YOU’D think after 40-odd years of using makeup and reading probably thousands of glossy magazine articles during that time explaining yet again how to apply mascara, you’d know it all. Wrong.
Sure, we’ve perfected some techniques over time and busy lifestyles have forced us into the quickest, most effective method of putting on a face that is acceptable for going Outside. However, the girly girl inside us – me anyway – loves to play with pots and palettes of pretty makeup and yearns to be initiated into the world of achieving a “nude” face that is anything but, or a sultry late night look without turning out like the Joker, Heath Ledger style.
Getting over the fear of leaving home with not a scrap of makeup on our faces – not even a smidgeon of foundation, the horror! – Divine Lady D and I presented ourselves at MUD (Make Up Designory) where the utterly exquisite Natasha Martin gently transformed us from ghastly to gorgeous, in a process that was part demonstration, part lesson.
After decades of doing it my way, learning Natasha’s patterns was perhaps the most challenging aspect; where I’ve always brushed from left to right, it was now right to left and so on. Most disconcerting was beginning with the eyebrows long before smoothing out imperfections with foundation. Looking in a mirror every day, we get used to how we appear to ourselves and vanity plays a part in that too – never mind the person who always tells you he thinks you’re prettier without the paint.
Along the way, Natasha shared her tips and secrets, and I loved the array of different brushes for blending, highlighting and contouring. So much so I immediately had to buy a set in a nifty zip-up case, which makes me feel quite sophisticated when I open it up in the morning. MUD products are lovely, and not tested on animals so that’s a big win. One day when I have some spare cash, I’m going back for the lipstick Natasha chose for me. It’s called “Burlesque” and it’s divine. It made me happy too, that I could share my own false eyelash application experience with Natasha. I do have a few tricks of my own…
MUD is in Cape Quarter, Jarvis Road, De Waterkant. For more information, call 060 895 4557 or click here.
