The Sunday Spend

One of these deals below I've already taken advantage of. Why not celebrate the end of awful January.

• Beauty Bay have some great offers. The LMB picks are buy one get one half price on Eye of Horus a brand I've been meaning to try out for ages (the Isis Sun Goddess palette and the Goddess Pencil look good). I'd also get some Cargo products as I haven't tried anything from this brand for years (probably the mascara and Summer in the City eye palette)
• Cult Beauty - 15% of all orders until midnight tonight 
• Kiko - I haven't tried anything from this brand for a while and what I have tried has been a bit hit and miss so I'd really go crazy in the sale here to try more out. The LMB picks are the Water Eye Shadow (champagne looks a beautiful colour), the Mixing Solution (always great to have in the kit for mixing loose pigments) and the nail corrector pen (you can never have too many of these).
• PAM - have a rare sale on and this is great for pro's wanting to top up their kit. If you use Make Up For Ever shadows their have a discount on the refills, if, like me you've wanted to try the Vera Mona colour switch that too is on offer and the fabulous beauty blender is in a bind up with the make-up eraser. I've never used the make-up eraser but someone who had sought me out in Selfridges to tell me how amazing it was.
• Space NK - have £15 off orders of £60 or over. This is an online only deal and I've taken advantage of it and bought the Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Oil which I've been tempted by since I heard about it. If you've been thinking about making a spendy purchase from Space NK for a while then now may be the time to bite the bullet. 

In the Kit - The Bits 'n' Bobs Bag

Every make-up artist has one (or their assistant does!), a bag of non-make-up things you might need, or someone else might need or that's just plain weird, but useful. I was doing an inventory of mine the other day (so there are a few things missing from the picture that need replacing in my bag) and thought it may be worth a little blog post.

The bag I use is a see-through make-up bag, probably this one from PAM or similar. I can see everything in there which makes finding things quick and easy and although it looks really full this really doesn't add that much extra weight to my bag and it comes in really useful. As a make-up artist you not only get to spend time with people but often you are needed to be on stand-by making you the perfect person to solve any little problems, like microphones slipping, feet hurting or armpits smelling!

So what's in it?

• A plastic mixing palette - for, well, mixing (something like this)
• Small scissors - for cutting out labels, trimming false lashes, opening stuff
• A mini nail kit
• Blister plasters - really useful for weddings
• Micropore Tape - can be used as tit tape, to hold microphones in place or as an eye make-up guide (Boots do one... of course)
• Headband - to keep hair out of the face
• Disposable chopsticks - weird I know but actually very useful
• Shadow Shields
• Dry Shampoo - Batiste or Percy & Reed
• Deoderant - spray not roll on, no one wants to share a roll on
• Tic Tacs
• Spray bottle full of IPA - for brush and kit cleaning
• Hair Spray - Elnett obvs
• Metal spatula - for mixing (something like this)
• Brush guards
• Gaviscon - nothing worse than indegestion
• Shine absorbing blot sheets
• Sugar free polos
• Snack bar (Jordans honey and almond preferably)
• Pritt Stick
• Glass ramekin - for cleaning brushes or mixing
• Orange stipple sponge - great for 'doing' sweat
• Hand cream 
• Green nail varnish - to mark my stuff
• Small tester of perfume - Chanel Chance at the moment. Should be one with a spray so it doesn't leak. Brides quite often forget perfume!
• Tissues
• Nail file
• Hair tie
• Tampons
• Lighter
• Vaseline
• Hair pins
• Nude nail varnish (not pictured but something like Madmoiselle by Essie)

Where to Shop - Precious about Makeup (PAM)

About PAM - If you are not a pro make-up artist you may not have heard about PAM (Precious about Makeup) and why should you? In fact it may seem as a pretty odd choice to start this 'Where to Shop' series off with a West London based shop aimed towards working make-up artists, but what I love about PAM is though it is a make-up shop, owned by professional make-up artists, run by working make-up artists for those working in the business they not only stock some fantastic brands but are the nicest people to buy from so even if you are just a fan of make-up and shopping for personal use you will be given the same lovely service and advice - not always the case in other shops!

Established in 1996 by Jan Sewell (Les Miserables, The Theory of Everything) and Kate Benton (The Royals, Love Actually, Absolutely Fabulous) as somewhere for professional make-up artists to go to purchase the products they most need in their kits and it is the go-to place for those working in film, TV and special effects. One of the aims of the shop was to create a friendly atmosphere where you are always welcomed and helped no matter what your budget, or ability and since I've been going there that is exactly what I love so much about PAM and keeps me going back.

All team members are qualified, working make-up artists which means PAM is also the go-to place if you urgently need to place an order while on set, they have a fast, reliable delivery service and you can talk to someone who knows what you need. With a studio upstairs for brand and make-up artist demos their company line has become 'never stop learning' which adds to the creative, friendly atmosphere.

They are also the leading stockists for some really great, hard-to-find brands - Make Up For Ever, Ben Nye, MUD, MaqPro and Kryolan to name but a few. 

In-store - One of the reasons I love shopping in PAM is it is the perfect mix of relaxed, busy and organised. This may sound a bit strange but the make-up artists working there are always planning the next event, organising orders or helping customers in-store or on the phone. Which means although they are happy to help there's no one hovering around making you feel like you can't have a good browse or you have to purchase something, nor do you feel like you can't ask for advice. There are a few brand stands to see - Make Up For Ever and Louise Young - but also a lot of shelves filled with lots of different, often unusual products, pots of brushes and bits for your kit that has a sort of Aladdin's cave feel about it.

Online - the current website it absolutely fine, if sometimes a little fiddly but I know a new one is under design and should be coming soon. The products are usually up-to-date but as I mentioned above this is really a shop for pro make-up artists so occasionally things are listed as not in stock when they've just come in. If you're desperate for something then it's worth calling to check and if they don't have it, they'll order it for you. International shipping available and a choice of postage options within the UK.

Discount - for working make-up artists there is a discount available between 20%-35% depending on the brand available in-store and over the phone. They are hoping to make this available online with the launch of the new website. 

What to buy - although a limited range will be going into Debenhams later in the year, PAM is the stockist for Make Up For Ever so if you are a fan of them then this is the shop to go to. Also great for weird little kit necessities, sponges, bruise wheels, cotton wool buds, latex gloves and hand palettes. Zucca bags, beauty blenders, brush cleaners, disposables, and palettes are also always in stock. Skincare, suncare, magazines, books, special fx, airbrushing, lighting and things for the studio - if they haven't got it they'll try their hardest to track it down for you.

Best Sellers - top 3's listed below by brand and product

• Make Up For Ever - HD Foundation, HD Powder, Full Cover 
• MaqPro - Dirt, Grime and Guy Liner Palette, Jan Sewell Palette, Concealer Palette designed by Shaunna Harrison
• MUD - Primer, Lip Pencil, 500 Mascara Fan brush
• Louise Young Cosmetics - 787SDF Large Tapered Blending Brush, LY38 Tapered Shadow brush, Louise Young Mini Puffs
• Ben Nye - Banana Powder, Fashion Rouge Palette, Mojave Palette
• Brushes - Sigma E45 Small Tapered Blending brush, Sigma F25 Tapered Face brush, Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki brush
• Special FX - Glynn McKay Bruise gels, Probondo, Shaunna Harrisons moulds
• Other - Velour lashes, Make-up Eraser, Dr Paw Paw

Contact info - Precious About Makeup (PAM) 6-7 Goldhawk Mews, London W12 8PA (nearest tube Goldhawk Road). 020 8740 0808. www.preciousaboutmakeup.com. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

Opening Hours - Monday - Friday 9am-5.30pm. Saturday 9am-5pm

Friday Video - UMA Expo 2015 Vlog

It's a bit wobbly and I'm panting the whole time but I thought it would be nice to get a feel for this for those who were thinking of attending and didn't for whatever reason. I really love it and highly recommend it...

United Makeup Artist Expo 2015

This weekend I spent as much time as possible at the 2015 United Makeup Artist Expo in the Business Design Centre, Angel, London. I've always raved about this event and this year will be no exception. It wasn't all good news - though I felt the event itself had been really stepped up a notch in terms of exhibitors, classes, talks and demonstrations I felt it was incredibly under publicised. As a previous attendee, a blogger who is a big fan of the event, and a make-up artist I have never been sent a scrap of info about the UMA Expo. No email, no annoying mail in the post, nothing. I am constantly sent details of an event in Birmingham I have never been to and can't see myself being able to go to and yet they somehow manage to get all the bumf to me every year. I can't understand why the PR for the UMA Expo isn't better - the event itself is fantastic and a favourite amongst a lot of pro artists so why not make more of it?

New from Make Up For Ever

The make-up industry is growing and changing at such a rate that it's hard to keep up with everything that comes out and it's easy to fall out of touch with brands. During a recent demonstration at (my favourite shop) PAM I was introduced to a whole lot of new products from Make Up For Ever and completely fell back in love with this brand. It also reminded me that as much as I love applying make-up I also just adore watching other artists at work and this demonstration was no exception - and incredibly refreshing to see something bright and creative rather than an advertorial smokey eye (as much as I love them). Kicking myself for not getting the artists name (or asking her where she got her lovely boots from).

I'm not going to give a full run down on how she created the finished look but I thought I'd share some pictures and
a few of the stand out products for me (if I can read my notes, very hard to write fast with a big bump in the way).