist that the organizer invited 2) I get to play with the collection without the SAs breathing down my neck. This afteernoon I stumbled into a YSL beauty workshop at Grand Hyatt. The entry fee was Rp 150.000 but participants got Rp. 150.000 worth of YSL voucher, free delicious full course meal (happy tummy!), a chance to see Gusnaldi, a FAMOUS makeup artist, who had handled the makeup of Indonesian celebrities and socialites and had published several makeup application books AND a chance to try out various YSL makeup line. Truly fabulous deal!

I definitely had so much fun trying out different YSL products; first and foremost was the YSL Top Secrets line which included Flash Radiance, Pore Refining, UV Block and Replumping for lips; blushes, lipsticks, liquid eyeliner, mascara, and perfumes, you named it! I must say I was impressed with the Flash Radiance and UV Block from Top Secret lines. My face looked glowing and smooth. The price of these babies are steep but much lower than I expected: less than Rp 700.000 each. What makes these excellent are the brush attached to the packaging. It really makes applying the product effortless and not to mention hygienic. I would suggest that you skip the Top Secret Replumping for lips because I believed the wrinkle-free claim is dupeable in less expensive products. I meant to try Top Secrets Pore Refining Skincare Brush because the SA said it reduced the appearance of pores and mattified shine (WANTs) but was too lazy to take off my makeup again.  However, the girls in my table tried it and their faces were amazingly smooth and shine-free.

Gusnaldi and the model (not the woman in pink, sadly)

In addition to the skincare products, I got my hands on some of YSL foundations :  Perfect Touch from YSL's Radiance Essentials and Matt Touche Compact SPF 20  These products didn't feel heavy on the skin at all.  However, I wish there were more shades available as the counters here only have up to #5 (#5 worked on my NC 35-37) compared to 10-12 shades on the website.  I didn't pay much attention to the powder, although I did put it on and in my opinion it didn't feel significantly different with the much much less expensive powder I had at home.

Any makeup junkies would definitely heard of Touche Eclat, YSL's best selling product which was sold every second all over the world.  That's a LOT! Although the product perhaps deserves its own post, but from my experience, this works better as a brightener and eyeshadow base than a dark-eye concealer.  The YSL girls and Gusnaldi used Touche Eclat #2 for the eye to make eyeshadows stick and under the eye to brighten the eye, and around the mouth to highlight.   I tried my MAC paint pot Soft Ochre and I was happy to report that the result was similar.

The workshop also let us girls playing with the different eyeshadow palettes, Ombres 5 Lumieres Color Harmony.  At Rp 685.000 they would put a huge dent on your wallet, but if you don't have any eyeshadows or palettes that resemble these babies,  I would suggest that you stop visiting Starbucks and buy one or two of these beautiful and very pigmented palettes.  They are permanent, I think and the YSL stores definitely had most of the set in stock.  I applied the shadows from paletter #2 (Indian Pink) and the pink and purple shadows truly complement both acool and warm skin tones and wear time as excellent.  My eye makeup stayed on till well into the night. The picture truly didn't do this palette justice because I just used my blackberry camera.



YSL Ombres 5 Lumires Color Harmony #2 Indian Pink (pic from BirkinBagBeauty.blogspot.com)

What the SA did was applying the pink shadow at the center on my lid and under the eye, and the dark purple shade (bottom right corner) to define and contour my eyes. I was totally satisfied with this look and wish I could sleep without removing the eye makeup and wear this look to work the next day.

Other note-worthy products that I got a chance to play with was the YSL Everlong Mascara which definitely lengthened my lashes and was also waterproof and Eyeliner Noir.  Just like other YSL products, these stuff was priced at Rp 300,000 - 310,000 each (why oh why do you have to be so expensive, YSL??) .  I actually bought the mascara because it was awesome and just couldn't help counting the days till I run out of liquid liners to bring Eyeliner Noir home.

Of course I wouldn't dream of getting home before I tried out and swatched all the lipsticks! I was really in my own lipstick heaven because I got to decode all those numbers on YSL lipsticks and tried out several Rouge Voluptes lipsticks.  I might not a fan of Volupte formula but the packaging was so gorgeous that I felt guilty if I didn't own just one more.  OK, I'm not a lipstick junkie for no reason, y'all.  I swatched Rouge Volupte lipsticks: #10 (bright pink), #2 and #7 (nude greyish on me), #25 (brownish), #14 (salmony orange, love--> BUY)

Oh boy, this sure is one long post!  But here's some makeup tricks I learned from Gusnaldi:

1. Use foundation in color that an exact match of your natural color. How to find that shade? Try it out on your chin because you can see how the shade compares to your neck. You don't want an obvious difference.
2. Apply skin care, foundation with a really light hand. If your skin feels "hot" when you apply your makeup, lighten your application. His hand really felt soft when he tested foundation on my face :D
3. Don't be afraid to try out different colors for your eyes, even if you are old.
4. Instead of using black/brown liner, use color eyeshadow to line your under eye.
5. To make the whole eye makeup fresher/more unique, tap blush brush on a pinkish/orangeish colors and very lightly sweep the brush across your eye makeup. Amazing effect I must say!
6. The current trend of blush application is only on the apples of the cheeks, in swirly and tap-tapy way.
7. Spray a bit of hairspray on the mascara applicator in your eyebrow pencil and use the tool to shape and tame your brows.
8. Apply lighter foundation underneath the eyes to make them pop and to also cover the dark shadow underneath. Gusnaldi and the SAs recommended using Touch Eclat (I tried #2, and my YSL girl use the pale pink from palette #2 as well).
9. The secret of perfect eye makeup is BLENDDDD.

Overall, it's been a great makeup adventure, thanks YSL!!