Affordable Beauty Class With AJ Crimson

In a small room at Spa Catchi on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, an intimate group gathered to expand their horizons and knowledge of all thing beauty and make-up. The group consisted of both professional and non-professional make-up artists.

Can you guess which one I fell under?

I’m definitely no professional but I do enjoy learning new things and I love putting on a fab face every now and then. Don’t you?

I figure, who better to look to than a professional when it comes to learning great tips for application and product usage?

Wednesday evening AJ Crimson, celebrity make-up artist who has worked with Brandy, Latoya Luckett, Fergie, Amerie, Adrienne Baillon, and others hosted a make-up class he calls Affordable Beauty. Intimidated and reluctant to go, I got myself together, grabbed my camera, notebook, a pen and made my way to the class. A fab chick’s beauty quest never ends.

The two-hour interactive session in where he demonstrated great make-up application techniques on his guest model, Adrienne Baillon was loaded with information. I tried my best to keep up so I could bring you guys a little bit of what I learned.

So here’s what I was able to jot down and retain with a little help from two other attendees:

We all should know by now moisturizing is key! If you are skipping this step in your facial regimen you are losing the battle in achieving great skin.

AJ recommends Sjal moisturizer. It’s not the most affordable but he loves it. He gave Embryolisse Lait Crème Concentre as a great affordable alternative. It’s easier on the purse strings. I on the other hand use twice daily and love Korres Yoghurt Cream.

Always match your foundation from the neck up. This is the best way to ensure a proper even match.

You should have 2-3 different foundation shades. Your skin is made up of different colors and shades due to sun, age, environment, hormones, etc. So having 2-3 shades of foundation to accommodate the natural color contours on your faces will achieve a more realistic, flawless look rather than putting lighter makeup where you're darker which will makes your face look gray.

Side note: Thanks Kris for helping me get that one down!

When applying make-up under the eye, it is best to use a sponge, not your fingers. Oils from your fingers can mix with the product changing how it holds to your skin.

Try to keep as least amount of product around the eye area as possible. Too much make-up in this area can look caked on and add years to your face.

NEVER tug on your eyes when applying eye make-up like liner.

I am such a tugger. Not good.

The skin around your eye area is very thin and sensitive. Tugging is a sure way to premature wrinkles.

Ewww. We don’t want that now do we?

Creams are usually better than working with powders in most cases. Creams provide more alternatives where powders can be more permanent and harder to fix when errors are made.

Staining key points when contouring should be applied to areas you want to highlight: perimeter of the hairline, cheeks, nose and chin.You should not be confined to your product. For example, your blush can double as eye shadow or a lip color. AJ demonstrated using foundation as an eye shadow, which looked amazing on Adrienne. We were all in awe.

Don’t be afraid to wet your brush to make powder eye shadows pop and intensify when needed.

OK. Did you get all that? Was that enough information for you all? It was for me, but I loved it!

There’s still so much I haven’t touched on that AJ shared with us, like the great smokey eye tips. I think if time permitted, the class could have gone on for hours with me still giving him my full attention. What I gathered most from the class is that the key to a fab face is all about blending, not getting caught up in types of brushes and tools but focusing more on technique, not being afraid to layer when needed, and recognizing that it’s all about making the skin beautiful without tons of product and color.

AJ Crimson not only gave us the tools and necessary information to create a fab face, but he also gave us a testimony to help us live a fab life.I will end with this quotes that spoke volumes to me.

“No one can see your vision better than you.” –AJ Crimson

Be sure to check out AJ Crimson’s website for all the awesome beauty happenings. And don’t forget to check out his product Beauty Statements line of foundation sticks and Kissable Couture lip-glosses. I was able to sample the foundation sticks and they are worth trying out!