10 Mistakes Made By the Makeup Coach at the Majolica Majorca Makeup Workshop

Kai and I

My girl friend, Kai, invited me to be her plus-one for a Majolica Majorca Makeup Workshop that she won a contest for. I think it’s some kind exclusive arrangement with a blogshop she frequents.

I love attending courses related to beauty, there’re just so fun to be part of – you get to play with products, learn new stuff, meet new people, and get to be 100% girly.

But the best thing about it is when you can share all the above with a girl friend, in addition to freeflow giggling, laughing at the coach’s bad jokes, catching up with one another and just basking in each other’s company.

The focus of this post is not so much about Majolica Majorca’s new collection launch, rather, it is about the quality (actually, lack of) of the makeup ‘coach’ employed to represent the brand and its products.

Inarticulation, mispronouncement of product names, and bad command of the English language aside, the ‘coach’ did a pretty bad job teaching the basics of makeup.

Let’s call this ‘coach’ Mr CMI (Cannot-Make-It).

During class and on the train ride home, I jotted down the mistakes or things Mr CMI should not have said and done, or could have done better. It was a list that easily extended to 2 pages of my notebook; I had a hard time selecting which ones to include in this post.

Here are the 10 things Mr CMI did that really irked me.

(I did not take pictures of the model because I thought it'd be rude to do that without her permission. I also did not include pictures of Mr CMI in this post because... it's just not a nice thing to do.)

Mistake 1: Using One Person as the Standard for All Types of Eyes

It is human nature to want to use the easiest way to showcase the best of one’s abilities.

When Mr CMI asked for a volunteer to be his model, Kai nudged me and said “You cannot go, because you have beautiful eyes”.

I must admit big eyes with double eyelids make makeup application slightly less challenging than someone with hooded lids, monolids, narrow eyes, or small eyes. But that’s not to say I don’t have my own difficulties. I have BIG and PUFFY eyebags to match my big eyes! LOL.

I have been the model for previous makeup workshops and my girl friends always tell me it’s not fair because they don’t have double eyelids, or have smaller eyes, so the eye makeup just doesn’t show up as well on them.

Mr CMI scanned the room, looked at me and found me quickly busying myself with my phone. I wasn't his IT girl for the day coz I had some obvious pimples and blemishes, very hard for him to display his 'skills'. In the end he chose a girl with flawless skin, relatively large eyes, long lashes, and nice cheekbones. The best kind of model for a makeup artist.

I’m not faulting Mr CMI or any makeup artist for choosing a person with the best features to exhibit a look because it makes them look good when the model walks away enhanced.

But it was what Mr CMI said and did during the course of makeup application on his model that really lowered his credibility as a makeup artist.

He used black eyeshadow (or a very dark brown/plum) on the model and went more than 2/3 from the outer corners in. That is perfectly fine for her because the size of her eyes will not be overwhelmed by the dark color.

When class was over, I saw some girls with smaller eyes who followed his instructions and their eyes were lost in all that dark eyeshadow. Poor girls. =(

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: If you have small eyes, don’t go too far in with dark eyeshadows.

Read: Eye Makeup Tips For 14 Different Types of Asian Eyes

Mistake 2: Claiming It Was the Foundation That Made the Model’s Skin Flawless

Mr CMI demonstrated how to apply foundation, with a sponge, on the model, and proudly said “See, now the skin looks flawless!”.

Of course it looks flawless, her skin WAS flawless in the first place! Seriously, no acne scars, black spots, existing pimples. Nothing.

Besides that, he said “When you apply foundation, you must remember to conceal your blemishes first. But Majolica Majorca does not have concealer. But ya, just remember."

=.=”

He also did not explain whether to apply concealer before or after foundation. You mean, people are EXPECTED to know??? For many of the girls in the room, it was their first makeup course. I feel so sorry for them to have attended this bad session.

When I applied my foundation later, it was not surprisingly un-flawless.

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: Always apply powder over liquid, not the other way round. So if you use liquid foundation, apply that first, then the concealer, and then powder last (if you’re using any setting powder).

Mistake 3: Failed to Tell the Class How to Choose Foundation Shade

The cardinal sin of makeup application is using the wrong foundation shade. You can do a kickass eye makeup look of rainbow colors with superb blending, but if there is a stark difference between the color of your face and your neck, you’re just gonna look like you’re wearing a mask.

When he was done patting on powder for the model on half of her face, he turned to the class and said “Ok, you all can start applying your foundation now”. And turned back to his model to continue with his work.

There were 4 shades of foundation in the plastic tray. It was easy for me to find my shade - there were only four anyway - but many people were lost. They were staring at the 4 shades for the longest time and asking their friends who were as clueless as themselves.

Yet no one voiced out. So I did. “How to choose a shade? I don’t know how to choose”, I asked.

“Oh, the BOs are for yellow undertones, the OCs are for pink undertones”, announced Mr CMI.

Yea right. Everyone totally understood… NOT!!!

The whole skin undertone thing – warm, cool, NC, NW, pink, yellow, neutral, olive –is not something discussed in everyone’s daily lives and he just said it like it is.

I could hear people asking one another “What pink undertone?”, “What is undertone?”, “How do I know whether I am yellow or pink?”.

Of course Mr CMI never bothered to address any of those questions. I was getting quite mad with his lack of professionalism. He was giving a bad name to makeup artists! This isn’t what first timers should expect!

Mistake 4: Chose The Wrong Foundation For Me And Didn’t Think So

So I asked again “HUH?! What are you talking about? How to choose?”.

Because I asked, Mr CMI just turned to me and said (here comes the best part) “Oh, for you, you can choose BO20, or OC10, OC20”.

WHAT?!

He was basically saying that Majolica Majorca made 4 different foundation shades for fun because no matter what skin tone or undertone you are, any one you pick will definitely fit you. And he said BO10 would not suit me.

I was very certain that BO10 would fit me, but since he advised BO20, I swatched both on my jaw and said “It’s too dark!”, and at the exact same moment, he proudly exclaimed “See, it’s perfect!”.

I don't know what to say.

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: I think it is quite obvious that your foundation should match your skin, and should basically disappear into your skin. If you are very certain that a certain shade is right for you, don't give in to what others say.

Speaking in front of a class or wearing a swanky makeup melt at a cosmetics counter does not make that someone more aware of your own skin tone (and undertone) than yourself.

You can even mix foundation shades to get the perfect match. However, it is easier to mix foundation shades in liquid form than those in pressed form.

Mistake 5: Used Blending Brush When We Were Not Given Any

I was surprised they only provided us with these tools and thought it’d be interesting to see how a makeup coach can teach us to use a sponge applicator for blending.

So the eye makeup demonstration started, and he used the sponge applicator to pat on eyeshadow. Then he went to his bag and took out a BLENDING BRUSH. Right, right, in front of everyone he used an eyeshadow blending brush and had the cheek to tell the class “You must blend here like that”.

What an awesome coach.

While doing our eye makeup, I really missed my MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, MAC 219 Pencil Brush, and MAC 217 Blending Brush. I could manage with the cosmetic sponge applicator, but took a much longer time to blend out the edges at the eye contour area. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), Majolica Majorca’s products are not as pigmented as say, MAC’s or Urban Decay’s.

Mistake 6: Very Vague Explanation of Eye Makeup Placement

Similar to Mistake 1, Mr CMI did not explain properly how to or where to apply eye makeup. He was just all ‘Monkey See, Money Do”. He had visual aids to show, which he conveniently read word-for-word from.

When it was our turn to apply eye makeup, I could hear people asking “Which color first?”, “Which colors to use?”, “How to apply?”, “Where to apply?”. I also heard the girl opposite me say “Don’t know, just anyhow whack!”.

I would think first timers or people new to makeup or always stick to neutrals would feel rather lost when presented with anything more than 4 colors, and now they had 31 colors in front of them with a teacher who just went about minding his own business. =(

The above are colors I used for my own look. I didn't put much effort into mine coz I spent most of my time observing the dynamics of the class. Was feeling so disappointed with how Mr CMI taught the class that I really was in no mood to go all out.

The saddest thing was when Kai, while doing her makeup, told me “*sigh* I’m just doing what I do every day. I look exactly the same as I do every day”.

I think that's one of the worst things a student can feel, and a teacher can hear from a student, coz the student practically walked away without learning anything.

Read my Eyeshadow Tutorials for Asian Eyes series:

Part 1: Where to Apply Eyeshadow

Part 2: Horizontal Gradient Method

Part 3: Defining the Outer V

Part 4: Defining the Contour Area

Part 5: Vertical Gradient Method

Mistake 7: Very Bad Explanation for Tightlining

Tightlining is the method of drawing on the roots of the lashes and even on the underside of the lashes, to give the illusion of bigger eyes and thicker lashes.

Is that very hard to explain?

But Mr CMI had such a hard time explaining this and most of the people in the class had no idea what he was talking about, judging from their blank looks. I heard someone asking her friend “What is he talking about?”.

“I don’t know”, replied the friend.

He also did not explain the most important thing about tightlining – what to use to tightline. I was waiting intently for a mention, but he never did. I hope no one used liquid eyeliner on their waterline. =(

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: Liquid eyeliners contain certain chemicals that when applied to the waterline, can cause irritation or even infection. I like to use gel liner for the lashline, followed by a creamy eyeliner for the upper waterline (tightlining), because it is easy and fast. Some people like to use gel liners on both the lash line and waterline.

Read: Tightlining for thicker lashes and bigger eyes

Mistake 8: Conveniently Left Out Eyebrow Shading Just Because the Model Had Thick Brows

When Mr CMI got to the model’s brows, he looked at them and said “I shall skip the brows coz yours are very thick already”. It was here that he told the class to start on their foundation.

I was like WHAT?!? Just because the model has nicely groomed, thick eyebrows doesn’t mean that the rest of the class has!

I don’t know why no one spoke up. Was it because everyone was a first timer, or they were shy, or they knew about makeup as much as I did and could tell Mr CMI was bullshitting, or they gave up on listening to him long ago becoz they couldn’t understand a thing he was saying.

Anyhow, I asked again “How about those without eyebrows?”

Mr CMI took a look at me and had the cheek to say “Oh, you don’t need. Your eyebrows are very thick too”, and walked away.

I was asking for those who wanted to know! I knew at least 2/3 of the class needed or wanted to know about eyebrow shading, but of course dear Mr CMI was oblivious to it all. It was when more people started asking about how to do the eyebrows that he went in front and spoke about it a little, of which I also have an issue with.

He said you need to have 3 colors on your eyebrows so that it won't look flat. Okie, I thought that sounded a little too much for first timers. If I didn't know better, I'd be thinking "WHAT? I need THREE colors on my brows? I don't have that much time in the morning! I shall just ignore my brows like I always have then."

Mistake 9: “If You Have A Long Face, Don’t Blend Upwards Or You Will Look Like A Horse”

I think he meant to say that a person with long face should not blend too high up into the temples. But he just stopped there without elaborating what is the correct way of applying blush for long faces.

I was quite taken aback when he said this sentence because just before that he mentioned applying blush on the apples of the cheeks. So with that sentence some people could misunderstand that people with long faces do not have to blend out blush and should just concentrate blush on the apples. Very unclear instructions.

Shedding blush brush =(

Makeup Tip from Bun Bun: For long faces, extend the blush from the apples of the cheeks outward towards the ears to create the illusion of width.

Mistake 10: “You MUST Always Smile When Applying Lipgloss”

LOL! That was the winning statement of the day! Mr CMI said many wrong things, but this was so ridiculous I actually chuckled.

When I smile, the lips stretch and the inner side of the lips get hidden when the lips are pursed. But that’s exactly how Mr CMI applied lipgloss on his model.

A makeup artist only tells his model to open a client’s mouth, I’ve never heard of any one asking the model to smile, and then only apply on the revealed part.

After class I spoke to some of the girls and they said that even though it’s their first time attending such a workshop they could tell he’s not a very good teacher.

Sigh, why did Majolica Majorca employ a makeup ‘coach’ of such calibre?

Kai playing with her hair in the background

I love good lighting. It's the natural concealer for all kinds of blemishes.

Products used:

Majolica Majorca Skin Lingerie Pore cover

Majolica Majorca Skin Pore Remaker Foundation - BO10

Majolica Majorca Brow Customize - BR660

Perfect Automatic Liner - BK999

Majolica Majorca Jewelling Pencil Eyeliner (for tightlining)

Majolica Majorca Lash Bone Mascara Base

Majolica Majorca Long Rush Frame plus expander Mascara

I can't remember which lipgloss I used - I just grabbed one on the table.

Actually I quite like Majolica Majorca's cosmetics, a pity they chose a makeup coach in Mr CMI to represent them.

These are my favorites:

Shiseido MAJOLICA MAJORCA Lash Eyelash Mascara Base