Beauty and Bentley

• There is an abundance of a hormone called IGF-1 in milk, which is really good for baby cows, but not for you. IGF-1 is a growth hormone. It makes baby cows grow up big and strong, but in humans, it tends to make your acne grow big instead. IGF-1 is one of the several factors that cause inflammation in humans, and which eventually lead to acne (and the ugly redness and swelling that makes acne so annoying).
• Milk and dairy products cause an insulin spike in humans that cause the liver to produce even more IGF-1, leading to even more acne. 
• Dairy causes your skin to produce excess sebum (oil), leading to – you guessed it! – more clogged pores, more acne. 
• Dairy glues together dead skin cells inside your pores, so they can’t exit naturally, leading to clogged pores (and thus more acne).

This is going to be my first post in a series of blogs about professional make-up kits, I'm going to show you what I have in my kit and give advice on how to build your own.

When building your pro make-up kit I would suggest getting organised, make a list of what you have already and the essentials you still need then you can create a list of extra items and luxuries you want to add further down the line.

Building a kit takes a lot of time and money so don't worry about what other people have or if you have less expensive items because something is cheap doesn't mean it can't be good quality. Having a professional kit doesn't mean everything needs to be luxury.

I'm going to start with base products, in future posts I will work my way through

• powders - blush, bronzers, highlight
• eyes - shadows, liner, mascara
• lips
• miscellaneous

Essential Items

Make-up Remover
I like to use a micellar water as it's inexpensive and effective. You don't need to rinse micellar water off and I find it less harsh than face wipes. (I like to pack baby wipes in my kit so I can quickly remove make-up from the back of my hand when I'm finished)

Moisturiser
You should pick something that will be good for all skin types, I really like the Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré Nourishing Moisturiser but I've run out of this at the moment so until I pick up something new I'm using the Nivea Soft Refreshingly Soft Moisturising Cream, this actually works well as it comes in a small pot and is a really classic simple moisturiser.


Primer 
If you are just starting out this is something you could skip buying, a good quality moisturiser will be good enough to prep the skin. If you decide to pick one up I would start out with an 'all-rounder' like The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer this is a super inexpensive primer that will prep the skin and blur imperfections. Over time you can pick up primers for specific skin concerns (moisturising, illuminating, oil absorbing). Right now in my kit I carry MAC Strobe Cream to moisturise and give an illumination to the skin, I also carry a pore filling product like Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Instant Perfector, a cheaper alternative would be something like the Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser which is a silicone based product that smooths the skin (although this one is probably better for dry skin). You may also want to go a step further and buy an eyeshadow primer, I have one from NYX which is nice but this is an extra and you can just apply foundation or concealer and set with powder to give the same effect as a primer.

Foundation
Okay, so this is where things can get expensive. There are almost too many options between brands, formulas and shades and it can get very overwhelming. In my kit, I currently have a few liquid foundations from Nars, MAC and Illamasqua. A good option if you like cream formulas are foundation palettes (Graftobian and RCMA make some that I've heard are good). These offer a full range of shades and are compact making them good for saving space and weight in your kit. If you decide to pick liquids like I did you will need to think carefully about which shades you need. It would be far too expensive and wasteful to buy every shade in a range. You should aim to buy a light, medium and dark foundation to start and I would also suggest buying a white and black foundation so you can custom create a shade for each client. (Also think about SPF, if your client is going to be photographed SPF may give a white cast in flash photography)


Concealer
This is similar to picking foundations, you can pick up palettes that will give you a full range of shades, I believe Kryolan do a nice one for a reasonable price. If you want to pick individual concealers and are on a budget the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer is great!

Picking products is going to be a matter of trial and error, over time you will learn what works for you and your clients and what doesn't. It's important to remember that this will take time....don't stress you will get there and a good make-up artist will be able to create a beautiful look for clients no matter how big your kit is or how much you've spent.....if that's all it took to be a make-up artist anyone could do it. Believe in yourself and work hard that's what will help you achieve your goals!

• Skin looks more luminous, complexion younger-looking and fine lines refined
• Clinically proven to reduce wrinkle depth and increase skin firmness in just four weeks

• Leptospermum Scoparium is the scientific name for Manuka oil
• Its essential oil is derived from the leaves of Manuka through steam distillation
• Anti-dandruff, antidote for insect bites, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory substance
• Thirty times stronger than tea tree